When You Place A Plant Into Flower, What Is The Avg Height Of The Plant

[MMJ Intern]

With my last grow, my plants were vegged between 40 - 60 days & they were quite tall, avg 30 inches. Unfortunately, my tent is only 6 ft tall. With the 400w MH hanging 2" - 5" from ceiling, many of my ladies were twisted and crowded by harvest. I was just wondering how other dirt growers decide when to put their plants into flower.

 

Happy Monday

[pergamum362]

I usually let my get about 1.5 to 2 feet max, not including the pot then flower them...i top them a bunch tho too.

[kruztydj]

18 inches puts me about 3ft when done. Perfect for a 5000watt flat grow. 1000 watter only goes down about 3ft so keeps them meds hard top to bottom. With my vertical grow I can go taller as the light hits them for the sides not top. So the vert can got to 3ft if needed as that would put them around 5 ft when done.

I only veg 10 days and don't waste all that time/money veggiing. I clone at about 12 inches so 10 days puts me right about 18 inches and keeps me right in line with my patients needs and no overages.

[+ProPlayer420]

With my last grow, my plants were vegged between 40 - 60 days & they were quite tall, avg 30 inches. Unfortunately, my tent is only 6 ft tall. With the 400w MH hanging 2" - 5" from ceiling, many of my ladies were twisted and crowded by harvest. I was just wondering how other dirt growers decide when to put their plants into flower.

 

Happy Monday

Really depends on strain. Indicas don't get as tall as sativas and don't stretch as bad in flower either so you can veg them out longer then sativas if height is a issue. Most indicas will stretch 30-50% in flower. Sativas as high as 40%-60% stretch once you turn the clocks to 12/12. Get to know your genetics before you buy so you don't have a problem with heights and space. Most breeders will freely give you this info.

[I wood]

Every plant is different,even from the same batch of seeds. It takes me about a year to familiarize my self with a new plant.

About 30 inches is where I flower, but my ceilings are at 8 foot. Sometimes things still get folded and bent.

Most indicas will only add around 50%, while sativas can double or even triple in size while flowering.

Use whatever traits are expressed to your advantage. I like to weave my lanky as hell haze x chronic plants into the spaces between other more bushy plants. Or put one in the corner and let it spread out both ways and up.

Happy growing,

R

[Darkmatter]

With only 400 watts you don't have much light penetration. Do not veg for very long. If it were me I would try to flower at 12-14". Depending on strain.

[Croppled1]

My breeder put me at 4 to 5 nodes then veg . I can see one of my issues with supply is I spend more time until I convert . I put 5 months into my plants start to finish and obtain about 1 1/2 oz on average per plant . There are always males , runts , and other issues that interfere with being able to have a non interupted supply . However purchasing it would never be affordable either .

[GanjaWarrior]

your veg time is a huge consideration....cut it short n cut your yield short. Another mistake i see people making is budding way too fast, be4 the plant has even established a good root ball. Ever heard of that subcool guy? you should look into how he vegges.he is talking letting em root 4-6 weeks even b4 flowering.i would never do what he did as i thought my plants would be root bound....i did it. i exceeded my buddies yield on his strain, with a 600 vrs his 1000....grow ur plants, rushing bunny muffin is the biggest waste of time, no need to hurry up n get a little meds....

[thanks2]

It can depend on your equipment. If you are running 600 watts or more you will get good light penetration, which makes tall plants advantageous. With 400 watts or less, shorter plants will make more efficient use of the light. Also the hood will play a role. Some hoods are made to spread the light out with very little penetration, such as the daystar, so plants should be kept short. Hoods like the radiant ac series are made for a focused deep penetration, so they are very good for tall plants. Tall or short plants are only part of the picture for veg time. If you super crop, lst, or top, you can have longer veg times and still have short plants.

 

Combining a plant training method, such as super cropping, with 5-6 week veg times can be very rewarding with high yields(not all strains). The difference between 4 weeks and 6 weeks veg time can sometimes nearly double your harvest.

[Ezrah]

Sounds like you are just starting out, you might want to put one a week into flower, stating with the first at 18" and check results yields, how well they grow in the space, and then you will be more of a perpetual harvest which is also better for your supply keeps you under your weight limits and helps you grow and learn what the plants you are growing with your set up go best, because like mentioned before lights, plant type this all affect when you flower and how big...

 

I also highly recommend topping with such a short space to work in there. I would also recommend nipping off small buds at the base of your plants so all that energy goes into you top colas, so the buds you do grow out are big and fruity.

 

Regards,

[Timmahh]

with pots, i veg to about 30ish in tall in veg, and end up about 5 or 6 ft tall. As noted its strain dependant as some like to stretch alot like sativa, while indica do like to bush a bit more over growing taller....

 

i too have to grow for space available, so it takes some adjustments to make it work well. Im a yr in, and still making adjustments. lol

[+JuztBudz]

I have issues with my amount of space in my veg room and my flowering space, so I never allow any plant to get taller than 18" if I can help it. I average nearly 2 oz. per plant using 600w in my flower room. Peace ... j.b.

[CaffeineForAll]

400watts = 24 inches of penetration from the arc tube

600watts = 36 inches of penetration from the arc tube

1000watts = 48 inches of penetration from the arc tube

Penetration can be improved by ensuring you have oscillating fans hitting as many plants as possible (it moves the leaves, exposing others to light)

Penetration can also be increased by growing lanky less bushy strains, but its effect is limited.

 

Average distance from plants in a typical air cooled system

400watts = 8 inches from arc tube to canopy

600watts = 12 inches from arc tube to canopy

1000watts = 18 inches from arc tube to canopy

 

As mentioned before hood shape/design will also alter these figures.

Vertical gardens generally allow for much closer placement. However, most plants find vertical lighting to be stressful as their biology dictates that the leaf surface should be perpendicular to the direction of the light rays. As a result plants leaves will "twist" or "bend" even "crinkle" to align their chlorophyl with the side lighting from vertical bulbs BELOW the canopy/plant (which is how most gardens termed "vertical" have orientation.). This doesn't apply to vertically hung bulbs such as parabolic reflectors.

 

So from these figures you can pretty much determine what you want your finished height to be. As another member said, you will need to learn how much your strain stretches to determine the correct flowering height. I like to start small and work my way up, this way the established strains aren't put at a disadvantage by having a light raised for one plant taller than the rest. A trick to establishing an even canopy with multiple strains is to place sativa dominant, lanky, or fast growing strains under Metal Halide 5500-6500 Kelvin spectrum bulb during veg. The MH will promote branching and shorter internode spacing. Indica dominant, squat, or slow growing strains under a HPS 2000-3000 kelvin spectrum bulb during veg. The HPS will promote "false" stretching through the far IR the bulb produces, also plants will have less branching and larger leaves.

 

Regardless, I consider the early flower stretch to be a waste of the plants resources and energy. I run 6500K MH during the first 2-3 weeks of flower with the glass from my hood removed (the glass may absorb UVB which is what I'm after). This will dramatically reduce stretch, but can effect yield on some strains, particularly sativas, for these I alternate the bulbs the first 4 weeks of flowering, starting flowering with the MH.

 

Still some, especially hybrids, prefer a mixed spectrum, and have seen some good results from the dual arc tubes on these hybrids. But remember penetration is reduced with the dual HPS/MH arc tube bulbs. The 600watters HTG has as a 400w HPS 200wMH, and the 1000watters that ultrasun/ushio/hortilux make are a 600w HPS 400w MH.

 

As for yields, really its Grams Per Watts (GPW). 600w lamps are the most efficient in terms of GPW, with 400w second, and 1k's being the worst. Guideline GPW which are averages, variables like strain, temp, humidity, water quality, co2, atmospheric pressure, moon phase, etc etc lol can change these, but its the goal I shoot for when I'm growing, and how I determine real success. In other words I rarely state how much I yield per plant as that's not an accurate indicator of yield. Instead I will state how much I yield per light or in GPW.

 

1000w systems, with a full canopy 36 inches deep, 40 watts psf.

Organic Soil .5 GPW Organic Soil-Less .75 GPW

Synthetic Soil 1 GPW Synthetic Soil-Less 1.5 GPW

DWC 2 GPW Aero 2.5 GPW NFT 2.5 GPW

 

1000w is generally 25% less in GPW than a 600w. When compared watt for watt.

 

If you don't fill the the entire cubic footage with leaf mass, your GPW will suffer. If you over fill and have to lollipop or experience undergrowth die off then you over vegged and need to cut back, or try some of the lighting tips or training the plants (fim, topping, super-cropping, bonsai etc).

 

LED/FLUORESCENT/Plasma would be different of course.

[pergamum362]

how about some pics caffieneforall...would love to see what a 2.5 gram per watt grow looks like.

[CaffeineForAll]

how about some pics caffieneforall...would love to see what a 2.5 gram per watt grow looks like.

 

So would I, 12 years of paranoia means very few pics that would be telling enough for you to see it. Hard to tell how much light a plant was under, and how many plants where in that system without a photo that also shows all of your equipment.

 

Those figures are goals. I've gotten over 2 GPW probably a whopping 5 times. But I still strive for it.

 

Maybe since I'm drifting back to synthetics after a few years figuring out organics I'll pull one off again, but I can only hope!

[pergamum362]

lol..im hopn for ya.I got some pics floating around, it wasnt until recently i said screw it, ill post a few pictures...hehe..u dont see everything tho...just glimpses.

[pergamum362]

per square foot is a good way to go with multiple strains under one light, if your trying to keep track of whats doing what.