Why are my plants so compact?

Hey, so I've grown outside many times and have great results especially with texada in my climate near Vancouver BC. I've recently started a small 2x2 tent to get a head start as it's been a sunless spring in lower British Columbia. I have gelato clones and 2 texada from seeds (thank you colloidal silver). Long story as short as I can make it. My plants basically stopped growing upward when I switched from a few t5's to a mars hydro ts-600 hung at 18". Both strains seem happy but the growth on the texada went from arround an inch between nodes to a node every quarter inch or less and slowed growth. The gelato started branching like I topped it and upward growth has slowed. Am I giving them to much light? Outside I never had to worry about ppfd. Outside I am shure they had higher ppfd but the growth wasn't as compact. Keeping temps at 27 durring the day and 20 at night. Thank you for any help.

Better light will make tighter nodes. Totally normal going from t5's to LED.

Yes definitely but 18" is the recommended height and The ts-600 has no dimmer option. My ppfd seems to be only arround 350-400. Should I raise my light to 24" and go back to 200-250 ppfd for more stretch? Or am I waiting for the plants to get used to the higher ppfd I guess is my main question. I even have 2 plants just outside the tent getting like 300 ppfd (the texada) and they have stalled but are not branching and just slowed. I'm so lost

Dudemanly said:

Yes definitely but 18" is the recommended height and The ts-600 has no dimmer option. My ppfd seems to be only arround 350-400. Should I raise my light to 24" and go back to 200-250 ppfd for more stretch? Or am I waiting for the plants to get used to the higher ppfd I guess is my main question. I even have 2 plants just outside the tent getting like 300 ppfd (the texada) and they have stalled but are not branching and just slowed. I'm so lost

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It doesn't look like too much light. I prefer more compact plants to a point personally. And have you transplanted lately? Because that will make it look like it's stalled until the roots grow a bit, then it will take off.

Dudemanly said:

Yes definitely but 18" is the recommended height and The ts-600 has no dimmer option. My ppfd seems to be only arround 350-400. Should I raise my light to 24" and go back to 200-250 ppfd for more stretch? Or am I waiting for the plants to get used to the higher ppfd I guess is my main question. I even have 2 plants just outside the tent getting like 300 ppfd (the texada) and they have stalled but are not branching and just slowed. I'm so lost

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Few more maybe helpful notes I'm growing in sunshine mix #4 and have only added b52 and jungle juice by advanced nutrients as the pre charge of nutes in the moss is still keeping the leaves a healthy green. I ran the 3 part the last 5 years but switched to the connoisseur line this year. I don't think they need nutrients yet and don't want to burn them. But maybe it's time?

Dudemanly said:

Few more maybe helpful notes I'm growing in sunshine mix #4 and have only added b52 and jungle juice by advanced nutrients as the pre charge of nutes in the moss is still keeping the leaves a healthy green. I ran the 3 part the last 5 years but switched to the connoisseur line this year. I don't think they need nutrients yet and don't want to burn them. But maybe it's time?

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It's not the nutes.

The TS600 is a fantastic veg light, good for flower too but that small thing will successfully veg slightly more than a 3x3 space. And in doing so, you'll notice the outer perimeter stretches more than the middle part of the canopy. Long story short; yes, raise it to about 22" and it should allow for more stretching.

PadawanWarrior said:

It's not the nutes.

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Thank you. I felt the same way cuz the plants look super happy. I'll try raising the lights to 24" hopefully they stretch a bit and can take the higher ppfd once they do.

It could be pheno.
Only the one in the black pot would I consider compact.
The others are spot on.

PopAndSonGrows said:

The TS600 is a fantastic veg light, good for flower too but that small thing will successfully veg slightly more than a 3x3 space. And in doing so, you'll notice the outer perimeter stretches more than the middle part of the canopy. Long story short; yes, raise it to about 22" and it should allow for more stretching.

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I'm going to try that thank you I usua

drsaltzman said:

It could be pheno.
Only the one in the black pot would I consider compact.
The others are spot on.

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Right so the others are gelato. I've never grown it before. But the one in the black pot is texada and I have many years of experience with growing this strain outdoors. Usually I just get clones but last year I bought colloidal silver and got a few seeds after moving one to a friends and dousing it. Maybe seeds just grow slower but the texada should be double the size by now given my experience. Does growi g from seed slow down the growth?

Dudemanly said:

I'm going to try that thank you I usua
Right so the others are gelato. I've never grown it before. But the one in the black pot is texada and I have many years of experience with growing this strain outdoors. Usually I just get clones but last year I bought colloidal silver and got a few seeds after moving one to a friends and dousing it. Maybe seeds just grow slower but the texada should be double the size by now given my experience. Does growi g from seed slow down the growth?

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Little bit more info when i got the gelato clones they were only an inch taller then the texada. Now the gelato is 9-10 inches but the texada is still 5" its baffling normally by now it would be at least a foot tall.

Dudemanly said:

Yes definitely but 18" is the recommended height and The ts-600 has no dimmer option. My ppfd seems to be only arround 350-400. Should I raise my light to 24" and go back to 200-250 ppfd for more stretch? Or am I waiting for the plants to get used to the higher ppfd I guess is my main question. I even have 2 plants just outside the tent getting like 300 ppfd (the texada) and they have stalled but are not branching and just slowed. I'm so lost

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They’ll stretch first 2 weeks of flower. Keep going.

So do most grow lights create jumbled tight growth at first? I feel like the ts not having a dimmer and being at full may be part of the problem. I'm thinking about buying the ts-1000 or 2000 as thoses have a dimmer. I know LEDs loose effectiveness over distance so a stronger light might be worse than a dimmed light up close. Do u think I should still run the 600 further away or just buy one with a dimmer and run it closer with higher ppf.?

Dudemanly said:

So do most grow lights create jumbled tight growth at first? I feel like the ts not having a dimmer and being at full may be part of the problem. I'm thinking about buying the ts-1000 or 2000 as thoses have a dimmer. I know LEDs loose effectiveness over distance so a stronger light might be worse than a dimmed light up close. Do u think I should still run the 600 further away or just buy one with a dimmer and run it closer with higher ppf.?

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For now I've raised my light to 24" but.... Would I have better results running a ts 1000-2000 at say 6"at 25% power.?

Dudemanly said:

So do most grow lights create jumbled tight growth at first? I feel like the ts not having a dimmer and being at full may be part of the problem. I'm thinking about buying the ts-1000 or 2000 as thoses have a dimmer. I know LEDs loose effectiveness over distance so a stronger light might be worse than a dimmed light up close. Do u think I should still run the 600 further away or just buy one with a dimmer and run it closer with higher ppf.?

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Actually you’re on a good path. You’ll get better bud development with close node spacing as someone already pointed out. Perhaps your light is heavy in blue. Or it’s from being close. I’ve gotten more of this since switching to LED. Thicker stems too.

Yeah, there is nothing odd going on here.
Not every plant/seed grows the same.
Tight nodes are good.

hotrodharley said:

Actually you’re on a good path. You’ll get better bud development with close node spacing as someone already pointed out. Perhaps your light is heavy in blue. Or it’s from being close. I’ve gotten more of this since switching to LED. Thicker stems too.

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yeah the ts 600 is further on the blue than red even though it's a full spectrum. I know sunlight is generally warmer so maybe I'm worried about nothing. Once they get into the sun they may preform as Im Used to. But right now growth is so compact I'm worried if I tried to flower in this tent I wouldn't have light penatration past a few inches.

Blue red green … doesn’t make a whole lot of difference imo.
When you put it outdoors it will grow like an outdoor plant.
Right now it’s growing like an indoor plant.

Dudemanly said:

yeah the ts 600 is further on the blue than red even though it's a full spectrum. I know sunlight is generally warmer so maybe I'm worried about nothing. Once they get into the sun they may preform as Im Used to. But right now growth is so compact I'm worried if I tried to flower in this tent I wouldn't have light penatration past a few inches.

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Light penatration is a non issues with texada as it harvests last September to early October, texada is bread for my climate. But if I plan to fl

drsaltzman said:

Blue red green … doesn’t make a whole lot of difference imo.
When you put it outdoors it will grow like an outdoor plant.
Right now it’s growing like an indoor plant.

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drsaltzman said:

Blue red green … doesn’t make a whole lot of difference imo.
When you put it outdoors it will grow like an outdoor plant.
Right now it’s growing like an indoor plant.

Click to expand...

OK so maybe I'm just learning a new skill and it's diffrent enough it feels weird but I'm doing the right things? I mean they look healthy. Is It normal for some plants to branch out early without topping?