New to growing have concerns

[regedit]

I am new to growing and have done a fair amount of research. First off my plants seem to be growing up wards very fast but not out. And also the stalks seem to be so think that the plants want to fall over ( well they are falling over) My question is what can I do to fix this problem. I can give pics of what they look like so far if they are needed. Also the way I am growing them now is in small pots, they go outside during the day and at night I use the grow light from my fish tank to keep light at night on them. Any advice anyone can give would be great. Thanks for all the help.

[Fred Lemonjello]

Hey regedit... Welcome to HGB! Nice user name by the way.....

you'll need to get some long sticks/ poles to use as supports....put them in the ground next to the stem... use a few baggy ties to tye the plant stem to the support.

You'll also need better indoor lighting. And a pot transplant.
Not to worry though.... you can get that sorted soon enough.


Fred

[regedit]

OK so u say i need better lighting. What do u recommend for this. I do not want to put allot of money in this for the fact of that i have no clue what I am doing. Thanks for the advice on the stems. If you don't mind me asking what would be the main cause of this? And is it is something I am doing what can i do to prevent it in the future.

[Fred Lemonjello]

The plant is tryin to reach the light source... #1 reason for stretching. :sunny:

Funny you should ask.... shoplights are cheap and work really well!
Jus spend a couple extra buks and get the better Cool White (Blue) and Warm White (Orange) bulbs. Best to stagger bulbs if you plan on putting shoplights side by side..... my plants seem to like it.

Or if you wanna go full throttle get a minimum of a 400 watt HPS light.
:grow:


Fred

[CB]

hey lets see a pic

will help alot

[drumin]

Hey regedit, welcome to HGB. You picked the right place to stop and ask questions, everyone around here is awesome! :blah: anyway, let me elaborate on Fred's post.

Q. Pics would be nice, how old are the plants?
Q. How many do you have?

It sounds like your babies are "stretching". This is because your aquarium light is prolly too far from the plants. It's a fluorescent light and the light they produce is weak and since they don't produce much heat you should put it a couple inches from the top of your plants.

Another reason your plants are falling over is because they need some movement to make the stem strong. Put a small fan to blow on them (oscillating is best).

Stake them up as per Fred's advice and make sure the twisty tie is loose enough to allow the fan do it's job. They'll get strong on their own unless you tie them up tight in which case you'll have to keep them staked forever.

Lighting, you really need more or better lights. Lot's of people grow with nothing but fluorescent lights, you just need more. I assume the aquarium light is like a single 2' long light? There are threads showing peoples setups and this thread (http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/showthread.php?t=901) on lighting might help too.

Don't be afraid to ask questions even if you think it's a stupid question and read these forums, they are PACKED with good info and great folks! :gthumb:

[Dawg]

mind if I jump in???
If they stretched really bad. (2" + inches between nodes) Good idea when transplanting to put some of that extra growth under dirt. up to the first set of leaves (colytons (leave an 1/2 inch to spare) help with that tip over thing. Had my old lady hit the wrong breaker once stretch-a-mondo. doing that fixed it right up. ;)

(sorry if myspelling is crap sorta stoned:D )

[regedit]

Thanks for all the help my plans for the next couple days are to put them in larger pots and build and grow box. Also when I get my dig cam charged up ( my roommate doent know how to charge it back up) I will post pics for all to see. THanks guys!

[tHEaNIMICnEEDLE]

whats the size of your grow area?

[regedit]

these are a few pics they are still very small and it was hard to take a pic. my grow area now is about 6x4