Stem problems help needed.....WORRIED

Have had my girls under the lights for about a week. They have got very long stems and two of them have began to bend over completly. I started the lights to high. I now have them alot lower and have the plants proped up. Is there any thing else I can do to encourage the stems to grow stronger. I have seen a fan mentioned on other threads?? Any advice would be great. Check out the pic

a small desk fan sould do the trick, positioned on them just enough to make them quiver, this acts like wind, they counter it in nature by growing stronger thicker stems.

GlassFreak said:

a small desk fan sould do the trick, positioned on them just enough to make them quiver, this acts like wind, they counter it in nature by growing stronger thicker stems.

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right on.

And make sure you get the fan directly hitting the stems. I set the fan too high up when I got my clones, and now towards the end of flowering the stems are bending 'cause they can't support all that bud weight.

sandmonkey said:

right on.

And make sure you get the fan directly hitting the stems. I set the fan too high up when I got my clones, and now towards the end of flowering the stems are bending 'cause they can't support all that bud weight.

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cant support the bud weight ...now your just braggin

robert 14617 said:

cant support the bud weight ...now your just braggin

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believe me it's a welcome problem

but yeah i had to use the poles from my photo tent to keep those colas upright.

Put the fan on them today, have them quivering now, so hope that will solve my problem. Thanks for the input, hope I end up with the same problem that sandmonkeys has. It would be real nice to have that problem, will let you guys know how they go.

Just thought of something, you let that fan hit them nonstop, or just for periods of time??

i personally have it on 24/7, but it's not too strong to begin with.

Remember to rotate your pots a quarter turn every day or so so that the stems toughen all around.

Nice one man thats a big help. Got the fan on low so should be good.

exactly. My fan has 2 power settings. I use the lower strength until they're about 7" tall then step it up a notch.

I underestimated the importance of strong stems on this, my first grow. but i've learnt my lesson for next time

Yo, trying to work my "nutts" in, and start my watering from my reservoir, can't get the ph levels where I want them. I know you can get some ph up/down solution, but will that hurt my plants, any thoughts??

I'm not a hydro expert, but i know a lot of folks here buy pH up/down from hydrostores or even aquarium stores.

I personally like to keep it natural so I just use organic white vinegar (without artificial acetic acid) as a pH down. Never had to raise my pH, so...

Also make sure you get an electronic pH tester and calibrate properly every couple of weeks.

Wish I could help more on this, but I'm a soil guy

I would tell you no nutes for the first 2-3 weeks (and when you start do so at 10% strength) but I'm not sure if this also applies to hydro.

go with general hydroponics ph up/down, theyre flora nutrient system is great and easy too.


i keep a fan or two on my babys at all time, one that oscelates to hit all of the plants and one to blow air under all the plants to bring more new air to the lower branches.

having a fan hit them constantly will build up your stems strength all the time, so when you develope huge budds, your branches and stem will be toughening up in the proccess.

its important to have an oscelating fan tho, this way there isnt a constatnt flow of air on one area or section of the room or plants, this will cause wind burn, this will streas out the plant and make it grow slow.

had the same problem man ....check out my grow link in my sig to see pics of what i did.....you just need to put the sprout in a pot and fill it with hydro pellets up to the first set of leaves....keep the lights low if the lights are high they sprout grows to the light if its low it dosnt need to grow keep growing

Nice one all the advice guys. Hope I can get this problem sorted. Exicted about this first grow.