Plants are growing extreamly slow.

I think your problem is beyond lighting. The slow growth is likely associated with the soil. I was using some crappy Walmart soil and the plants were crawling along just like yours. As soon as I transplanted them into some Fox Farms Ocean Forest, they just took off. Te crappy soil also had fungus gnats. The gnat larvae eat the root tips and slow down growth.

No man I never thought that and appreciate all of the help, I just don't have the money to get a mh light right now, because I would need to get another ballast n fixture but the soil I can do, I will fix the lighting / took the tin foil out and see how they grow the next five days, if still super slow I will pick up new soil. / I am getting d earth because the organic soil does fungus gnats in it. So I will update later, and add the fans. Maybe it will be enough without replacing all the soil but as said I will see the growth rate after I fix the gnats fans and lighting, man I really am surprised they are all not dead from all this stress my inexperience has put them through.

Ya for sure dude, hope everything goes well for ya. I'm sure once them fungus gnats are gone they will take off.
Happy growings

Albanian Kush said:

No man I never thought that and appreciate all of the help, I just don't have the money to get a mh light right now, because I would need to get another ballast n fixture but the soil I can do, I will fix the lighting / took the tin foil out and see how they grow the next five days, if still super slow I will pick up new soil. / I am getting d earth because the organic soil does fungus gnats in it. So I will update later, and add the fans. Maybe it will be enough without replacing all the soil but as said I will see the growth rate after I fix the gnats fans and lighting, man I really am surprised they are all not dead from all this stress my inexperience has put them through.

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Sounds like a good plan, man!
I'm pretty new to growing myself, I'm having a similar problem right now with slow plant growth and I think I'm going to swap my soil as well.
I'm surprised I didn't see any mention of pH in here so far, but I suppose that's because focusing on the light situation before making any drastic changes to the environment is the best road to go.
if you can pick up some litmus paper or something to check the pH of your soil that might reveal some of the problems, and it's always good to have on hand.
but I suppose if you can get a bag of soil with a balanced pH for the same price, you might as well do that.

I hope it all works out!

just out of curiosity, what is the temperature like in the place where you are growing them? In the past I have noticed that my growth slows dramatically when the temp gets too hot!

Maybe like 65, 70 on a hot day.

And yeah man, i am going to wait a some time, and if they start growing like crazy i will leave the soil be, but i still have to take care of the gnats check the ph and such. i have moved them 15 inches from the leaves 20 from the pot from the light, got fans going. so maybe the new environment will be enough. Once i take care of those damn gnats.

Milesmkd said:

Your using a hps light? I'm an out side grower and don't know to much about lights but isint that light a red spectrum light used for flowering? You need a blue spectrum light for veging.

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sorry mate has you said you dont know much about lights, he does not need this info at mo... he is justv trying to grow.

fuck that, mh that is only good for veg, hps best every time. read some more threads on here, dont go mh for budd mate. good luck anyway..

Milesmkd said:

Yes you may but not effectivly, with a huge harvvest. It's gunna grow way to slow under the hp light yes it is possible, but only if u want tiny plants.

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HPS light will grow 95% as effectively in veg as a MH. I have been doing it both ways for 4 years now, its not a big difference.

Also the Aluminum foil won't create hot spots, that is a old wives tale, aluminum foil is only 50%-60% reflective and the chances that they all shine on the same spot is nonexistent. You will be better off just painting everything flat white, 70%-80% reflective or better yet Mylar or Mylar backed insulation.

Right on, keeping the hps light than. we are at 18 inches right now with the light, the gnats are dying. fans are up. time for take off. I will update this threat in five days. thanks.

Useing the wrong type of lighting i started flowering at 1 ft two and harf week ago now the plants are at 3 and harf foot with close nodes useing the right light is key to a successful grow.Go for a 600 hps this will allow you to have the light close to the plants tops and stop them becomeing leggy but a good exaust fan will be needed i use a cool tube this helps with the heat but a few lumans will be lost through useing a cool tube but well worth it because of how low u can have the lights to the plant tops....................tyke.................

tyke1973 said:

Useing the wrong type of lighting i started flowering at 1 ft two and harf week ago now the plants are at 3 and harf foot with close nodes useing the right light is key to a successful grow.Go for a 600 hps this will allow you to have the light close to the plants tops and stop them becomeing leggy but a good exaust fan will be needed i use a cool tube this helps with the heat but a few lumans will be lost through useing a cool tube but well worth it because of how low u can have the lights to the plant tops....................tyke.................

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read the thread man, he cant afford another light at mo so lets give him all the help we can with what hes got, fuck 600w why not go the whole hog and tell him he needs 2000w man cause that would be better. lets just get him going please...

The plant i posted is still growing pretty slow, but now it is much greener, with six more tiny leaves, one pair of the leaves are dark green, but curling against the plant and not away like before. They both are almost bending with the tips of each leaves hitting the stem. but now every single plant weather green or not. the two leaves above the starter leaves ( starter leaves are already dead. ) but the ones right above it are dying now as well. and overnight for the plant i posted a couple days ago, i checked the one plant and overnight the leaves went from green to yellowish and shriveled. i also applied some d. earth to kill off the gnats yesterday, i do not know if that had a factor in it or not.

Man this site is full of mis-info. I have never bought a blue spectrum bulb in my growing life EVER yet I steadily see people saying " You need 6500k for veg." Thats the problem here. Most people talk based on what they have heard rather than what they have done.

bigv1976 said:

Man this site is full of mis-info. I have never bought a blue spectrum bulb in my growing life EVER yet I steadily see people saying " You need 6500k for veg." Thats the problem here. Most people talk based on what they have heard rather than what they have done.

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I agree with that, the mis-info. My advice, is to "don't trust anyone", until you are satisfied with their answer/opinion. Always ask "why?", then use your own mind to determine whether it's a logical explanantion, or not. This is the internet, so, it's your job to sort through the BS, and find the truth. That statement "You need 6,500K for veg" isn't wrong, it's incomplete. Amongst the many possibilities of bulb color temp choices, for our crappy inefficient growlights, 6,500K works best for vegging, when compared to the others, even though almost all will work. Sunlight is about 5000K, but since our bulbs are already underpowered, it's better to go with 6500K(more blue), because blue is the most helpful spectrum for vegetative growth. It'll give you more intensity where it's needed/used, without increasing wattage. Bla, bla, bla,......sorry, I drifted off.lol

In other words....always seek proof, or evidence, before accepting anyone's word as truth. Otherwise, you're putting your gals at risk. Not acceptable, IMO.

Yeah, i may just start again if needed, the leaves on my best plant are now deformed and yellowed overnight, where as last night they were green. maybe a molybdenum deficiency or a nitrogen deficiency, they are tall, much taller than that picture makes them look they just have very few leaves. I think the problem is honestly the soil. I do not think it would be the light because i have seen people grow nice plants with a 400 hps and i have seen it done with a mh. The soil i have is organic and shitty as hell. but than again for the first two weeks they were just under flor. bulbs in much smaller containers about five inches high, and grew like crazy in those, were about an inch shorter maybe. so in short i think it may be the soil, but i am also trying to figure out how overnight the leaves got so destroyed.

dude i start off in small pots then pot up when they need it i use 600 hps for veg cos its all i got i use a sunmaster 600 for flower,i get my soil/compost from a garden section at a diy store fiver for 30 litre bag it says suitable for seedlings/cuttings (cos it was all i could afford) as "grow shops" want like 15 quid for a 10 litre bag. mine went over to 12/12 last nite they messure 24/36 inch tall aint had much to do, regards feed i started in week 3,i dont bother with ph cos soil buffers it, if i could id put some pics up. if i were you repot into 6 inch pots till roots show then pot up. molybdenum??? not heard of that one in grow circles (mine)

i dont know if you figured it out? I bought a bag of dirt from home cheapo. it gave me a wicked case of what i thought was fungus gnats. i had all the same symptoms you do.
after lots of wasted time and money i found out what i had was something WAAAAAY worse. ROOT APHIDS. i dont want to tell you thats what you have for sure but research it yourself i bet that is your problem. search "phantom deficiency root aphids"

...that 4 feet away thing, thats for greenhouse growers of legit plants, in a green house anything closer would burn the plants without lots of fans, which they dont need, cause its just supplement to sunlight.

this site is very misinformed.

you dont just lower 400w lamps from 4 feet away straigth to 1 feet away (or less)
you must acclimatize the plant slowely to that light. or burn it or heatshock it. it needs time to build more efficient solarpanels (leaves)

1 day foot lower, then the next foot lower, watching it as it goes.

i use hps for vegging myself,without qualms, 600w, 1 foot or less from seedlings, but those grow in that light from the start, will not need adjustment, only those plant grown in a relative shade, comparatively.