New seedlings growing fast. Help.

[thetinman09]

Hey guys. I planted some seeds 5 days ago and some are popping fast. They are 5 or so inches tall and beginning to get top heavy. What do I do now?

 

[Jericho]

Got any more info?

You growing hydro or soil?

What lights are you using?

Venting?

Room size?

 

[jack of all trades]

make sure lights are as close as possible with out being to hot

 

[hugs4nuggs420]

What lights they vegging under? What nutes you using? Any Pics???

 

[zem]

yea theyr probably stretched, burry some of that stretched stem and give em adequate lighting

 

[Matthew7]

I run an oscillating fan almost half the day on my seedlings in order to strengthen them from the very beginning.- I did have a friend that actually staked his plants to the ground in order to camo them from view, but if you're indoors, I guess I'd start running the fan on them and give them just the minimum of stabilization -just my opinion. Matt

 

[thetinman09]

Thanks. Stretching sounds right. Hadn't thought about burying the stems.

I'm growing in soil from a garden center with a couple 40W grow lights in a wood cabinet painted flat white inside and covered with some insulation board. I drilled a hole on each side of the cabinet and covered with screen. The setup is out in my unheated garage and I'm trying to keep the temp around 80 degrees F by opening the doors slightly when the temp starts going up.

Does that sound OK?

 

[zem]

Thanks. Stretching sounds right. Hadn't thought about burying the stems.

I'm growing in soil from a garden center with a couple 40W grow lights in a wood cabinet painted flat white inside and covered with some insulation board. I drilled a hole on each side of the cabinet and covered with screen. The setup is out in my unheated garage and I'm trying to keep the temp around 80 degrees F by opening the doors slightly when the temp starts going up.

Does that sound OK?

well you need some exhaust in the cab, lack of co2 causes stretch and temps are very high and will go higher as you increase light, you can veg with fluros but consider gettin some hps to flower. how big is that cab? this would help you decide how big a light you need to flower and will help you decide the size of exhaust fan needed

 

[todoobie]

light/heat/air movement Hope this helps. Still in training here, mine was a growing medium problem. Its pro mix now.

 

[legalize_freedom]

all this is true about ventilation...many it seems overlook this, when fresh air is just as important as water or light.

But what I wanted to say is that when I transplant seedlings, I bury them up to the first full set of leaves, all that stem will turn into roots. So bury em deep!

Too much water, not enough light, and lack of air movement will cause seedlings to stretch.

 

[thetinman09]

Guys, thanks a ton for the advice. I added a small fan inside and widened my vent holes on each side to about 3 inches and covered with some very fine mesh and the fan seems to be pulling air pretty good.

A few more questions...

Should I seal the box tight with weatherstripping and duct tape?

Whats the best way to replant the seedlings without tearing them up?

What temp should the inside of the cab stay and how close should the 40W grow lights be to the top of the plant?

Thanks again. I look forward to being able to pass it on someday.

 

[GeezerBudd]

The box should be light-tight. This means no light gets in.
You need some ducting of some type around the vent holes if you plan to flower in that box.
80 degrees won't kill the plants-my last one was hitting 80 once in a while.
But actually 70-75 degrees is considered optimum, but some strains differ.
Your plants need a continuous stream of fresh air.
And also air circulation helps biuld stems-if there is no wind at all the plant will be very spindly.
Size of the box????
Gb

 

[thetinman09]

What do you mean by ducting? I have a small fan setup inside the box in front of one hole. Should I have a fan set up outside the cab with ducts running into the box to get fresher air?

I screwed up and let the heat get to 95 for a few hours. Do you think that is a problem?

All the plants have sprouted the four leaves and have been replanted with all the stem below ground. Should I switch from the grow lights to flourescents and just leave on and if so for how long?

Oh and the cab is 30 inches tall by 12 inches deep.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[legalize_freedom]

I use a t5 floro set-up for my seedlings, it stays between 72-77 degrees with a fan set on low just enough to get them to dance a little. With the t5 I can put it 4" from my tops, I have never heard of a 40w...so I don't know where you should set that. Far enough away so that it doesn't burn your tops, I guess. I keep my seedlings under 24 hrs continuos light until they are ready to flower.

 

[thetinman09]

Thanks legalize. So really I should quit with the creative **** and follow the leader (bad habit).

I'm assuming a T5 floro means use a couple flouresncent tubes and keep the plants around 4" from the light.

Since I'm using an enclosed cabinet painted white, I'm also assuming my fan should be on the outside with some type of ducting to shove air into the box with an outlet on the other side. Is that right?

And I know I should know this but at what point are they ready to flower?

Sorry for the dumb questions. I'm pretty dense when it comes to new stuff.

 

[PencilHead]

Could you provide more info on these lights? Are they flouros or what?

When someone mentions T-5s or T-8s or T-12s, the number is the diameter of the flouro tube--each increment is 1/8th inch. As T-5= a 5/8" tube and a T-12 = a 12/16" which is 3/4".

T-5s are deemed more efficient than the others, but there are others here with far greater knowledge about flouros than me.

The only dumb questions around here are the ones you don't ask.

 

[flaboy88]

Thanks legalize. So really I should quit with the creative **** and follow the leader (bad habit).

I'm assuming a T5 floro means use a couple flouresncent tubes and keep the plants around 4" from the light.

Since I'm using an enclosed cabinet painted white, I'm also assuming my fan should be on the outside with some type of ducting to shove air into the box with an outlet on the other side. Is that right?

And I know I should know this but at what point are they ready to flower?

Sorry for the dumb questions. I'm pretty dense when it comes to new stuff.

you want good air flow goin in as well as geting it out the grow space.. you probably want 1 fan to pull fresh air in and 1 to blow the old air out.. you want air to b exchanged 1 time every 3 to 5 minutes.. but there is no such thing as goin overboard with it.. better safe than sorry..legalize is 1 person to def take advice from.. out of all the floros you prolly want a t-5.. can get u about 5000 lumens and i think they are only 54w if im correct.. they are great for veg and your wallet in the long run.. personally i run my HID but i plan on gettin a t-5 system cuz its cheaper to run and gives u pretty much same outcome wit structure and tight nodes..

2nd question- you kno you are ready to flower when your plant has reached sexual maturity by seeing alternating nodes.. you may see preflowers b4 you get alternating nodes so you will b able to sex the plant.. but for plant to do its max you want to let it get fully mature (alternating nodes) and then flip the lights.. hope this helps and happy growin

 

[thetinman09]

OK thanks for that.

So I've set the one fan up outside the cab with cardboard around it directing the air into the one vent. I'll get another to set on the other side to pull air out.

Regarding light, I've set up 3 light sockets through the top of the cabinet and the space is 1 foot deep by 2 feet tall. Can I use some flourescent twist-in bulbs rather than pull everything out and if so, what wattage should the bulbs be?

Thanks again.

 

[zem]

you will be better venting by placing both fans as exhaust and making passive intake holes big enough, make them twice the size of the exhaust holes and you'll be almost doubling the airflow than if your using one for intake and another for exhaust. i have to give this advice like 10x every month. intake fan is only useful if you have obstacles like small long ducts and curves undermining the fan efficiency

 

[thetinman09]

Here's my amateur setup. Please feel free to pick apart They were planted about 9 days ago.