Late in Flower, Buds are Small

I have a trainwreck plant at week 8 since i changed to 12/12. my trainwreck is around 3 feet tall with 6 main tops, and the buds just arent as big as other peoples ive seen, like only half the size if that. They are caked in crystals though and the smell is dank so im confused. Do most people start counting the flow ering weeks at the site of pistils, or is it from the day you change the light schedule?

The puzzling thing is I have been feeding very lightly (once every 2 or 3 weeks, and flushing twice in between feedings which from what I understand should lockout from happening, and the plant looks healthy except for very small burn on the tips of the leaves, which lets me know they have more than enough nutes and is also why ive been flushing so much. i dont suspect root problems as its in a 5gal with a light soil/perlite mix and i dont think ive over or under watered.

The one thing I have neglected is the ph, i dont have a meter but have a feeling I need one if I want the amazing results you guys have on RIU. I guess my question is can a PH problem cause small buds, but the plant not show signs (that i know of) of any defs?

The only other possibility that i could think is that they arent getting enough light to really produce large buds. I have a 430w HPS (with +30% blue spectrum) which I have to keep about 2.5-3 feet away because I dont have an Aircooled hood for my light yet. Temps are 25-26C daytime/19C nighttime and Humidity 50% constantly

Any ideas?

Pics coming tomorrow they are asleep right now dont want to wake them

TYVM cant tell you how much I appreciate any help!

to me it's the light because buds like the red spectrum shift.

Dude your light is way too far away. Try putting it 12" away.

p8bal3r said:

Dude your light is way too far away. Try putting it 12" away.

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I used to keep it 15" away, and that almost killed my last batch from the heat. As i said i dont have an air cooled hood yet, just a standard batwing. The other thing is its only the tops that arent thriving. All the popcorn is filling in really nicely, its just the tops. If the light was too far away you wouldnt think the popcorn would be almost as large as the main tops would you? Id think the popcorn would be tiny if my light was too far.

I also dont think that the +30% blue spectrum in my hps bulb is the problem. I did alot of research before buying it and found that the extra blue spectrum helps to keep vegetative and flowering growth compact, thats really the only point of it. beleive me shes got alot of red-orange spectrum in it. I cant tell it apart from standard hps bulbs, and know people who use the same bulb with no problems whatsoever.

I appreciate the comments but I just dont see how moving my light 1 foot closer or changing to a standard hps would double the size of my tops. Ive seen people on here and irl with the same sort of lighting setup with tops twice as fat and twice as long.

Can someone tell me whether I should be starting to count flowering weeks at the appearance of pistils or at the start of 12/12?

If im supposed to start when pistils start forming, than im actually only on week 6 and in that case they would still need 3-4 more weeks and would likely fatten up alot in that timeframe. Thx everyone

Light intensity changes greatly with distance. A foot closer, or 1/2 the current distance away, would magnify the intensity of the light on the plant.

Even though you don't have an air-cooled hood, you can have a fan blowing up towards the light to take away some of the heat on the tops.

A 430w bulb doesn't need to be 2 1/2 feet away.

The goal is to have the light as close as possible without burning the plant.

I have a 430w Son Argo HPS and I keep it 10-12" away from the tops with no aircooled tube and only a batwing as well. I havent had any problems yet. If the heat off the light is the problem, have a fan blowing the heat from under the light. If you are only feeding them lightly every couple weeks and flushing and the tips look kinda burnt on the tips maybe not enough nutrients? I had some burning due to PH though. What are you feeding them?

chronichaze said:

I have a 430w Son Argo HPS and I keep it 10-12" away from the tops with no aircooled tube and only a batwing as well. I havent had any problems yet. If the heat off the light is the problem, have a fan blowing the heat from under the light. If you are only feeding them lightly every couple weeks and flushing and the tips look kinda burnt on the tips maybe not enough nutrients? I had some burning due to PH though. What are you feeding them?

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Really? I will try moving it lower. I recently expanded my room so maybe ill get away with lowering it without heat stress. The thing is though, i also have a batch of white rhino that is 1.5 feet shorter than the trainwreck(the wreck stretched while the rhino stayed nice and stout), but it is producing pretty massive buds being about 4ft under the hps light(I know that is too far, but keep in mind how tall the trainwreck is. I also have 320w of 4' floros for side lighting.

Im thinking my main problem is something to do with nutrients/ph. Im using the new General Organics line from GenHydro I won it from a contest. They didnt send the Big Bud or Diamond Black to the either of the 5 who won the contest though as they werent done at the time. maybe it contains a key ingredient. Ive heard that alot of people have called GH asking for samples of the GO line and got them for shipping fee only, so ill see if they can send me those 2 now that they are available.

Also going to get a ph meter for my next grow for sure.

EDIT: genhydro already responded to my email, they are sending me the 2 missing nutes! Great company imo, they love to please their customers.

Also the bulb is now lowered to 12". Ill post in a few days thanks everyone for the advice!

from what ive read here on riu is that you start to count your flowering weeks as soon as you notice what sex the plant is.