New Grower Think Different + MIG-29, 2 Weeks above ground . . . small?

[mzocoh]

Could anyone offer an opinion about the growth of these plants? In the past I've seen a much wider leaf spread at 2 weeks above ground (2 weeks 5 days from seed) & larger leaves in general . . . the setup hasn't changed from the past (400W multiband LED + 180W grow-band LED at 19/5) these 2 week old Think Differents and MIG-29s seem small for me at this stage . . . it could be that they're getting ready to take off, but I feel the growth has been slower than in the past + they are a darker green than I've seen in the past.

The mix is (roughly) 35% ocean forest, 35% Promix & 30% Growstone (a perlite alternative) - they were started in root riot cubes . . . no nutes initially other than those in the OF and a couple tablespoons of molasses + a half-tablespoon of Epson salts watered into the mix before potting (probably about 3 gallons watered in for all 7 pots). They were fed a few days ago (after the second set of proper leaves) with 3-part Dutch Masters grow (A+B+Add .27) at 1/3 strength - they have been deep green since sprouting. I've compared them to similar TD grows at this stage and some were about the same and some far larger (at least 2X if not more). Thoughts?

Thanks : ) . . .

 

[EverythingsHazy]

The lighting makes it hard to see the true color, but they look healthy and have good node spacing. If I had to, I'd say they were prob going to take off within a week or so after growing out a nice root system. If you are going to top it, now would probably be a good time so you don't waste much vegetation or time.

 

[mzocoh]

Well, I tried to adjust the color of the uppermost photo to reduce the pinkish glare of the LED lighting (though left the bottom pic alone), so that one is pretty close to the actual color . . . they're not so dark after all - I had a look around at some other TD grows (seems a popular choice) and saw a couple with the same color as these, so I suppose it's normal - they are just darker than anything else I've seen grow in person. The TD at the top is the largest at this point, the others TDs are 3/4 it's size and the MIGs are the smallest - about 1/2 the size of the TD in the top pic . . . oh yes, there's also a NL Blue auto in the mix that sprouted a few days after the rest - it's running neck-in-neck with the smaller TDs. Dunno - it's been a while & I tend to get sort of anxious about things going OK when I've learned in the past that things generally go just fine & that so long as you don't overdo or underdo anything the plants tend to take care of themselves . . . if this happened more often I'd probably be more calm, but these endeavors are far & few between! Still, I wanted to see how these compare at this stage to others who've grown the same or similar plants in soil. My temps aren't the best (as high as 90F and averaging 85F) so I've cut out the 180W as of today, until I can ventilate better - still, at this stage I expect the 400W will serve them adequately for a while longer! Oh yes, there's a spray-to-activate CO2 sheet thing in there as well - I don't have a CO2 meter and have heard mixed reviews of such things, but if nothing else it makes me feel better! I don't want to top 'em this time - I've done it comparatively in the past with some White Russian autos and had better results with the ones I've simply left to grow as they like - have you compared topping to natural growth? Seen a better outcome when topped? Who knows, maybe I did it wrong.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

The ones I have topped did better. but the ones that werent topped were also the first few so there were a ton of mistakes. Got almost nothing off of them lol. a few low ryders kept like 2' from t5 bulbs in soil with no perlite so it turned to a brick lol.. -_-
So in comparison, ive gotten increases, but I am letting my baby think diffeent (day 2 today) go under a "400w"chineseVipar led without topping it or bending it or anything this time. It's also in a 3 gallon pot which is twice the sizem and a smart pot. So Ill prob end up doing one with topping and training in the same pot under the same light after this one for a better comparison,

It IS great for getting all of the buds as close to the lights as possible tho since you can get them all within like 2" of each other MAX and also all under 5" fromthe top of the pot.