Why are they growing so fast?

These clones were put into the Aeroflo 60 about 15 days ago, and they are on a 12/12.




I also planted 4 of the clones into dirt (future Moms), and one of them is pictured here:



The plants in the hydro system are growing like crazy, but it doesn't seem to be quality growth. The clones that were planted into dirt seems to be growing at a normal pace and look very healthy. The nodes on the plants in hydro are HUGE, up to 6 or 7 inches apart. At first I thought they were stretching for light, but I have 1800 watts above them. Their Mom's were grown in dirt under the exact same lighting conditions, so nothing is adding up for me. Here's a picture of the Mom's, which have been in flowing since July 23rd. They are much more compact than the clones, and this is how I want the plants in hydro to look.



Here are some close ups of the stretched out plants in Hydro.
Please help before they go through the ceiling.

i notice in your veg room u have no reflective material around your plants if light is just applied from the top it will encourage them to stretch if you put something relective around them so the whole plant is fed light it will encourage shorter space between the nodes but this is just my 2 cents i thik your setup and garden looks very very good must have been playin around a little while.

How long did you veg?

sidngroovennude: Thanks for the encouragement. I do actually have mylar around the hydro setup, it's just hard to see in the photo. The bigger plants with the buds on them were actually just moved for the photo shoot. They're normally right next to they hydro system sharing the same 3 lights.

NorCalGrower: The clones really only vegged until they had a heathly looking root system. It was probably a total of 2 weeks, and they were still very small. They were about 8-10 inches tall when they were put into a 12/12 cycle.

One additional note however...I do have the pump for the hydro system running 24 hours per day. I noticed that a lot of other people have an on/off cycle for watering. Should I use an on/off cycle, or will that dry out the roots and kill them?

That looks like 30 or more plants in a somewhat complex hydro grow system, and this is your first post?? WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I usually like to read, instead of write. Growing in dirt was like cooking pasta...so I didn't have any questions, and everything looked perfect (and still does). The hydro system is new territory for me, and everything seemed fine until a couple of days ago when they started growing out of control.

satire said:

These clones were put into the Aeroflo 60 about 15 days ago, and they are on a 12/12.

[...]

The plants in the hydro system are growing like crazy, but it doesn't seem to be quality growth.

[..]

Here are some close ups of the stretched out plants in Hydro.
Please help before they go through the ceiling.

Click to expand...

What's your room air temp? High temps will cause the sort of elongation you are getting. Your room should be 24-26C.

You're pretty brave running the lights so close to the tops without cooltubes. Looks like 600s. Raise those to about 24" off the tops. Cooltubes would be a very good investment.

If you want short plants, don't veg your just-rooted clones at all before flowering. You get something like this.

Cannabis plants don't shift from veg to flower mode overnight. It will take the first 4 weeks of 12/12 before the veg growth (branching, gaining vert height) tapers off and the flowering habit begins in earnest. Sea of Green relies on this slow switch with zero veg time to keep plants short; 7-9" clones on introduction to 12/12 stop gaining height in wk4 at about 800mm-1m (31-39"), with that height being pretty close to where they will be at harvest in wk8. Keeping plants short means the flowering mass is mostly in range of the brightest light from an overhead lamp.

You'll save yourself some effort by removing the branching on the lower 1/3 of each plant. The small lower branches produce fluffy 'popcorn' buds because they are shaded by growth above them. Not really worth growing the small branches. The plant will divert energy to growing the big fat colas on the top and upper part of the main stem.


pruning styles compared

Removing the unproductive lower branches also improves air circulation around the plants, reducing the possibility for powdery mildew and bud rot (botyritis).

Al B. Fuct said:

You'll save yourself some effort by removing the branching on the lower 1/3 of each plant. The small lower branches produce fluffy 'popcorn' buds because they are shaded by growth above them. Not really worth growing the small branches. The plant will divert energy to growing the big fat colas on the top and upper part of the main stem.

Click to expand...

what if you supercrop a plant so that you make every single one compete? I never get fluffy nugs. bubblegum kush 600hps.

Result of the SoG method, with zero veg time post-rooting and removal of any branching that pops out on the lower 1/3 of the mainstem. Pretty much anything with a stem more than an inch long gets snipped. Branching is pruned twice, once at the end of wk1 and again in wk3.



Your ordinary, average SoG budstalk at manicuring time, about an oz on the hoof here.

bleezyg420 said:

what if you supercrop a plant so that you make every single one compete? I never get fluffy nugs.

Click to expand...

I can fit 4-6 SoG pruned plants in the space of a bushy plant like that pictured. Buds on mainstems are the biggest, densest buds the plant can produce, always bigger than those produced on smaller branches.

Bushy plants need some veg time before flowering; SoG plants don't, meaning you can do a continuous harvest in one flowering space with no floorspace spent on vegging plants which will later be flowered.

SoG will produce much more weight, better density and the bigger, mostly top & upper cola buds have less leaf per gram of bud harvested, making the harvesting work easier.

Do you think a scrog would work with that system if you didn't use every aerosite?

how does a large clone revert its branches into a single cola plant? I somtimes get clones that are already on the big side? Also whats better? Screen Of Green vs Sea Of Green?

bleezyg420 said:

how does a large clone revert its branches into a single cola plant? I somtimes get clones that are already on the big side?

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It doesn't revert anything anywhere, you prune off the lower branches. SoG needs reasonably fresh clones, those which have not gotten much if any veg time post setting root, about 10-14 days post cutting.

Also whats better? Screen Of Green vs Sea Of Green?

Click to expand...

SCRoG requires veg time and messing about securing branches to the screen. You have to guess how long to veg to avoid overgrowing the screen. It's fiddly. It's art when it's done well but it's just not practical for production. Veg time requirement means perpetual harvest isn't possible in the same area- a separate area is required for veg if you want an op that yields often, say every 2 weeks.

SoG is the lowest effort, highest productivity, highest bud quality and fastest way of growing weed indoors.

So question - say my state has way worse laws if you grow 20 or more plants. And I have a 20-site aero system. What is the better choice. A) Grow all 20 sites SOG B) Stay under felony limits and SCROG 10 sites? Do you think the scrog will match the yield of the sog? But to how much more time to veg? Sorry Satire don't mean to barge in like this on ur thread but just really need this question answered, my sincerest apologize. And welcome to the forum fellow aeroflo user.

so your a sog man? im just trying to figure out whats the best method for me once I move and have a whole room to dedicate instead of a closet. Ive already established vending at a few dispensaries..

murtymaker said:

So question - say my state has way worse laws if you grow 20 or more plants. And I have a 20-site aero system. What is the better choice. A) Grow all 20 sites SOG B) Stay under felony limits and SCROG 10 sites? Do you think the scrog will match the yield of the sog? But to how much more time to veg?

Click to expand...

I'd do 20 SoG plants because it's faster. You can turn over more plants in a year. SCRoG plants need 1-2 weeks of veg before they can begin their 8wk flowering. SoG plants will yield more bud per sq ft and save 2 wks per plant.

Also, you can do a perpetual grow with SoG- 5 clones in every 2 weeks, 5 plants out to harvest every 2 weeks. Can't do that with SCRoG.

If you had a limit of 5 plants, I'd go the other way and recommend bushy plants.

You've pinpointed the downside to SoG- high plant counts. Still, 20 plants will give you about 4-5oz every 2 weeks with proper lighting (600 HPS in a cooltube would do nice) and correct room conds (24-26C, 40-60% RH).

SoG requires that you keep a mother plant or two in constant veg (can be under fluoros or a small HPS, 150-250W) in a very small space cordoned off for them and also have a clonebox with tight temp control & fluoro lighting.

bleezyg420 said:

so your a sog man?

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No, I'm a stoned slacker who wants a lot of weed but doesn't want to work hard making it.

I wanted a harvest every 2 weeks and worked out how to get it- turns out that what I wound up with was SoG.

Al B. Fuct said:

What's your room air temp? High temps will cause the sort of elongation you are getting. Your room should be 24-26C.

You're pretty brave running the lights so close to the tops without cooltubes. Looks like 600s. Raise those to about 24" off the tops. Cooltubes would be a very good investment.
(botyritis).

Click to expand...

The room air temp is between 26 and 28 when the lights are on, but unfortunately, that's about as cool as I can get it. The outside temp is 46 during the day!

The lights actually run extremely cool. They are water cooled sleeves, so the chilled water passes through the glass tube around the bulbs, and removes the heat. I came in the other day and the tops of 6 plants had grown up against the glass, so I don't think they can burn with the sleeve on.

In a SOG set up (like what I'm trying to accomplish) it sounds like I should be trimming everything except for the main stem to encourage the growth of one main cola on top.

In the future, I guess I don't need to veg at all if I'm going for SOG. I didn't realize that they would be vegging still for about 3-4 weeks, even on a 12/12 cycle, so that's good to know.
If you have any other advice, I'd be glad to hear it. Thanks.

Al B. Fuct said:

Result of the SoG method, with zero veg time post-rooting and removal of any branching that pops out on the lower 1/3 of the mainstem. Pretty much anything with a stem more than an inch long gets snipped. Branching is pruned twice, once at the end of wk1 and again in wk3.

Your ordinary, average SoG budstalk at manicuring time, about an oz on the hoof here.

Click to expand...

Very nice what strain are you doing the sog with?

satire said:

The room air temp is between 26 and 28 when the lights are on, but unfortunately, that's about as cool as I can get it. The outside temp is 46 during the day!

The lights actually run extremely cool. They are water cooled sleeves, so the chilled water passes through the glass tube around the bulbs, and removes the heat. I came in the other day and the tops of 6 plants had grown up against the glass, so I don't think they can burn with the sleeve on.

In a SOG set up (like what I'm trying to accomplish) it sounds like I should be trimming everything except for the main stem to encourage the growth of one main cola on top.

In the future, I guess I don't need to veg at all if I'm going for SOG. I didn't realize that they would be vegging still for about 3-4 weeks, even on a 12/12 cycle, so that's good to know.
If you have any other advice, I'd be glad to hear it. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Water Cooled Lights? That sounds interesting. Can you give me more info on what type of light and sleeves those are and where exactly you purchased them from. Do you think water cooling the lights would work better than an air cooled light system. I have 3 600watt hps' that are all cooled by 4 in fans.

Good lookin setup satire, try throwing them into flower right after they have established roots and i think your setup will improve.