# weak stems from plants



## dunderm1 (Feb 19, 2007)

i recently started 4 plants, all sprouted fine, light within two inches, stems grew insanely quick. as i raised the light slowly, the stem continued to rise up to the light within a day... anyway to possibly help beef up the main stems?  they are currently tied up but will soon need more to help support the many leaves that are forming. thanks for any help guys


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## ClapOnCannabis (Feb 19, 2007)

A gentle breeze from a fan will stengthen the stems.


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## bombbudpuffa (Feb 19, 2007)

A strong breeze will help. Some may disagree but i've found adding a lil silica product and a STRONG breeze(just don't break the stem, don't blow strong air directly on your seedling) will harden that stem right up!


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## DLA (Feb 19, 2007)

bombbudpuffa said:
			
		

> A strong breeze will help. Some may disagree but i've found adding a lil silica product and a STRONG breeze(just don't break the stem, don't blow strong air directly on your seedling) will harden that stem right up!


 
A breeze and Silica will help.  What kind of light are you using?  Your description of growth pattern sound like your light is insufficient.  It may only have enough to get the plant vertical but not enough to keep it healthy, explaining it's reaching so much without veg growth.  JMO.


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## bombbudpuffa (Feb 19, 2007)

DLA said:
			
		

> A breeze and Silica will help.  What kind of light are you using?  Your description of growth pattern sound like your light is insufficient.  It may only have enough to get the plant vertical but not enough to keep it healthy, explaining it's reaching so much without veg growth.  JMO.


Yes, silica and a breeze will strengthen the stems! He asked what would beef up the stems. A strong light will keep them short but not really strengthen the stem.


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## Sensi-Man (Feb 19, 2007)

I'd agree that a fan blowing on your stalk will toughen it up a bit,what you gotta be careful about is...one time i used a drinking straw to support my stalk but of course the same thing happened to me as is happening to you right now,the stalk/stem above the drinking straw ends up growing thicker than the stalk/stem below it which means if you dont untie whatever you have round it soon then it for sure wont be able to handle the amount of weight you are son gonna unleash on it.

The tying up has obviously served you its purpose,i would release the stem and set a fan towards it,you can gauge this by your self,etc.Remember if you are growin a strain like big bud,etc that some of these kind of strains are actually known for being too heavy for the stalk which is where and when LST(low stress training,google it,its very easy) comes in handy.If you ARE growing big bud then you really need to start LST-ing the plant if your stem is too weak but its still young so you will be ok,we have all had these probs and still produced perfectly good harvests in our time.Good luck:joint:


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## DLA (Feb 20, 2007)

dunderm1 said:
			
		

> i recently started 4 plants, all sprouted fine, light within two inches, stems grew insanely quick. as i raised the light slowly, the stem continued to rise up to the light within a day... anyway to possibly help beef up the main stems? they are currently tied up but will soon need more to help support the many leaves that are forming. thanks for any help guys


 
Realizing you said you just started them, I should have asked how old.  If they are within their first week or so it is normal for the shoots to be about 2-4" tall, to shoot up like that, but your light has a lot to do with it too.  If your light is weak they will be long and linky, the shorter if often preferred.


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## dunderm1 (Feb 21, 2007)

it is about the third week, still small as hell, leaves are about two inches on the botteom, two are still being supported out of the four.  have been circulating air around all of them softly, what is silica? i feel retarded but once again this is my first slightly successful crop.  and the light im using is a 75 watt 24 inch grow lux light... its been working pretty good so far, i am probably going to add another as the plants beef up


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## berserker (Feb 21, 2007)

IMHO you can put a fan to help make it a little sronger,and when to transplant it put the plant up to or even past the round leaves.One of my plants where like that and i put the dirt up to the second leaves that first start out and then that stalk started to grow nice and thick.Good luck on your grow.:farm:


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## bombbudpuffa (Feb 21, 2007)

> what is silica?


Heres a product-http://cgi.ebay.com/Botanicare-Silica-Blast-1Gallon_W0QQitemZ180059831838QQihZ008QQcategoryZ43555QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemI was going to suggest Protekt(think thats how you spell it) because i've used it before but this is the same thing.


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## Growdude (Feb 21, 2007)

dunderm1 said:
			
		

> it is about the third week, still small as hell, leaves are about two inches on the botteom, two are still being supported out of the four. have been circulating air around all of them softly, what is silica? i feel retarded but once again this is my first slightly successful crop. and the light im using is a 75 watt 24 inch grow lux light... its been working pretty good so far, i am probably going to add another as the plants beef up


 
I agree with DLA you need more light, You dont say how close it is, but it needs to be 1-2" from the top. I also like to cover all the sides in mylar to make a light chamber.
Get some CFL's in there that will "beef up" your plant.


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## StonedCold (Feb 21, 2007)

I was under the impression grow lights weren't good for young growth and vegetation.  It produces long and thin stems because they tend to be the wrong spectrum of light needed.  Throw some CFL's in there to help balance out the necessary colors.


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## DLA (Feb 21, 2007)

StonedCold said:
			
		

> I was under the impression grow lights weren't good for young growth and vegetation. It produces long and thin stems because they tend to be the wrong spectrum of light needed. Throw some CFL's in there to help balance out the necessary colors.


 
Light is essential for growth...but it has to be controlled and properly placed.  Even brand new clones get a mild 18/6 of light from day one.  The first light is a soft splash, after they start showing any growth you need to get your lights closer or if their not strong enough more light.  We put Flor's close to the plants because they don't have the penetration of say MH or HPS and their heat is virtually non existent.


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## theyorker (Feb 21, 2007)

dunderm1 said:
			
		

> i recently started 4 plants, all sprouted fine, light within two inches, stems grew insanely quick. as i raised the light slowly, the stem continued to rise up to the light within a day


 
Hey dunderm.  This sounds to me like "stretching".  These plants need light and very quick.  If you can get flourescent light with a color temp of 6500K or a metal halide HID lamp.  Flourescents are cheap.  Good luck.


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## Sticky_Budz (Feb 21, 2007)

theyorker said:
			
		

> Hey dunderm. This sounds to me like "stretching". These plants need light and very quick. If you can get flourescent light with a color temp of 6500K or a metal halide HID lamp. Flourescents are cheap. Good luck.


 i would agre there to more lights i had the same problem on my first plant it stretched and it didnt fill in that great on the bottom  but now that i added more lights to my room all my plants are doing great


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