Papaya - day3 into flowering

plant: Papaya
age: 5weeks, 3 days into flowering 12/12
Soil: some john innes stuff
temp: 30 degrees celsius
ventilation: small fan
hight: 12inches
Light: 400w MH

ok i haven't really got a major problem here, so sorry if ive wasted peoples time. ive uploaded a couple of pictures of 2 papaya's, both seem to look fem, cant see no balls so all good there. im mainly wondering do they look normal to you at this age and height? ive browsed and browsed the internet and every papaya plant i come across seems alot more leafy? there is a few more leaves sprouting at the bottom of the plants. for the past 5 days ive seen no change to the plants at all. i water them around 2 days apart BUT ive only fed them once on organic plant food (got told it would be ok) i see no side effect from this so didnt hurt. I have 3 bubble cheese and 2 blue cheese in veg stage in another room too and theyre about 6inches but really bushy so its confusing. any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

you need to transplant into BIGGER pots immediately... and get your light closer

This is what I don't get... they look stretched like hell but you're using a 400 watt MH?? I don't get it...
Also, I'm pretty sure they are chocking to death now or pretty soon if you don't repot immediately.

I think your plants are about the same age as mine... mine are 7 weeks and yours are 5. Click on my vegging link in my sig and check it out.

WOW huge difference lol I was a bit worried about lowering the light, its about 15inches from the top of the plants at the minute and kicking off some major heat. as for the pots, theyre in 6" round. what size would you recommend? I had them vegging for about 3 weeks under 2 small 30w house hold bulbs which worked... but seems to stretch them.

jeno said:

WOW huge difference lol I was a bit worried about lowering the light, its about 15inches from the top of the plants at the minute and kicking off some major heat. as for the pots, theyre in 6" round. what size would you recommend? I had them vegging for about 3 weeks under 2 small 30w house hold bulbs which worked... but seems to stretch them.

Click to expand...

Ah ha! I knew there was a reason for the stretching! 2 small 30w house hold bulbs would definitely do it.
Do you have a fan on the light and a fan for the plants? I find that a fan blowing directly on the lamp, and a fan oscillating on the plants does wonders for reducing heat.
I recommend square pots cause they take up so much less space. I don't know what 6" round looks like... I only know by how many liters fit in the pot. I use 3,6 liter square pots and my plants get root bound and they won't get over 4 1/2, 5 feet tall. I don't have any more height so I keep them short by limiting root growth. So the thing is... the bigger the better. I've seen 7 foot tall plants in giant pots. It's up to how much space you have really. If you've got the space, get huge pots!

Good luck!

I transplanted these 2 into bigger pots, HUGE! i couldnt tell how many litres it is but all i know is theyre very heavy to lift and make the plants look tiny lol nooow i do seem like i have a problem, ive seen no change from these plants at all since the transplant? because the plants are in bigger pots, the lights alot closer so no need to lower the light. its day 6 of flowering n seeing nothing?

Just wondering if you have flushed your plants roots from any salt build up on the them. Much salt build up on the roots can prevent the plant from taking in the nutrients it needs. A plant can use a good flushing every 3 to 4 weeks.

sorry missed your comment about the transplant, it takes a couple days for the plant to snap out of the transplant shock also in future best to transplant in evening to allow them some dark to recover and also good to transplant just as the plant transitions into flower, just be careful not to overwater now that they are in larger container it may take a few days also what type of soil is it? may need perlite added which is always good idea to make the soil more porous or loose

I gave the plants a flushing when I transplanted them. The soil is some john innes stuff but i also added in perlite too. I transplanted them in the afternoon just before the light turned off. Its maybe just the plants getting over the shock from the move but I did expect some change by now but there's no visible problem with the plants.