First time using CFL's In A Closet - Suggestions? Pics Included

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StrongLanguage

Active Member
I have successfully grown outdoors yielding a little more than half pound out of 8 plants. But i have never grown indoors with CFL lighting. My outdoor plants were very bushy and had thick stems. My indoor plants seem to be growing taller than I would like. I started with a test run of 4 plants to see how they would do.

The attached images are current, and the plants have been in the box for about a week and a half.

I have two 150w CFL's and plenty of air circulation.

My concern is that the plants are growing to tall to fast and I am looking for suggestions on making them bushy and thickening the stems up.

Yield is not an issue as this is a test grow.

Any suggestions are appreciated, constructive comments are also helpful.



Thanks for looking
 

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Ajsemz44

Ajsemz44

Active Member
How close are you keeping the lights to the plants?
I suggest keeping them no more than 2 inches off the tops of the plants. Also, for the first few weeks with my plants, I gave them 24 hours of lighting. It kept them all very short and busy with thick healthy stems.
 
S

StrongLanguage

Active Member
Ajsemz44 said:
How close are you keeping the lights to the plants?
I suggest keeping them no more than 2 inches off the tops of the plants. Also, for the first few weeks with my plants, I gave them 24 hours of lighting. It kept them all very short and busy with thick healthy stems.
Click to expand...
i have had them with 24/7 light the entire time, and the light is about 3 inches from the plants. thats why im confused.
 
CarlosFkinCampos

CarlosFkinCampos

Active Member
yeah they look extremely stretched.
i am setting up cfls in my grow box cuse i just have a halogen bulb in there and it seems to be doing the job.
but i have heard good things about the cfl's so idk i guess ill try it too and see what happens.
 
CarlosFkinCampos

CarlosFkinCampos

Active Member
the stems on mine were thin for quite some time until i transplanted them to a larger pot and burred them about 1 inch under the first round leaves.
takes time i guess
 
Ajsemz44

Ajsemz44

Active Member
StrongLanguage said:
they are the energy star cfl's. the spiral ones.

is there any way to thicken the stems up at this point?
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I would bury the plant in the soil more up to right under the leaves and bring the lights as close to the babes as you can.
I watered roughly 2-3 times a day with a mist bottle at this stage too, to keep the soil fairly saturated. It worked for keepin my babes bushy.
 
S

StrongLanguage

Active Member
CarlosFkinCampos said:
the stems on mine were thin for quite some time until i transplanted them to a larger pot and burred them about 1 inch under the first round leaves.
takes time i guess
Click to expand...
Burying the plants doesnt kill them? If i were to bury them at this stage what would the affects be?

Ajsemz44 said:
I would bury the plant in the soil more up to right under the leaves and bring the lights as close to the babes as you can.
I watered roughly 2-3 times a day with a mist bottle at this stage too, to keep the soil fairly saturated. It worked for keepin my babes bushy.
Click to expand...
Also when do you guys transplant into bigger containers?
 
Ajsemz44

Ajsemz44

Active Member
Burying the stem is no big deal really. Stems and roots like darkness. If you buried the stem the plant would simply have a stronger root structure. I transplanted into bigger containers when I started to get 4 or 5 new sets of leaves, but you can pretty much leave them in those cups until you see a reason to move them to a bigger area, but its also a good idea, i feel, to do as little amount of transplanting as possible. This is especially true when your plants are babies with delicate roots. i reccomend transplanting now into bigger pots. It will allow you to bury the plants to proper level, and with all the new room for the roots to run wild, the stem should thicken up.
Ask for other advice though, Im still pretty new in this field, just offerin any help I can!
 
S

StrongLanguage

Active Member
Ajsemz44 said:
Burying the stem is no big deal really. Stems and roots like darkness. If you buried the stem the plant would simply have a stronger root structure. I transplanted into bigger containers when I started to get 4 or 5 new sets of leaves, but you can pretty much leave them in those cups until you see a reason to move them to a bigger area, but its also a good idea, i feel, to do as little amount of transplanting as possible. This is especially true when your plants are babies with delicate roots. i reccomend transplanting now into bigger pots. It will allow you to bury the plants to proper level, and with all the new room for the roots to run wild, the stem should thicken up.
Ask for other advice though, Im still pretty new in this field, just offerin any help I can!
Click to expand...

thanks alot for the info. anyone else have experience with burying the plants to the first set of leaves.
 
S

StrongLanguage

Active Member
i buried the plants to the first set of round leaves hopefully i didnt damage the roots to much in the process. i also lowered the lights to about an inch above the plants thanks for the suggestions. i will post updated pictures in a few days if they are doin well.

thanks again guys
 
smileyman11

smileyman11

Active Member
i think you should start to think about transplanting them because soon the roots will get to big for the cups

also if you dont have a thermometer you should invest in one because temperature is important in later stages
 
S

StrongLanguage

Active Member
smileyman11 said:
i think you should start to think about transplanting them because soon the roots will get to big for the cups

also if you dont have a thermometer you should invest in one because temperature is important in later stages
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what do you recommend for transl\planting into. keeping in mind i have limited space and height.

thermometer is already in place
 
KolorBlind

KolorBlind

Well-Known Member
StrongLanguage said:
what do you recommend for transl\planting into. keeping in mind i have limited space and height.

thermometer is already in place
Click to expand...
If you are on a budget go buy the cheapest 3 liter offbrand soda yuo can find, cut the bottle in half and use the bottom half to grow in. make sure to put a bunch (like 6 or more) holes in the bottom for drainage. Ive seen complete grows that use nothing bigger, keeps the plants nice & small.
You can also flower early to keep the plants short. plants tend to almost triple in size from however big they are when you start flowering, so keep that in mind. Ive seen plants that were 12/12 from day 1 as clones turn out to be 1.5-2ft plants with thick juicy buds, just that the buds are smaller.

Good luck to ya, feel free to check my CFL closet grow out, Im just a day or so behind ya. Link is in my signature

Peace
KB
 
S

StrongLanguage

Active Member
KolorBlind said:
If you are on a budget go buy the cheapest 3 liter offbrand soda yuo can find, cut the bottle in half and use the bottom half to grow in. make sure to put a bunch (like 6 or more) holes in the bottom for drainage. Ive seen complete grows that use nothing bigger, keeps the plants nice & small.
You can also flower early to keep the plants short. plants tend to almost triple in size from however big they are when you start flowering, so keep that in mind. Ive seen plants that were 12/12 from day 1 as clones turn out to be 1.5-2ft plants with thick juicy buds, just that the buds are smaller.

Good luck to ya, feel free to check my CFL closet grow out, Im just a day or so behind ya. Link is in my signature

Peace
KB
Click to expand...
being that the triple in size. how much longer should i keep them vegging. its been about two weeks now.
 
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