Why are my plants so small and flowering? Help!

[About Tree Fiddy]

I don’t know what’s going on, but I have three tiny plants that flowered very early.

The setup:
- Bestva 3000W LED light
- 5-gallon fabric pots
- Happy Frog soil
- 1 Creme la Chem seed, 1 Gorilla Glue seed
- Lights on 24 hours a day
- No nutes yet

There was a third seed, a Zkittelz, but I just ripped it out because it was barely 2” tall.

I don’t know what the problem is. All of the plants flowered at about 2 weeks. They are now 3- 3 1/2 weeks old and the two remaining plants are only 8” tall.

The light and soil are new to me. I have only grown a couple times, but I used to use a HPS 600W light and Ocean Forest soil.

I don’t think it’s the light itself, because I have spoken to people who use the same brand and they have had good results.

Could it be:
(A) When the sprouts popped up, the light was about 48” from the plants. Was it too far? (I just moved it closer, about 24”.)

(B) I used only the veg setting (there is both a veg and flower setting for lights). Someone else said he used both settings for autos. Could it be that?

(C) Could it be the soil? I have always used Ocean Forest before, but read that a lot of people used Happy Frog because Ocean Forest could burn autos.

(D) Seed genetics? I believe both seeds are from ILGM. I have used their seeds before and they didn’t have this problem.

(E) Is it just the luck of the autos? Does this just happen sometimes? (But, makes me wonder why all three plants are tiny.)

I’m not even sure what to do at this point. As I said, I pulled the one Zkittelz plant because it was barely 2” and, really, didn’t seem worth keeping. But, I don’t know if I should keep going with the other two and see what happens or just pull them start over.

The dilemma is, and why this is so completely depressing, is that I need this stuff. I have two chronic pain conditions and marijuana is the only thing that has brought me some relief. I do have a medical marijuana card, but the limited options at the dispensary are kind of lame and very expensive. If I could just grow one decent plant, it would probably provide enough to keep me in tincture for 6 months!

So, I just don’t know what to do. I did just replant a new seed for the one I pulled, hoping the same thing doesn’t happen. But, the other two.....could they possibly rally and provide me with at least an ounce or are these two plants together only going to yield a couple grams at this point? They seem healthy, but I just don’t think they are going to get much bigger or produce big buds at this point.

Help! Any suggestions and recommendations? Any advice on what I could be doing wrong or what is happening with these plants? I seriously don’t want a repeat of this situation, if I can avoid it.

I”m sorry if I sound whiny, but as I said, I need this for pain relief and the situation has me down. Chronic pain is a bitch.

Thank you, for any and all replies!

 

[skeeter456]

I have a bestva 1000 and had the exact same problem!! I actually raised my light and my plants are doing great now!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@About Tree Fiddy Welcome to AFN. Stunted plants can be caused by a host of things. I think lighting is the first choke point as long as the plants have not been too cold. Those lights are very blue heavy and a lot of blue light make a compact plant. The other thing is watering wrong when a plant is a seedling. A lot of peeps water in a small cirlcle for some reason? Cannabis tap roots can grow 9 inches in three days, the laterals are not far behind. A root will stop growing at dry soil. This can stunt a plant. Wrong fertilizer or wrong application techniques. Or any combination of these and other things I am forgetting. So It can be a bunch of things.

 

[About Tree Fiddy]

I have a bestva 1000 and had the exact same problem!! I actually raised my light and my plants are doing great now!

Huh. I thought my light being too high was a problem. So, I’ve lowered it. But, you had to actually raise yours? Odd, isn’t it? Are you growing autos?

 

[About Tree Fiddy]

@About Tree Fiddy Welcome to AFN. Stunted plants can be caused by a host of things. I think lighting is the first choke point as long as the plants have not been too cold. Those lights are very blue heavy and a lot of blue light make a compact plant. The other thing is watering wrong when a plant is a seedling. A lot of peeps water in a small cirlcle for some reason? Cannabis tap roots can grow 9 inches in three days, the laterals are not far behind. A root will stop growing at dry soil. This can stunt a plant. Wrong fertilizer or wrong application techniques. Or any combination of these and other things I am forgetting. So It can be a bunch of things.

Thanks! I’ve lowered the lights. I do water directly at the stem. But, I don’t think I’ve been watering enough. I guess I was used to the other soil, which seemed to hold more moisture. I guess I’ll see if those changes make a difference.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

 

[skeeter456]

Huh. I thought my light being too high was a problem. So, I’ve lowered it. But, you had to actually raise yours? Odd, isn’t it? Are you growing autos?

yes i grow only autos now, and I think my
problem was i had to raise my light. I originally had my light about 16 inches from the top of my plants. Now I am about 24, and they all seem to be growing great!

 

[Sheriffatman]

@About Tree Fiddy Welcome to AFN. Stunted plants can be caused by a host of things. I think lighting is the first choke point as long as the plants have not been too cold. Those lights are very blue heavy and a lot of blue light make a compact plant. The other thing is watering wrong when a plant is a seedling. A lot of peeps water in a small cirlcle for some reason? Cannabis tap roots can grow 9 inches in three days, the laterals are not far behind. A root will stop growing at dry soil. This can stunt a plant. Wrong fertilizer or wrong application techniques. Or any combination of these and other things I am forgetting. So It can be a bunch of things.

Hi there mog, watering in a small circle . Like many fables this has come from the modern era, i.e. The internet. It’s kind of like online Chinese whispers, many on line folk and grow sites advise this type of watering and claims it encourages the root to go searching for water . Like many new growers who research , you hear it enough times so it must be right. Lol. I to am guilty of this watering technique on my first grow. And won’t be doing it again that way, although my plant never seemed to suffer. Keep spreading the word mog, we need more of it. Cheers

 

[Simplicio]

I've been playing around with food and light levels in hydo.
I was feeling guilty about using much less than most people.
Previously, my main problem was too much growth.

But with too much food and light the plants became unhealthy.
The bottom fan leaves burned, some of the plants got stressed into too-early flower, and the growth is severely stunted.

Instead of getting about 4 oz per plant, those will each yield about 1/2 oz.

I went back to my old style of less food and light, and now all is well.
One of my over-done plants even recovered.

 

[_state_of_mind_]

Hi there mog, watering in a small circle . Like many fables this has come from the modern era, i.e. The internet. It’s kind of like online Chinese whispers, many on line folk and grow sites advise this type of watering and claims it encourages the root to go searching for water . Like many new growers who research , you hear it enough times so it must be right. Lol. I to am guilty of this watering technique on my first grow. And won’t be doing it again that way, although my plant never seemed to suffer. Keep spreading the word mog, we need more of it. Cheers

This is absolutely true - as new growers, most of the "research" shows this approach as the best way to get roots to spread out. I am grateful to experts like @Mañ'O'Green who take the time and effort to help people out and put to rest many of these urban legends.