Need help with slow growth in early flower

[Guest]

My plants are in early flower but are not growing in height. I flipped on 2/4 and plants were 20” tall. They went into flower 2/18 and they were 24”. Now a week later they are only at 26”. They look extremely healthy otherwise. Buds are forming relatively quickly. Plant already smells like skittles. Nute solution and alternate plain water are pH 6.4. Runoff pH is 6.6. Temps have been consistently 75 day and 60-65 night. Humidity has been around 50-60%. No bugs. No fungus that I can see. Plants get watered when they’re supposed to and are allowed to dry to like 1.5 knuckles in. I’m positive there’s no light intrusion. My light is set @28” (recommended 36” - 28”) and is setup properly.

Please help! Everything seems perfect except for the stunted growth. What could be causing this?

sorry about the blurp pics but I don’t have another light source.

[dphipps1020]

What size pots are you using? They look a little small to me

They’re 5 gal pots. 16” saucers.

[dphipps1020]

Oh. Must just be the angle

[Eliot Pryor]

Patience. They will stretch until you wish they would quit stretching. Your plants look great and your setup is fine. Depends on the strain and that's not always guaranteed. Sativas and sativa dominant hybrids will triple easy. Indicas not so much. Enjoy your grow !!

[SoOrbudgal]

Hang in there cannatom like the others said it will happen maybe not dramatic I mean you won't wake up to 4" growth overnight but who knows?

[Guest]

Thanks for the reassurance Eliot and budgal.

[billyboy]

They look great. What is the strain? Where did you get the seeds?

My BlueCheese from ILGM looks like that and still produces. Not as much stretch as other strains in the early flower.

[Guest]

Thanks. They’re ZkittleZ from Platinum Seeds but I got them as 8” plants from a dispensary. I didn’t realize until I got home that 2 of the 4 had three fingered leaves. They grew out of it in a couple weeks and now they’re all normal and the same.

Nice to know they might still stretch out.

[dilvish]

Are you sure they are photoperiod and not autoflower? Autoflower they would definitely only grow a little bigger so that may be the case. If they are auto then they need more light...longer (18/6 or 24/0) not more intense. Your set up looks fine and the plants also look fine...just determine whether they are auto or photo and go from there.

@ dilvish they are photoperiod for sure

[Guest]

Still no vertical growth. One plant has increased a couple inches in last 4 days but nothing on the other 3. Flowers are already getting frosty and plants are very healthy. Any ideas? I’m afraid I’m going to miss the flowering stretch.

[dphipps1020]

Could be the strain. Some plants just don't stretch much. If there's no other issues I'd say just roll with it and see what happens.

I talked to someone who grew this strain a couple of times and she said they were on the taller side of medium plants. I’m only trying to get 42-48” out of them. The yield is really important so I’m freaking out a little bit.

[dilvish]

They do look healthy so it isn't anything you are doing wrong. The only thing I can think of is based on their current height and leggyness they may not have gotten enough full spectrum light as they look quite tall. They otherwise look very healthy and you should be proud that your only issue is that you personally want or expect more.

Taller plants can produce less than short bushy plants...it all depends on how many flowers/buds you get. remember it's not the overall size of the plant that matters it's how many and how fat the flowers/buds grow. Oh sure you can smoke fan leaves as well but the THC/CBD content is mostly in the buds...the fan leaves are really just "light collectors".

I have to agree with the poster who mentioned strain type. That could be a factor as well as the producer of the seeds. For example i have White widow from 2 different seed companies and believe it or not they do grow differently even though they are both White Widow.

Something to remember is that you can't rush nature. Even experienced growers can't always predict yield so if you get less you get less that's just the way it works...just be fortunate that final yield appears to be your only issue!!!

[GreenState]

I missed where you mentioned what strain you're growing. They look excellent to me, patience! "They went into flower 2/18 " If you just started showing pistils on 2/18, they're babies. I don't think many are looking for stretch . My blue widow is less than 24", untopped photo fem. Second time I've grown it, it's the strain, short and bushy..stout.
Patience

They’re Platinum ZkittleZ. Got them as 8” plants. There’s very little info about them online.

[SoOrbudgal]

They look real good stop stressing

That made me laugh. Hey, my vaporizer is warmed up!

[Guest]

dilvish Thanks. I got the plants as a 8” clone. It had tight internodal spacing. I’ve had my light hanging 2-3” lower than the mfg specs at full power. Right before flowering they shot up like 8” in just a few days. But growth pretty much stopped when I flipped the switch.

Thanks for the reassurance about plant size. Just wish it had larger stems.

I’ve heard that northern lights is just a group of different breeder’s variations of the original now and they have varying traits.

There’s very little info about platinum ZkittleZ online.

The reason for my concern is that I have a target yield I need to meet. I supply 6 medical patients with no cost cannabis as well as my own use. I need to be able to supplement my outdoor grow to be able to have enough for the year.

[SoOrbudgal]

I'm right there with you for the nearly same reasons cannatom. This is the reason for me learning indoor, I won't do another summer grow without a pantry of pot to fall back on.

[dilvish]

Kudos to supplying others for free but ultimately like I said you can't force nature. Until you've had more experience I'd say it was foolish to promise something that right now you have little control over. And why Zskittlez? For medical patients CBD content is way more effective than THC and this strain is exceptionally low on CBD

SoOrbudgal. I have been getting plenty from my fall harvest for several years but had a disappointing crop last year. Plants stayed small and got attacked by bud worms while I was away. Probably hacked off 1/2 my crop of mature bud to save the plants. So it’s the same for me that I’m learning indoor growing now.

dilvish I’ve been doing this for quite a few years outdoor. Have always had plenty for others and myself so it hasn’t been an issue. It has nothing to do with promises made and kept. It has to do with people who are sick and my being able to help. These people’s conditions/illnesses don’t give a sh*t whether I suck at growing or not. The need will be there whether I meet it or not. I am using this strain because it was the best of what I had to choose from. I don’t have the space, setup or time to grow from seed so clones are my choice and I have limited selection.

[SoOrbudgal]

Keep doing what you doing Guest I supply 2 dear friends for the same reasons. Pay if forward I like it.