How do you prevent leggy plants?

+1 for fans. It's not even debatable.
Let's try not to flame shizzz too much. Seems he's new and just needs to learn how to properly post.

I've been keeping the lights real close, I just moved my seedlings from the jiffy greenhouse into a Solo cup, the short clear kind. Then I stuck a sandwich bag over the cup to keep it like a greenhouse, the lights are about 2-3 inches up... And I do have a fan, I had a fan when my shit grew leggy too, it shot up so fast that it got really skinny and off balance then WOOSH! The fan knocked them over. I think I'm gonna loose one plant though, not cause he's leggy just cause I can't figure out how to post a pic of the savage looking child... It got light burn, then I put it into a 48 hour dark period and it came out hella wilted and I'm sad now... Oh well, plenty more.

i have used fans when i first started growing like u said. and i read some where about it not doing anything other then moving fresh air over the leaves. so i dont use one anymore. i didnt just make it up. ill try and find sceintific article to prove this but i dont really care. i dont use a fan and i dont have any prob.

dura said move the lights closer. i agree. i also said add a red spectrum light something other then blue. blue makes the plant produce sugar energy witch means its going to grow to the light faster and stretch. i didn't say don't place a fan on them. they need co2 but u dont want them bent over. (i have a 4 inch desk fan in my room. its 6x6.) this stresses ur plants just like a man in a gym working out he stresses his muscles. im not trying to grow beef im going bud nice fat bud. so if ur plan is to not stress a plant so it uses all its energy to grow bud insted of stem. y would u want to stress it with wind pruning over water ect. the prod isnt wind or a fan is my point. i might be new on this web site. but no means am i new to growing. the less stress the more bud.

and as for people saying im new i went in to ur profiles and read ur posts sounds like ur new to me. asking 10x more questions and and having rookie problem. it takes more then a fan and hps light to grow.

litljohn said:

i know from experience that a fan will help thicken up the stems,but believe what you want i guess,point is, you need a fan for even temps and a healthy plant

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Z_Z The point is many people will disagree with you and many people will agree with you. If you claim to have success with it then thats whats good, but there are many other experienced growers (even on RIU) that will tell you it hasn't done anything for them as far as stem strengthening and studies as well. However bottom line is you're right, you need a fan for healthy plants, whether you think it strengthens stems or not.

shizz i take back my tool comment i was drunk
when i clone i dont use a fan but as soon as they are out of the dome yeah they get fan action
i dont think you really need a a fan for survival but it sure help for heat,bugs and strength
but im sure you know how to grow and keep giving ur opinion out as it makes people think which leads to change which leads to new ways of doing things
so peace out bro

canniboss said:

Keep the lights as close as possible without burning your plants. With a T5 this should be within a couple inches i think, just test with your hand. You could also try to LST by tying your plants down and making them spread out before going upwards. You could also FIM, top, or supercrop them.
Here are some FIM'med & LST'd plant I have going now.
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Bumpitty bump bump on the LST. In a confined stealth environment I always prefer LST. You are going to get a beautiful cola if you grow them straight, but IMHO the lst actually improves the whole plant and it makes it more manageable. The fan will give you a tight stalk and that thickening will give you nodes that are closer together. Plants in windy environments tend to buckle down and fatten out. Light closeness is only secondary, and watch for the heat.

If your plant is getting too little light it will stretch. You should be able to keep your plant happy with 3x150W CFL and a reflector (not the best but it works) if you've got something similar then chances are your plant is not stretching due to light. I always fold my plants and splay them branches out. MJ makes a beautiful bush.