Double in height BS?

rory420420

Well-Known Member
My mentor before my first grow told me that my plants would double in height during flower. That grow, my tallest plants were 3ft and barely added a foot during flower. Second grow the tallest started at 4 and barely made 5. Neither added much height at all after 3wks of flower with the harvest of these mainly indica plants averaging 67 days. Now, I do use MH bulb that I understand will cause less stretch than an HPS... and I am sure it is strain dependent. BUT It seems to me so far that this double/triple in height talk is BS and if it happened it would be grower error and hardly the standard people keep tossing around. What say you?
I say grow a kali-mist or pure haze,and answer your own question...
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
My mentor before my first grow told me that my plants would double in height during flower. That grow, my tallest plants were 3ft and barely added a foot during flower. Second grow the tallest started at 4 and barely made 5. Neither added much height at all after 3wks of flower with the harvest of these mainly indica plants averaging 67 days. Now, I do use MH bulb that I understand will cause less stretch than an HPS... and I am sure it is strain dependent. BUT It seems to me so far that this double/triple in height talk is BS and if it happened it would be grower error and hardly the standard people keep tossing around. What say you?
DWC tends to stretch more than soil.
Sativas stretch more than indicas.
HPS stretches more than almost any other form of lighting.
Inadequate light will cause more stretch than adequate light.
Some say light nutes stretch more, I'm not so sure.
STRAIN IS THE BIGGEST FACTOR.

For what it's worth, there isn't an MH bulb anywhere in my op; babies get T5 and everything else gets HPS, even most of the veg. Tried the 860W CDM lamps, not a success.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
U use mh to flower? If so, you're doing it wrong..
well, well... for the most part, I see your point. But I've grown many many harvests under a MH, and it's preeeetty damn good, yeah yields are less, but potency is the same if not a lil better.
That's why Ideally, in a perfect grow, i'd prefer two 600w hps, and one 1000 Mh in the middle. The difference in the end product is substantial.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
I say grow a kali-mist or pure haze,and answer your own question...
yup, it was a Kali that I mentioned earlier, damn thing ended up with the container to be a foot taller than me, and i'm 6'4". the absolute longest I've ever seen a plant flower also, it started in early july (yeah july) and ended just before Halloween, and it was still throwing up new pistils.
daaaaamn good smoke though, small harvest, but good smoke. Very visual, and little munchies
 

honeybread

Well-Known Member
Another factor is the size and age of the plant when it flowers.

When I grow indoors in DWC I flower my girls at about 3 weeks into veg, and they easy triple in size.

I have some outdoor girls now at nearly 4 months in veg, they will easy be 6ft by the start of flower.
I don't expect these to triple in size.
 

Lambo...

Member
DWC tends to stretch more than soil.
Sativas stretch more than indicas.
HPS stretches more than almost any other form of lighting.
Inadequate light will cause more stretch than adequate light.
Some say light nutes stretch more, I'm not so sure.
STRAIN IS THE BIGGEST FACTOR.

For what it's worth, there isn't an MH bulb anywhere in my op; babies get T5 and everything else gets HPS, even most of the veg. Tried the 860W CDM lamps, not a success.
What ballast does that 860 CDM lamp use
well, well... for the most part, I see your point. But I've grown many many harvests under a MH, and it's preeeetty damn good, yeah yields are less, but potency is the same if not a lil better.
That's why Ideally, in a perfect grow, i'd prefer two 600w hps, and one 1000 Mh in the middle. The difference in the end product is substantial.
If you really feel that's the case @grease then try those dual spectrum lamps out? I have tried them but didn't see a discernible difference in yield or potency on my Cheese last time.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
What ballast does that 860 CDM lamp use

If you really feel that's the case @grease then try those dual spectrum lamps out? I have tried them but didn't see a discernible difference in yield or potency on my Cheese last time.
Standard MAGNETIC ONLY thousand watt ballast, run on MH setting. They don't do digital, apparently.

Dual spectrum lamps are a bad compromise. Listen to the man; he's giving you good advice. Reinvent the wheel only after you've been down the road with it awhile.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
What ballast does that 860 CDM lamp use

If you really feel that's the case @grease then try those dual spectrum lamps out? I have tried them but didn't see a discernible difference in yield or potency on my Cheese last time.
the key is to get the MH as an addition to whatever setup you already have. that's when you notice it, sure I understand that adding lumens to any grow will change the product, but you can see a clear difference, granted it's not as efficient, and puts out more heat, but the added spectrums in both the blue area as well as the uv is what makes the difference.
Besides with both it's the closest thing you can get to the actual sun.
Even with an even 1/1 watt of hps and MH will get you a different product at the end, I have found that when I use a MH the buds are noticeably different in both appearance and in the high.
Important to note that this is achieved only when the plant is receiving enough light overall, meaning if you have lower lumens, it won't show it as well.
With JUST a MH you can flower , it'll just be less, and not as dense.
That being said, right now i'm running just two 600w hps, so if I had to choose between HPS and a MH i'd choose the HPS, but in a perfect world, i'd have 1200w of hps and 1000w of MH.
that's a hefty electricity bill though.
 
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mr sunshine

Well-Known Member
well, well... for the most part, I see your point. But I've grown many many harvests under a MH, and it's preeeetty damn good, yeah yields are less, but potency is the same if not a lil better.
That's why Ideally, in a perfect grow, i'd prefer two 600w hps, and one 1000 Mh in the middle. The difference in the end product is substantial.
I've never mixed spectrums. ..so it's roughly a 50/50 mix? I'd love to try it...but I grow in a small 4x4 tent so I'm definitely limited. Any suggestions for my situation?
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
I've never mixed spectrums. ..so it's roughly a 50/50 mix? I'd love to try it...but I grow in a small 4x4 tent so I'm definitely limited. Any suggestions for my situation?
if you are curious it's a worthwhile experiment, with cannabis many experiments don't actually change the end product so dramatically, but it is a HUGE difference. At least when I've done it, which for the record, I believe I've had probably at least a dozen grows with the mixed lights, maybe more. for yrs it was a normal thing, but I don't have the space anymore, so I have to limit myself to 1200 watts. And with the space provided it's not a wise tradeoff to switch one of those 600s to a mh, the lumen drop is too big. But if I could add it... well...
in a 4x4 area you could do two lamps, just get some good ventilation
 

mr sunshine

Well-Known Member
if you are curious it's a worthwhile experiment, with cannabis many experiments don't actually change the end product so dramatically, but it is a HUGE difference. At least when I've done it, which for the record, I believe I've had probably at least a dozen grows with the mixed lights, maybe more. for yrs it was a normal thing, but I don't have the space anymore, so I have to limit myself to 1200 watts. And with the space provided it's not a wise tradeoff to switch one of those 600s to a mh, the lumen drop is too big. But if I could add it... well...
in a 4x4 area you could do two lamps, just get some good ventilation
Cool. Thank you for your help!
 

Lambo...

Member
I've never mixed spectrums. ..so it's roughly a 50/50 mix? I'd love to try it...but I grow in a small 4x4 tent so I'm definitely limited. Any suggestions for my situation?
Yes try hanging a 300w CFL? I read that the Big Bud Afghan type commercial strains like some blue light, so I hung 2 x 300 watt CFL's down myself last BB grow. I was thinking that if the buds were a bit tighter they would be less susceptible to rot, it kind of worked to a point but I just fell out with the big yielding strains as its a bit crap and always got mold in my little tent...
 

Lambo...

Member
However I transplanted this one Big Buddah to my 10 foot room to flower her and she ended up near to 6 foot by the end of 9 weeks! The buds were just ridiculous after the MKP was fed at 6 weeks and it took about 20 of them roller plant pulleys!
IMG_3423.JPG
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I've never mixed spectrums. ..so it's roughly a 50/50 mix? I'd love to try it...but I grow in a small 4x4 tent so I'm definitely limited. Any suggestions for my situation?
I've had many similar conversations with some well researched folks and the consensus has been twice to three times the red spectrum wattage as blue.

Ideal Kelvin values seem to be around 2700k for the red end, 6500k for blue.

According to @RM3 this apparently works even better for T5 then it does for HID lighting, which includes both HPS and MH lamps.
 

Lambo...

Member
Thing is that people have written books on the photo-synthetic response of plants to light energy subject, the Rory Mccree theory, PAR and loads of other bahlooba, but MH in veg and swap to HPS on the flip gives a good solid reliable result... Kapowee! Its like theories on light cycles of 18/6 17/7 16/8 15/9 right down to just 10 hours light in the last week etc. I just think its chumbawumba! I do 24 for clones, 18/6 for growing and 12/12 to flower, otherwise it starts becoming a full time job. Reeto guys this fat bastard is off to blaze a cheesel outdoors before hitting the sack. Goodnight and @GG thats sack as bed not hitting my sack against the old ladies wrinkly fanjeeta brother x
 

Sativied

Well-Known Member
What say you?
Since nobody mentioned it yet, I say another factor that can play a major role is maturity. If you flip to 12/12 before maturity (preflowers and possibly if from seeds alternating nodes already) it will still veg and mature before really transitioning to flowering. This is more relevant with plants from seeds than clones but then genetics can play a larger role. Some popular haze clones are vegged very shortly because they do double to triple in size regardless.
 
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