What do you think?

So my girls have been flowering for 3 1/2 weeks. The buds seem to be really small for 3 1/2 weeks in comparison to some I've seen online. One of my three plants is barely showing pistols at all. Another one is showing buds all over but very small. And the third, which is a bag seed, has just showed sex in the past few days.

I have some temp concerns. I have a 4X4 tent with a 600w HPS. I have an exhaust fan (400 cfm I think) running 24/7 on the lowest setting as well as a couple fans blowing on them. Since my tent is in a cold basement, so, I have a heater fan kick on when the light goes off. It dawned on me the other day that my temp at night (lights off) was higher then during the day. It was 72-77f during the day and 85f at night. I know that it should be cooler at night not warmer, so I put the heater fan on for 15 mins every hour. Now at night the temp ranges from 60 - 75 and gradually fluctuates. Without the heater fan on the temp gets down to 50-55. Is this the reason for what I consider to be small buds? How can I combat this with my existing setup? Is the fact that the temp is fluctuating at night a big problem?

Thanks for any and all comments!

They are sativas? If they are maybe they develop slower.

I think the two that aren't a bag seed are sativa and the bag seed is an indica but I'm not 100% sure.

Looks like mostly sativa in there but are yoou light proof ?? and give them another week or 2 they should start swelling up for you as long as your temp drop aint more than 15 degree or more normally should be ok for swings

My tent is light proof as far as I know. When I first got it, I went in there and sealed it up and no light was penetrating. So, what you're saying is that the fluctuating temp at night shouldn't be affecting them negatively?

Mcwhippin420 said:

Looks like mostly sativa in there but are yoou light proof ?? and give them another week or 2 they should start swelling up for you as long as your temp drop aint more than 15 degree or more normally should be ok for swings

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Mcwhippin420 said:

your temp drop aint more than 15 degree or more normally should be ok for swings

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I'm not sure what you mean. You're saying if the temp doesn't fluctuate more then 15 degrees it should be fine?

I would not worry about it. These "rules" about temp. humidity, light etc are just rules of thumb to provide optimum growing conditions and yield. Your plant is not going to fall over dead if you have a 25 F degree fluctuation.

That said, when your temps drop too low your growth is going to slow down. Warmer seems better to me.

And for the record the summer night/day temperature fluctuations in Kabul Afghanistan are 35-44 degrees. June, July, Aug, Sept & Oct

they look like they are stretching to get to the light maybe lower the light a little bit

they look sativa dominate all of them did.. sativas take longer to flower like 10 weeks and there not tightly packed donkey dick colas there more airy and popcorn. there made for high heat and humidity its so they dont mold and also why not to many people grow them indoors

and also if they dont want to flower you might have to read up on them and switch your light cycle to even lower then 12/12 because they come from environments that are almost always 12/12 light year around

AimAim said:

That said, when your temps drop too low your growth is going to slow down. Warmer seems better to me.

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Do you think that I would have better results if I were to continue to have the heater on continuously at night, rather then 15 min intervals every hour?

Well you would have to the judge of what your temps are running at but I would not want the temp to get to 50. Might have to do some fiddling around to get it dialed in like you want.

Those are some of the most stretched out plants I have seen. The first thing that tells me is that the lights are too far away. With good ventilation that 600 hps should be only a few inches away from the tops. You should read up on LST and Supercropping to keep your plants a little shorter. I really can't tell from what you've said what you've been feeding or what you're watering methods are. I feed with a balanced fertilizer once or twice a week. Usually what the directions say is the max dosage. I water by weight. If the pot is light I water. You don't want to wait till they're drooping but don't keep them growing in mud. I water till there is good run off in the catch tray. The plant should suck it back up in less than an hour. As far as your temps go, I'd shut off that 400 cfm exhaust fan when the lights go out and get rid of the heater. A 15 degree swing is about right from day til night. That exhaust fan will definitely cool things down in a hurry once the lights go out.

Make little changes and see how they affect your grow !!!

Good Luck !!

I agree about the stretch ,When are you counting youre 3.5 weeks from? when you flipped lights ,or from when you first seen pistols? That makes a diffrence .
Im doing a sativa now . she started slow accually seemed like freaking draggin ass . Then it exploded

Is anyone going to remark at the fact that they look over nuted as fuck?

Sativas are a huge PIA in my book, party because the stretch so much.

Higher day/night differential will make plants stretch. Low light will also make them stretch.

I would seriously think about PH testing your substrate. YOur leaves are curling under pretty heavily. That is a sign that the plants have too much of something, and in this case it is not light. It takes awhile for buds to form, but you really need to ease back on the nutes my friend. I'm also willing to bet that you are pretty dry in the room. slightly folded leaves, and again, that claw.

Cheers,
LF

PS, you do NOT want your 600 a "couple of inches" from the tops.. you will scoortch the fuck out of them. That's more light than the damn sun at that distance!! 12-14" tops dude, and back that shit off in the last three weeks or you will just be cooking the terpenes out of your buds. Believe me, I found out about the "dude, I am rocking it with this light so close!" the hard way.

legallyflying said:

Is anyone going to remark at the fact that they look over nuted as fuck?

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I feed them after watering them twice (water -> water -> nutes). After all the reading I've done it seems as if that's the #1 mistake beginners make, so I'm trying not to.

legallyflying said:

I would seriously think about PH testing your substrate. YOur leaves are curling under pretty heavily. That is a sign that the plants have too much of something, and in this case it is not light. It takes awhile for buds to form, but you really need to ease back on the nutes my friend. I'm also willing to bet that you are pretty dry in the room. slightly folded leaves, and again, that claw.

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They are curling under pretty bad. I'm thinking that it could be from over watering. I was watering every day because the high temps at night were drying them out quick. They needed it every day! Sine I've put the heater fan on 15 min intervals, they're not drying out so quick. I'm pretty sure I'm not over nuteing but I guess it's possible. What else could cause the curling? Could it be my temp issues?

Thanks!

Masonic72 said:

I agree about the stretch ,When are you counting youre 3.5 weeks from? when you flipped lights ,or from when you first seen pistols? That makes a diffrence .
Im doing a sativa now . she started slow accually seemed like freaking draggin ass . Then it exploded

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I'm counting from when I flipped the lights. I didn't see pistols until about 2 weeks after that.

First off I see severe signs of nitrogen overdose in those pics. Possible pH/nute lock issue. The HID makes more accurate check for deficiencies or overdose impossible. Temps variations you describe are fine but buds will be airier in my experience. Also heat appears to be an issue at the canopy level. Heat or lack of good air flow.

KOA330 said:

I feed them after watering them twice (water -> water -> nutes). After all the reading I've done it seems as if that's the #1 mistake beginners make, so I'm trying not to.



They are curling under pretty bad. I'm thinking that it could be from over watering. I was watering every day because the high temps at night were drying them out quick. They needed it every day! Sine I've put the heater fan on 15 min intervals, they're not drying out so quick. I'm pretty sure I'm not over nuteing but I guess it's possible. What else could cause the curling? Could it be my temp issues?

Thanks!

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The sharks toothing is nitrogen overdose. Hopefully you have smartened up enough to stop watering all the time.

SoCal88 said:

Those are some of the most stretched out plants I have seen.

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I'm not sure why. My light has stayed pretty close, within a foot or so. At this point my main heads are about the same height as the light but not directly underneath. What do you think that the stretching will ultimately mean? Will I yeild less?

SoCal88 said:

You should read up on LST and Supercropping to keep your plants a little shorter.

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I'm know what supercropping is but have never done it and I'm too inexperienced to experiment at this point. What's LST? I did top them once (which I was really nervous to do) and that has kept the height down.

SoCal88 said:

I water by weight. If the pot is light I water. You don't want to wait till they're drooping but don't keep them growing in mud. I water till there is good run off in the catch tray.

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I use the "Smart Bags" for my pot. It doesn't really get a runoff since there isn't holes at the bottom. I will never use them again for that reason. I also water by weight. If the pots light, I water. I water the same amount when I do water. I have a gallon jug that I distribute between my three ladies. When I was running the heater fan all night, my medium was drying out quick and I was watering every day. Since I've put the heater on 15 min intervals, they haven't been drying out as quick.

SoCal88 said:

As far as your temps go, I'd shut off that 400 cfm exhaust fan when the lights go out and get rid of the heater. A 15 degree swing is about right from day til night. That exhaust fan will definitely cool things down in a hurry once the lights go out.

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I can't turn off the exhaust fan due to smell. Right now smell isn't a huge concern obviously, but it will be, so I'm trying to be prepared for it. I have my speed controller as low as it will go at this point but you're right it does cool things down quick. If I don't have the heater fan on my temp drops to 50 degrees or lower on cold nights.

Thanks!