Help with slow growth

Matty22g

Member
So I'm fairly new to growing first crop sprouted april 15th and ive been experiencing a lot of slow growth in my plants. I wanted to start this thread for anybody possibly having the same problems as I am that dont know where it could be coming from. Also within the next few months i plan on moving into a house out of my appartment and starting large scale, but i want to figure out whats slowing my growth down before i go and spend the money on a ton of equipment.
So the crop i started april 15 started off under cfl lighting 5000k bulbs and had plenty enough light for the one plant. Then moved it onto a 128 actual watt led panel (cheap chinese model). At the same time moved it to 9gallon pot because it was all i had and was more then big enough. Have low stress trained and only topped once but it took me about 7 weeks of veg to get it to the first photos size. Also should mention ive added 6 cfls 3 of which are 2700k and 3 5000k all doing 23w actual draw to kick up the yield and it hasnt affected the growth at all. I know with that much light i shouldnt get much but right now it doesnt look like I'll even yield an ounce of dry weight. I've checked everything on the face of the internet and nothing applies but ph issues to that one plant that went on for close to 2 weeks. Now with my new seedlings ive had for 4 weeks now only topped once in one gallon pots are doing the same. No high bark content, no ph issues, no temp or humidity issues (of high concern to my knowledge about 78-80f and 50% humidity), no nutrient lockout, no nutrient burn, soil temps are fine no tip curling, air circulation is fine 1 fan for 4 plants, no overwatering plants dry out within 2-3 days, 216w of light (4 t5s 3 6400k and one 3000k i put in as soon as it could be shipped because i was getting really tight inter nodal growth specifically in one plant) and my soil is thriving even had some sort of hypoalisomething mile crawling around in there for a week or so that was a mite predator, plenty of airation in the dirt and its killing me as to why growth is so slow in the seedlings. The bigger one i can understand as ive done a few things to stress it in veg but now in flowering 5 weeks almost buds dont look close to flush at all and its a 6 week strain.
Any knowledge on the subject will be much apreciated by me and hopefully many other curious growers out there. Im planning on setting up 2 4kw rooms of de hps and want to have steady growth for my mothers that the rooms will be depending on to fill up with clones. More pictures will be posted in the bottom of the plants. Oh and forgot to mention that the new seedlings 3 of them have sets of leaves with 4 pedals and i figured it couldnt be anything other than stress because theyre all different strains but dont understand how its stressed ? Maybe topping early? Any input would be great guys.
 

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Matty22g

Member
And yes i just admitted to the world that ive been growing this plant for 11 weeks and am hoping to god that i can pull 0.1grams per watt roughly and thats actual draw equivilent rated at 900w hoping for 1 ounce In a reflective mylar tent in what i thought was an ideal environment.
 

neckpod

Well-Known Member
And yes i just admitted to the world that ive been growing this plant for 11 weeks and am hoping to god that i can pull 0.1grams per watt roughly and thats actual draw equivilent rated at 900w hoping for 1 ounce In a reflective mylar tent in what i thought was an ideal environment.
I would say you need more powerful lights, Can you not put a 400w or 600w hid light in there or would heat be an issue? 600w hps for flower and 400w mh or 600w mh for veg and things move much much quicker.

genetics can play a part as well and if you top or any hst this will slow growth for a while as well.

Happy Growing
 

Matty22g

Member
I would say you need more powerful lights, Can you not put a 400w or 600w hid light in there or would heat be an issue? 600w hps for flower and 400w mh or 600w mh for veg and things move much much quicker.

genetics can play a part as well and if you top or any hst this will slow growth for a while as well.

Happy Growing
Guess we will see in the next short months as i get things moved as where im at now i cannot install hps. Was saving up dough for some gavitas and thats why im growing small scale right now leds are expensive as fuckk. Where i am now there is only so much heat that i can brew up because im in a basement appartment the windows are too small for an air conditioner and dont plan on spending the money on a portable one if i wont use it in a couple months. I can control it with the cfls for now like i said hitting high 70's with only 50% humidity every day is what ive been able to keep it steady at. Thanks for your input and your knowledge maybe it was silly of me to keep so much blue in the room even after veg.
 

neckpod

Well-Known Member
Guess we will see in the next short months as i get things moved as where im at now i cannot install hps. Was saving up dough for some gavitas and thats why im growing small scale right now leds are expensive as fuckk. Where i am now there is only so much heat that i can brew up because im in a basement appartment the windows are too small for an air conditioner and dont plan on spending the money on a portable one if i wont use it in a couple months. I can control it with the cfls for now like i said hitting high 70's with only 50% humidity every day is what ive been able to keep it steady at. Thanks for your input and your knowledge maybe it was silly of me to keep so much blue in the room even after veg.
Take a look at these lights much cheaper than the gavita lights and still double ended 1000w 400v.

http://www.onestopgrowshop.co.uk/products/de-stealth-euro-1000w-grow-light-kit

i haven't tried them yet but these are what im gonna go for being on a budget myself.

anyway hope it all finishes well for you.
 

Matty22g

Member
Thanks not sure what that is in CA$ but yes i say gavita but really what i mean is dirt cheap de systems on amazon theyre going for 260 and shippings free so it works out better fer me as a maritimer but thanks for the heads up anyway Rock on big cheese
 

MadMel

Well-Known Member
You said that the soil gets air, and from what I see the texture looks good. However you didn't say what kind of soil or mention nutrients. Hopefully it isn't miracle grow soil with continuous feeding. I am also assuming that they are autoflower strains because of what you say about the length of growth. Autoflower strains won't get too tall compared to the other types.
 

mr buddy

Well-Known Member
I'd be set on light myself to be honest.I had my 1st grow under 400 hps did well until I topped then lst that did slow it down a hell of a lot and I veged for 42 days . Flipped to 12.12 600watt hps .3 oscillator fans . And didn't see much growth until about week 3 or 4 . I was a messers and never left them alone either. But at week 2 I decided to leave them . And the did change not massive in height flowered for 10 weeks .white widow . I did have 2 white widow bubblegum on veg for 5 weeks after those 4 normal ww. And when I flipped them they doubles in size in the 1st 2 weeks .got upto about 3 ft but I didn't lst nor top.them. I didn't get a massive yield off the ww but happy with it for my 1st grow just cut and tried them today pic below Is one plants yield
 

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Matty22g

Member
Do you have your pots lined with plastic bags? No drainage, no oxygen, no grow.
Im growing cheap so i was gunna grow in garbage cans from dallarama cheapest thing around and when i went to poke holes in the bottom the plastic only cracked to shit and couldnt put soild directly into broken "pots" so lined em with garbage bags i had left over and poked holes in em and threw em overtop milk crates drainage works fairly well thanks for your input though
 

Matty22g

Member
You said that the soil gets air, and from what I see the texture looks good. However you didn't say what kind of soil or mention nutrients. Hopefully it isn't miracle grow soil with continuous feeding. I am also assuming that they are autoflower strains because of what you say about the length of growth. Autoflower strains won't get too tall compared to the other types.
Soil is just no name brand mixed in with a promix typa shit i had left with a ton of perlite also promix brand if it makes a difference then blood meal which i cant remember the brand some cheap stuff from canadian tire n very little like almost no composted shit i had left from the last grow. Running advanced nutes rn but they havent touched the plants yet i only use em for bloom theyve gotten a worm compost tea when they were fairly young and only other thing ive fed them was some seaweed extract a buddy of mine let me use he put in a water bottle (low dolla bills out here) but if the bran of that matters i can find out from him i put half the recommended dose just because ive never used the shit before n also gave em alfalfa seed sprout tea which is supposed to be great for ur plants but really did fuck all, maybe i should be feeding them more? No nutrient lockout no deficiencies no burn either so maybe i should kick it up a bit? It already has somewhat rich soil and forgot to mention soils got peat added to it as well not alot but last grow had probs with drying out at start so thought it might help. These seeds are supposed to be all fem not auto, ones afghan, white widow, green crack and a cookies strain i got from a familly member but then again hes a bit sketchy so not sure but i guess it could be auto?
 

Matty22g

Member
I'd be set on light myself to be honest.I had my 1st grow under 400 hps did well until I topped then lst that did slow it down a hell of a lot and I veged for 42 days . Flipped to 12.12 600watt hps .3 oscillator fans . And didn't see much growth until about week 3 or 4 . I was a messers and never left them alone either. But at week 2 I decided to leave them . And the did change not massive in height flowered for 10 weeks .white widow . I did have 2 white widow bubblegum on veg for 5 weeks after those 4 normal ww. And when I flipped them they doubles in size in the 1st 2 weeks .got upto about 3 ft but I didn't lst nor top.them. I didn't get a massive yield off the ww but happy with it for my 1st grow just cut and tried them today pic below Is one plants yield
I guess it could be the mix of stressing it and me being impatient. looks like a nice yield tho for sure you clearly lst'd well though your buds connect into pretty good size collas congrats
 

legalcanada

Well-Known Member
how close do you have your light and what is the manufacturers recommendation for light distance? i was experiencing almost zero growth for a few weeks until i maxed my light at 4ft, manufacturers recommendation was 4.5-6ft. probably grow faster for you too if they had more nutrients available to them, could also use mycorrhizae in the soil to improve nutrient uptake.
 

Matty22g

Member
how close do you have your light and what is the manufacturers recommendation for light distance? i was experiencing almost zero growth for a few weeks until i maxed my light at 4ft, manufacturers recommendation was 4.5-6ft. probably grow faster for you too if they had more nutrients available to them, could also use mycorrhizae in the soil to improve nutrient uptake.
Thanks man what is mycorrihizae think ive heard of something like that if the pronouciation is the same but ive never been given the rundown guess i could google that shit anyway theyre just t5's 54w HO fixture from the depot store bulbs are hydrofarm and i had em real close when i had two bulbs going now ive tried putting it up higher maybe about 24" ? Not sure lights are out rn but thats the rough height of em 3 6400k and one thats not hydrofarm thats 3000k still 54w. Too close is it?
 

legalcanada

Well-Known Member
mycorrhiza is beneficial fungi for your soil that attaches to your roots then forms a symbiotic relationship where it gives up nutrients in exchange for sugars or something i don't exactly remember but it's really good for the roots and increases nutrient uptake and root growth pretty significantly i think. idk i'm only on my first grow so i can't compare the difference but i got like a 2lb bag on amazon.com for like 20$ or 30$ so i'll never not use it
 

neckpod

Well-Known Member
Thanks not sure what that is in CA$ but yes i say gavita but really what i mean is dirt cheap de systems on amazon theyre going for 260 and shippings free so it works out better fer me as a maritimer but thanks for the heads up anyway Rock on big cheese
CA$365 ish but good lights, what systems on amazon are you on about? like i said i'm gonna change my light system soon from 2 x 600w single ended hps/mh. Would either be looking at 2 x 630w CMH or 600w/1000w de hps as i believe these to be better.

260 sounds cheap if thats CA? What watts and volts are they? can you add a link?
 

Matty22g

Member
CA$365 ish but good lights, what systems on amazon are you on about? like i said i'm gonna change my light system soon from 2 x 600w single ended hps/mh. Would either be looking at 2 x 630w CMH or 600w/1000w de hps as i believe these to be better.

260 sounds cheap if thats CA? What watts and volts are they? can you add a link?
Yes 260 CA but not sure if amazon ships outside canada. The lights i believe are sunsystem? Is a regular DE reflector&ballast that comes with 1000w mh and hps bulb. In the description says it comes with 110v cord but if you contact em you can get the 220v as far as i remember anyway. Yes the de are supposed to be a lot brighter and ballasts ramp to about 1150 i think but alot more heat and you need high ceilings. Also if you were interested in cmh i was also thinking on buying de cmh bulbs for them as well cant remember the price but theyre 630w or so and would probably do very well and keep heat down. As for link im too lazy but just search up DE hps on amazon canadian it should be the first one
 

Matty22g

Member
CA$365 ish but good lights, what systems on amazon are you on about? like i said i'm gonna change my light system soon from 2 x 600w single ended hps/mh. Would either be looking at 2 x 630w CMH or 600w/1000w de hps as i believe these to be better.

260 sounds cheap if thats CA? What watts and volts are they? can you add a link?
Sorry its sunstream and tried to copy link but just says amazon.ca
 

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Borgarden

Well-Known Member
Even without strong lighting the plants would normally be bigger than that so i would assume it's the strain. I had heaps of issues with my new grow including trying a new "organic" potting mix which turned out to be absolute shit and having to start using RO water as the council has done something to my water and it is now way too hard to use on plants. As soon as i transplanted to my usual potting mix and starting using RO water it was like a transformation. In all honestly i was days away from ordering new seeds and starting again they were that bad (woody stalks and shriveled leaves), now they are growing like crazy. Yes a HPS/MH bulb will help... More power more speed as they say. I've got my 3 babies under a 250hps bulb (my mh bulb had a crack in it and eventually gave up) and they are growing outwards about 1/2 inch a day and upwards about 1/2 inch a day except for one plant which should be my jack here from BCBD. I also have a God Bud which is suspiciously growing very fast and looking like a sativa so I'm assuming the morons switched them without noticing as the "Jack Herer" is growing super slow compared to the others which is exactly what everyone says about the God Bud.

Are you using RO water? If so i would say It's mostly the strain and the size of the pot (transplanting a small plant into a big pot takes time for the plant to grow a sizable root ball and you will see little to no growth until it does). Using those cheap chinese LED lights probably doesn't help either... I've had success in the past using CFL's but i always had at least one 125w 2300k in with them. Though since using HPS/MH bulbs you tend not to go back as the growth is ridiculous and the buds are dense af.

Also just noticed in the pics of your plant in flower you need those cfl's max 2-3 inches away dude. Might seem extreme but when i used cfl's i was raising them everyday so they didnt burn the leaves. After 2-3 inches cfl's have little effect at all you need that shit right up in their grill.

Oh and one of your plants is clawing slightly like my biggest one which is due to heat, humidity or ph. though your temps and humidity sound perfect so i reckon ph/phosphorous issue. Is that a big size difference on one of those pics with the new leaves either side or did you go too crazy topping? Look up leaf deformation
 
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