Watering is so easy to overdo. At that size as long as the top still looks moist there is no need to water. You should only have to mist around the base as needed until uppotting.
First Grow In Over 20 Years! Northern Lights Under 600W LED
- Thread starter Homer Simpson
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Nice job on the humidity btw.. 
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- #43
Glad to hear they look okay other than the stretch. I thought maybe that one was flopped over besides the stretch from not enough water so I just watered it again tonight, LOL. My moisture meter said only medium so I guess it was getting close but I will take your advice and not water so much and make those roots stretch.
Thanks also about the light advice because I kept reading where everyone says to go by the manufacturer but doing that gave me my stretch so I appreciate the information. I’m going down to 20 inches then. And thanks for the comment on my humidity in your later post. Really thanks for all the advice as it’s helping enormously. I thought I kind of knew what I was doing but you guys know so much more.
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- #44
I really appreciate the input but unfortunately I could have used that last week, LOL. I went by this post that basically says Mylar is the best because it’s the most reflective. What Reflective Materials Can I Use For My Grow Room?
Thanks for the information but for now I think I will just leave it the way it is and upgrade on my next grow or at least farther down the road when I have less going on. The guy at the grow store actually told me exactly what you said but I figured that posting knew best. D'oh!
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- #45
Ok, I have her supported and upright now. I used an insulated wire because I assume it is a good inert material.
OK, so here's the thing about those moisture meters. They suck. Throw them out and start to learn when your plant needs watering by the way it looks and how heavy the pot is once it's just watered and after a few days of no water. The reason I say that is the moisture meters are very inaccurate and you'll end up drowning your babies...and we don't want that to happen.
I know you are on a budget, or basically don't want to put another dime into the grow which doesn't pose a problem, however if you can get some fabric pots your plants will stay healthier and prevent overwatering to a certain extent. Once your plants are up potted you need to get those babies on a watering schedule...not a little today and a little now. Wait for the soil to start to get real dry...you'll feel it when you lift it. Check my signature below for a great read on watering plants.
Awesome job.
When you up pot that stretchy one bury it a lttle deeper to support the stem...it'll start to root just below the soil line.
Just a final thought as I was going through your first page here...
the soil mix you have with the worm castings will provide your plant with the nutrients it needs for the first month or so. Watch as they progress but I probably wouldn't feed them anything until after good growth of the third of fourth node.
the soil mix you have with the worm castings will provide your plant with the nutrients it needs for the first month or so. Watch as they progress but I probably wouldn't feed them anything until after good growth of the third of fourth node.
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- #49
OK, so here's the thing about those moisture meters. They suck. Throw them out and start to learn when your plant needs watering by the way it looks and how heavy the pot is once it's just watered and after a few days of no water. The reason I say that is the moisture meters are very inaccurate and you'll end up drowning your babies...and we don't want that to happen.
I know you are on a budget, or basically don't want to put another dime into the grow which doesn't pose a problem, however if you can get some fabric pots your plants will stay healthier and prevent overwatering to a certain extent. Once your plants are up potted you need to get those babies on a watering schedule...not a little today and a little now. Wait for the soil to start to get real dry...you'll feel it when you lift it. Check my signature below for a great read on watering plants.
Awesome job.
I always found those moisture meters kind of uncertain because when they are plunged in they read high but when you stop moving them they settle down so I never knew what the real reading was so I have no problem not using them. I will have a look at your article on watering and I will wait until my container gets light and the plant looks like it’s thirsty. I have actually already bought 5-5 gallon fabric pots online for my repotting which is good to hear that’s the way to go.
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- #50
I am glad to hear that because that is exactly what the guy at the hydroponic store told me that sold me all my soil mixes that I wouldn’t need to fertilize for the first month because of the worm castings. That store has actually been there for about 20 years at least and they seem to really know their stuff but it’s nice to have confirmation so thank you.
Jazz Cabbage
420 Member
It might be not too difficult to try the matt spray. Another solution that would not involve spraying anything containing solvents in the grow room would be to purchase some very fine loose weave cotton from a fabric shop take it outside and then spray it with some adhesive spray, the type that is meant to be repositionable not permanent. then bring it inside and stick it to the mylar.
Jazz Cabbage
420 Member
Yes, searching for the direction of the light is definitely what the plant will do. But it doesn't grow towards it. It bends towards it because the dark side of the plant sends hormones down which causes outside wall of the cell to become more flexible and the cell changes it's shape it gets longer and causes the plant to move to the other side. Like if you get a sausage balloon and put tape down one side so it can't stretch and then blow some more air into it, the balloon will curve away from the tape. So no more cells are produced it's not growth that causes the plant to bend towards the light.
There's a lecture about it.
It's a little confusing because at first he talks about the auxin causing the growth but later on you see it's the elongation of the cells. Otherwise we'd have the crazy situation when darkness causes growth.
More edit: I may have to do further inquiries here because sometimes it's referred to as growth and other times as elongation of the cells. I'll update if I get more clarification.
More edits: while seeking clarification it would seem from the lecture that the growth hormone is travelling down the stem from the tip, and the imbalance between the dark side and the light side causes the auxin to migrate to the dark side. So how can that explain a plant wanting to stretch to the light if the light if above the plant, because the auxins will be travelling down, but there will be no imbalance. Less light, less growth. Because the imbalance is the essential characteristic this is why I say moving a light further away will not cause the plant to grow more.
Ah yes, I see now, the plant does not grow towards the light, because it grows more on the dark side, it's because it grows less on the light side. That's it. Now it makes sense.
There's a lecture about it.
It's a little confusing because at first he talks about the auxin causing the growth but later on you see it's the elongation of the cells. Otherwise we'd have the crazy situation when darkness causes growth.
More edit: I may have to do further inquiries here because sometimes it's referred to as growth and other times as elongation of the cells. I'll update if I get more clarification.
More edits: while seeking clarification it would seem from the lecture that the growth hormone is travelling down the stem from the tip, and the imbalance between the dark side and the light side causes the auxin to migrate to the dark side. So how can that explain a plant wanting to stretch to the light if the light if above the plant, because the auxins will be travelling down, but there will be no imbalance. Less light, less growth. Because the imbalance is the essential characteristic this is why I say moving a light further away will not cause the plant to grow more.
Ah yes, I see now, the plant does not grow towards the light, because it grows more on the dark side, it's because it grows less on the light side. That's it. Now it makes sense.
TriangleCheese
Well-Known Member
White coating on the walls is more efficient than aluminum foil as far as I know. No hot spots and more durable. More reflection. Aluminum foil is a real pain in the ass man. I used to use aluminum foil but I switched to white spray paint as coating in my DIY grow cabinets. You build it once and never look back. You can clean and wipe it after you finish growing. Pretty easy to maintain.
Peace
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- #54
When my light was far away my plants stretched to the point that one fell over but after I lowered my lights the stretching ceased. Theory does not supersede observation but instead is derived from it.
Also, thank you for your civilizing influence; it is much appreciated.
Also, thank you for your civilizing influence; it is much appreciated.
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- #55
What a great article about watering; I had no idea watering was so key to root growth and overall plant health. Thanks again for great information. I will definitely be reading that thread several more times.
As I mentioned earlier when you suggested fabric pots I do have some 5 gallon pots but according to the article, I should double my pot size so I assume I should not go from my 750 mL container to a 5 gallon pot? I was going to use the screen of green method so if I don’t go directly to a 5 gallon fabric container I can’t tie my plans to my screen because that will make changing pots a big pain. I guess I can try the screen of green just tucking and not tying to the screen that way I can remove my screen easily when I need to uppot.
Looking online Amazon does have one and 2 gallon fabric pots so I figure after my 750 mL containers I could go from one gallon to 2 gallon and then 5 gallon since they recommend doubling container size? Does this sound reasonable or is 5 gallon not even needed?
Also, I have some auto flowering Northern Lights germinating and I have read because of their short lifespan it’s best to go directly to a final container because they don’t have time to recover from transplanting. So should I go directly from germinating to a 5 gallon fabric pot or should I step up doubling my size with those also?
Elvin
Banned Troll
Toss some dirt around the seedlings to support the long length (and cause it to create roots in the new dirt) and your stretch will "magically" disappear. You don't have much room now but upon transplant, you can certainly take care of it.
From How Can I Prevent My Seedlings From Getting Leggy? "Leggy seedlings are caused by lack of light, or by light that is too weak and indirect to meet the plant's needs. The stems grow thin and spindly because the plant is desperately reaching out for light."
So you lowering that light was the right move! I run my Viparspectras (2- R300W, 1- PAR450W in a 36"x20") at 18" to 20" in veg and 18" to 16" in flower.
As to pot size, I go from solo cups directly to 5 gallon fabric; a couple weeks in cups (I transplant once the green of the plant begins to pale, indicating the Ocean Forest nutes are lessening). I then use straight water for a week, watering maybe 2-3 cups per day (those 5 gallon pots will dry out quickly just from evaporation when watering with so little water) then a good deep watering of pure water (at this point all my waterings will have a nice amount of runoff) so the roots will start seeking out water deeper into the pot. Air movement will dry the pot way before the plant will use all that water by the way. I then water every 3-4 days indicated by finger in soil and pot weight. After about 2 or 3 waterings I start the Fox Farm Gringo Rasta feeding schedule starting at seedling for a week and proceed from there
Personally, in your situation, I'd invest in a tent; you've got a nice floor in that room, a tent will contain water really well that otherwise might damage it!
From How Can I Prevent My Seedlings From Getting Leggy? "Leggy seedlings are caused by lack of light, or by light that is too weak and indirect to meet the plant's needs. The stems grow thin and spindly because the plant is desperately reaching out for light."
So you lowering that light was the right move! I run my Viparspectras (2- R300W, 1- PAR450W in a 36"x20") at 18" to 20" in veg and 18" to 16" in flower.
As to pot size, I go from solo cups directly to 5 gallon fabric; a couple weeks in cups (I transplant once the green of the plant begins to pale, indicating the Ocean Forest nutes are lessening). I then use straight water for a week, watering maybe 2-3 cups per day (those 5 gallon pots will dry out quickly just from evaporation when watering with so little water) then a good deep watering of pure water (at this point all my waterings will have a nice amount of runoff) so the roots will start seeking out water deeper into the pot. Air movement will dry the pot way before the plant will use all that water by the way. I then water every 3-4 days indicated by finger in soil and pot weight. After about 2 or 3 waterings I start the Fox Farm Gringo Rasta feeding schedule starting at seedling for a week and proceed from there
Personally, in your situation, I'd invest in a tent; you've got a nice floor in that room, a tent will contain water really well that otherwise might damage it!
Glad to help
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- #58
Hi Elvin…
Thank you for verifying the consensus that stretch comes from lack of light. At the previous prompting of others, I have taken your advice and my lights are now 19 inches from the tops of the plants and they don’t seem to be stretching anymore.
And thanks for the advice about pot size. I will do as you recommend and go directly from my 750 mL containers to my 5 gallon fabric pots and get some higher soil on the stretched one when I do. Thanks again.
I found by varying the distance my fan is from my hanging towels I could dial the humidity in at exactly 60% so it ended up being a great system. Thanks to all!!
Now that I have my lights properly distanced and the humidity dialled in the girls seem pretty happy and maybe I am delusional but I think the leaves grew a fair bit over night.
Thank you for verifying the consensus that stretch comes from lack of light. At the previous prompting of others, I have taken your advice and my lights are now 19 inches from the tops of the plants and they don’t seem to be stretching anymore.
And thanks for the advice about pot size. I will do as you recommend and go directly from my 750 mL containers to my 5 gallon fabric pots and get some higher soil on the stretched one when I do. Thanks again.
I found by varying the distance my fan is from my hanging towels I could dial the humidity in at exactly 60% so it ended up being a great system. Thanks to all!!
Now that I have my lights properly distanced and the humidity dialled in the girls seem pretty happy and maybe I am delusional but I think the leaves grew a fair bit over night.
Gazoo
Member
There's hundreds of opinions on topics, and more often than not you have to go on what you think makes sense based on your homework. Only you can see, feel, and smell what is going on. We just have pics and experience that could lead you in the right direction. Experience you will gain and pass on to others but you only learn that by making mistakes, if that's the correct term. You could see the difference the light made. You will also see the difference the water will make. Your humidity is in check and your plants are in a good medium.
Now you need to listen to your plants. Learn what they need by the signs...leaves pointing down are normally a sign of overwatering. Your leaves, when the plant is healthy will be reaching for the sky. They will just look happy. Tips starting to burn are a sure sign you overfed it. Light browning or yellowing along the sides of the leaves could be a lack of Ca which is common.
Keep it simple and let the plants grow. They do better when we don't interfere.
I agree about germ to final pot. I planted my last grow straight from tap root into 7gal pot and it produced wonders. I'm not too sure but I don't think Mother Nature provides pots for plants in the wild. Think of that little seed sitting in a little tiny spec of this planet. No need to size up accordingly IMHO.
Now you need to listen to your plants. Learn what they need by the signs...leaves pointing down are normally a sign of overwatering. Your leaves, when the plant is healthy will be reaching for the sky. They will just look happy. Tips starting to burn are a sure sign you overfed it. Light browning or yellowing along the sides of the leaves could be a lack of Ca which is common.
Keep it simple and let the plants grow. They do better when we don't interfere.
I agree about germ to final pot. I planted my last grow straight from tap root into 7gal pot and it produced wonders. I'm not too sure but I don't think Mother Nature provides pots for plants in the wild. Think of that little seed sitting in a little tiny spec of this planet. No need to size up accordingly IMHO.
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