CFL lights turning stems red/purple

Hi, so I've finally got to the point where I have 6 clones and a mother plant. I am using the same soil and nutes for all.

When I put the clones under CFL 23W or 26W, blue or red, the stems turn red/purple

When I put the clones under 20W cool white long tube, 30" or whatver it is, there are no red/purple stems. New growth will even turn back to green stems. And if I move it back to the CFLs, then the stems turn red/purple again.

I have long wondered why they turned red-purple and I suspected it was the light, but with different strains and soil, I was never certain. I have seen various posts that the red-purple stems are caused by Phosphorous deficiency, High water pH greater than 7, and heat. Even in low heat, they turn red-purple, and the other 2 are ruled out because I can move them in and out of the CFL box and the red-purple stem growth stops and they turn back to nice green.

Under these 2 LED bulbs I have the stems seem to grow green and not red-purple, but I just switched them to that to test the LEDs, but the little growth I've had in a day seems not to be red-purple. That red-purple growth does not seem to be healthy as the stem gets sort of brittle and the leaves aren't as healthy looking.

So, what is it about the CFLs that could be causing this?

Ehhhh... not sure it's your lights. Can't rule it out, but my plants don't get any dis-coloured stems from my CFLs. Only time they go purple is when it gets too cold in my tent.

I've had clones I've cut get that purple-streak in the stem you see sometimes, but I don't know why that would be caused by the light. Got any pics for reference?

You mean like on these leaf stems?

Nice pic. Thanks for the reply. PC locked up when I went to connect phone, but here's a a couple of pics of 2 different clones. Oh, wow, forgot password to imgur too. Can you upload direct from pc? Ok, fixed, finally. Not the best pics, but you can see the red/purple and the other one that's all green. WOW, just saw that Upload a File button after 20 mins screwing with imgur. lol Not even stoned. Be easier if I was probably.

How do you take such detailed pics, besides better camera? Should I use flash with lights out? And how did you post full size pic?

Yeah, I was thinking that it is the brand of CFL possibly, because I don't remember having any problems with CFLs turning stems red-purple about 3 or 4 years ago. Although, no, all of the CFLs I have are doing it now, like I tried all the different ones over the past year. It was just now that I have clones, I know it's not the strain, because when I put them under the tube fluoro, there is no red-purple growth.
I was wondering if it's the coating used or something. For me, the growth just seems to be much better under the tube fluro, but I have little room there because of the mother.

I've gotten streaks in clones like in your first pic... but I don't ever recall getting a whole plant stem purple like your second one. And my clone room is pretty damn cold so as soon as they hit the flower tent, the purple fades. I would look at the over-all environment before focusing in on the lights. Maybe the tubes keep the plant a little warmer?

As for the pics, I just got used to the camera on my phone. Keep screwing around with it, you'll figure out a setting you like.



Edit: to post a full size pic, after you hit upload, click the button that says "Full Size" next to the file. Took me almost a week to figure that out, lol.

Here's some more pics of the worst clones with the dark purple-red stems:







If I take them out of the CFL box and put them back under the tube fluoro, they will grow green stems like the one here in the middle node shoot.

Yeah, thanks for your help on the pics and suggestions about the stems.

It's always 70 to 80 in the CFL box, unless the lights are off which they really haven't been. They've been 24/7, except for a few days this past week, which allowed the internodal to grow too fast, so I switched it back. Even then it's never below 65 degrees F.

One possibility is that the box is an old PC case lined with that silver car window shield stuff, so possibly light from underneath the leaf is a problem? I don't think so tho, because I' grew plants in this box 3 or 4 years ago to harvest, with no problems. Growth was def better then, so I'm wondering if I was using different brand CFLs. I'm pretty sure I didn't tho, just wondering if it could be the coating on the CFLs or something. I even had the problem a year ago where the plants would start to wilt and die a few days after moving them into the CFL box. Maybe there's some virus in there? I don't get it. Two fans in there, temp never above 80, usually 76.

I got just 2 LEDs in there now, so I will see if it's the box, a virus, or temp or not. I think it's the CFLs but I cannot come up with a reason why that would be. Doesn't matter if I run 1, 2, 3, or 4 in there or in combination with the LEDs. When the CFLs are on, the stems turn purple-dark red and the plants start to croak.

Hmm. 65F will cause 'em to go purple depending on the strain.

I just don't know how it can be the CFLs if you have tried different brands. I can't tell, is the little gal in a Solo cup? Are they getting transplanted when they are going in to the flower room? Different soil maybe? Maybe they are out of nutrients in that little cup and have just outgrown the root space?

Take a full shot of the plant and lemme see what's going on there.

Your plant could also do with some cal/mag it looks a little deficient

Agree with Letstrip, you have a deficiency that looks like magnesium. Like he said, cal mag will help, or if nothing else a little Epsom salt mixed in you water next time.