Stunt veg growth intentionally? Too much veg?

[HowardC]

I'm in a pickle. I'm vegging these for 3 months now from seed other than the largest one on the left. This came from an unknown stock cutting. I am setup for plants in an attic grow tent. The attic, I'm afraid, is too hot and will likely remain that way, in SE NC, for another month.
I'm afraid these plants will outgrow the 6' tent height -grow lighting.
I read that keeping the roots cool is the key and I have a 4" supply, from a climate controlled room, going into the tent with an inline fan. If I keep the cool air pointed at the fabric bags will it be good enough?
This is only my 2nd grow so I'm not dialed in.
Fwiw I made these 8 colas. The runt in front left is the exception. She's "special. "

 

[Galgrows]

What fabric bags all i see are plastic?

 

[THCosmic]

Top and train.

 

[HowardC]

The pots are 7 gallon fabric and they sit in plastic bowls. The runt is in a plastic pot in a clay dish. I water from the bottom most often.

I don't want to top anymore. Is that the best resort?
Thanks

 

[GNick55]

cool air pointed at bags??
how long that been going on? probably a reason why plants are growing slowly,. plus topping and pruning etc all this can stress them,. but saying this is the case here,..

 

[HowardC]

Isn't it the soil temperature that matters? I mean if the foliage is at 95 but the roots are 80 seems to me to be an OK growing condition??

 

[TrampDunkAllstar]

Lower humidity = less veg, more roots.

 

[HowardC]

Yeah but I'm stuck with what the humidity is currently in the area they are in.
Thanks

 

[BeefyBully]

the issue you are having:

The attic, I'm afraid, is too hot and will likely remain that way, in SE NC, for another month.
ok, lets start here. how are you measuring RH%? do you have a hygrometer and are you tracking outside humidity?

I'm afraid these plants will outgrow the 6' tent height -grow lighting.
can you bend over and tie off? don't recommend topping

I read that keeping the roots cool is the key and I have a 4" supply, from a climate-controlled room, going into the tent with an inline fan.
I consider this crop steering and is a little advanced, do not point anything anywhere towards the plant. you won't like it after a certain point if you were blasted daily

If I keep the cool air pointed at the fabric bags, will it be good enough?
first, nothing is ever good enough. why do you feel the need to point cool air

This is only my 2nd grow so I'm not dialed in.
ok, what happened during your first grow? was it a success? if you're not dialed in why did you continue?

truth is, I don't do any of that. I'm still on my first grow. started with two plants from bag seed, got it up to flower and blew my efforts out the water. I could not control the humidity in first week flower, for two plants in a 2x2.
so, I turned one plant into clones reducing my RH footprint and continued the effort in dialing in my gear. meanwhile I'll wait for the ac infinity
de-humidifier, improve my first grow, and share my findings. Otherwise, I'm stuck in a purgatory veg.

listen my guy, you are going to have a problem in flower if you don't get a handle on humidity. If you still trying to dial in your gear, then do that because there's a bit of a learning curve with different manufactures.

I'm curious as to why in the attic...?

truth be told you have to leverage each element:
- is it hot above 81F then turn off the heater and marry humidity to reach a vpd of 1 if it fluctuates .8 or to 1.2 you are still good for veg
- is the humidity in the area high then turn off the humidity and marry to the temp to reach VPD
- of all places the attic should have been the last place to grow.

 

[HowardC]

The attic is my only available option other than the current location which is fine for vegging. I don't care about the humidity outside. I have about 65% humidity where the plans are currently. The plants are doing extremely well imo. Even the runt should produce 5 strong colas.
I have several electronic humidity sensors and I compare them often.
lant.

"you won't like it after a certain point if you were blasted daily".
I consider this to be humanizing of the plant and it makes no sense to me at all. I'm a beekeeper and people constantly associate humanity with bees and it's ignorant AF IMO.

I can heat my tent easily and, for that reason, I'm going to either wait for it to be acceptable cool in the tent or wait until the equinox in another month. Whichever comes first is how I'll deal.
The plants will be large however, after some estimating, I feel like I easily spread these 30 colas/branches and keep them all at the same distance from the grow lights. I have a net and it worked well for me the last time which was also 4 plants. That grow was a win for my first but the amount of larf was HORRIBLE! I have 1 2000 light and 2 1000 lights which allows me to focus lighting where I think it needs to go. Not an elaborate setup.

How comfortable are you giving advice when you are having the problems you describe?

Maybe just me but that's something I could never do. Just say in-not hatin.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I have 1 2000 light and 2 1000 lights which allows me to focus lighting where I think it needs to go.

Those aren't the wattages, are they? What brand are the lights?

I'm in a pickle.

Apparently so, and this thread is hard to understand. What is the 'pickle' you're in?

The plants will be large however, after some estimating, I feel like I easily spread these 30 colas/branches and keep them all at the same distance from the grow lights.

Sounds good.

I have about 65% humidity where the plants are currently.

What are the temperatures? It's important to consider both temperature and humidity.

I read that keeping the roots cool is the key and I have a 4" supply, from a climate controlled room, going into the tent with an inline fan. If I keep the cool air pointed at the fabric bags will it be good enough?

It's not necessarily a bad idea to blow air at the fabric pots. The roots need gas exchange with the atmosphere. The soil is likely to dry faster, though. As for keeping the soil cool, I suspect that depends on how cool it is. If it's too cool, soil problems can develop. Mine is usually about 72F.

I have several electronic humidity sensors and I compare them often.

Are you using an environment controller?

 

[HowardC]

Yes. Vivosun VS 2000 & 2 X 1000.

The pickle has been addressed at this point however I had a concern that I will be vegging the plants to the point that they would run out of room in my 5X5 tent.

The temperature of the current location is 78°F.

Im using timers, sensors etc for all of the gear. I think I have a big advantage over many home growers in that I am almost always near the plants and checking on them. Maybe?

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Vivosun VS 2000 & 2 X 1000.

Those are 200 and 100 Watts, and about the right size for the plants you're growing, but maybe small for a 5x5 tent. The common recommendation is 30 watts per square foot, so a 5x5 tent would need a 750W light. Your 400W should work, though, especially for vegetation. Flowering calls for more wattage than vegetation. I am inclined to believe less than the recommended wattage is okay, but I only grow for personal use.

I had a concern that I will be vegging the plants to the point that they would run out of room in my 5X5 tent.

Are those recent pictures in post #1? If so, no worries. If not, a recent picture would help. Also, what is the height of the tent?

The temperature of the current location is 78°F.

Good, but it means your humidity at 65% is too high and is likely to cause slow growth. It's helpful to understand Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) so here's a chart. (I apologize if this is not new to you.) VPD describes how water and nutrients move from the roots to the leaves. A VPD above 1.0 is recommended for late vegetation. Mine is usually 1.1 to 1.2. Minor fluctuations are okay. It drops when the lights are off and the tent cools.

I'm using timers, sensors etc for all of the gear.

Do those sensors control anything? If not, see my next comment.

I think I have a big advantage over many home growers in that I am almost always near the plants and checking on them. Maybe?

Maybe. I spend most of my time at home, so I have that same 'advantage.' I think many of us do, or they have a helper. However, even though I'm at home most of the time, I still find a controller to be useful. The main reason for that is changes in the weather. I soon learned that I wasn't either able or aware enough to adjust to weather changes. Plus, no one can be home all the time, or awake all the time. At the end of the day, a good controller is well worth the cost. Recommended.

 

[HowardC]

Great post IMO. I suspect I'm not up to speed on controllers?? I have a dehumidifier that I keep in the tent? I use an under floor heating element to heat the tent in the winter and I use a small space heater if it's really cold.

The picture is only about 1 week old. Old enough where I had to trim about 40 new nodes . These plants, three photo Maui wowie from seed and an unknown clone, are jumping out of the soil. I'm using the GH threesome and add cal mag. I dose at 2 gallon and use 2-1/2 gallon watering pot so I'm a little light. I use plain water every 4th watering and I bottom water fwiw. I pH to between 6&6.5.

Tent is 6-1/2" tall. The attic is above my garage. It isn't a part of the main house. I have a large shop that is an extension of the garage and I access this attic through a set of stairs in the shop.

I will be looking for another grow light. I did have a an additional corn cob led light for my first grow but it bit it. It wasn't made as a grow light but it was extremely bright .I try to keep the ppfd at 600 during veg. That's about the max for the current 1&1 lighting so I'm going to add the 2nd 100 watt light.

Sorry if I missed anything.
Thanks