Too tall - help!

Hi all - Just wrote this and added a pic, but forgot to submit!

HPS bulb blew out after 4 days in flowering, just as I was headed out of town for a few days. Had to switch back to MH. Got home and all plants seem to have grown almost 6 inches and are now only a few inches from the air-cooled 400w lamp.

The Hydro box is only 3'x3'x30" and the stems are pretty thick on these auto-flower dwarfs. Don't know if I will be able to bend them ala ScOG.

Can I 'top' them at this stage of the game and still hope to get a decent outcome for my client? Since they'll only be starting to flower I'm presuming I'll need to clip at least 2 nodes down o maybe 5-6 inches?

Any suggestions or help will be great. Should have the new HPS bulb today.

White area at top of pic is the lamp!!

Thanks ever-so-much or any advice -

mrmcr

The stems maybe thick but you can train the tops over they are supple. Just take your time, alittle each day. I would not top at this point but you could. Happens in nature, something rips the top out. And the stretch will stop soon.

Really didn't mater what light you had they were going to stretch.

would prob been worst with the HPS bulb

Thanks for the advice - Going to build a trellis tomorrow and see what I can do. Right now I'm running out of room in all directions in the box... may HAVE to cut them back a bit... getting very 'branchy' as well. Hey - at least they look healthy!

A re-design of the box in in the works - but not built as yet.

Will post again when I see flowers!

Thanks again - mrmcr2

Hi all - Back with the continuing saga...

It's now been several weeks since the 400w HPS bulb blew and the plants were back under MH. (they were back under MH for about a week) Trouble is, I'm not getting any buds or flowering.
Sagarmatha's site recommends light schedule of 18/6 for full duration of grow, but 1 week ago I switched to 12/12 trying to force flowering... I was hoping to be able to get the flowers/buds to grow up through the trellis and keep the leaves under, but alas... NO FLOWERS, JUST NEW LEAVES.

They keep growing taller and I keep having to pinch them back, as they either get too crowded under a trellis, or they reach up to and touch the lamp itself.

Drip hydro -
5 Gal. rez.
AN MGB nutes
Sagarmatha Diesel Diesel Autoflower Fem.
PH - try to keep around 5.6
PPM - around 800
Humidity approx. 38%
Temp in box approx. 78-82 deg.

Lamp is air cooled, but still don't think it's a good idea for the leaves to be touching it!

Had some new leaves looking pretty yellow, but corrected with nutes.

Don't know how long to keep letting them grow before I decide they just won't flower. The grow box is only about 36" tall - grow area slightly less then 2.5 ft. I think each time I cut them back, it takes time for them to recover from the shock, but I just keep getting new leaf growth and no sign of flowers.

HELP!! Any 'tricks' known to force flowering?? I'm lost, and frustrated.

Thanks for any pointers - mrmcr

I feel like I say it all the time, but I'm no expert.

I did read about the process that causes flowering a few weeks ago (may have forgotten some).

From what I understand. Auto flower plants are (could be wrong) plants that evolved in near equitorial regions where 12/12 is 365 (like Cuba or hawaii).

The internal process of deciding when to flower is a chemical reaction inside the plant. So, a good example would be a 24/7 plant produces NONE of this chemical. Once you move the plant to 12/12, this chemical builds up inside the plant tissues. Once it reaches a certain consentration the plant reacts by making flowers.

So, questions would be is ANY light reaching the plants during lights out? ANY light, be it a red power strip switch that glows, a little light making it through openings in the container, light passing through the container itself or turning on ANY light during the dark time. If ANY light makes it to the plant this chemical depleates before reaching the level needed to trigger the flowering.

Hope this helps. BTW green light does NOT effect flowering. You can buy a light on e-bay that is intended to use in a grow room during lights out. Green just bounces off the plant. ANY other color light will cause you issues.

Hope that helps and Merry Christmas.

Thanks for the response -

I am using a fogger to help feed the roots, which has a small red LED that is always on while the fogger is. Didn't seem to effect the last project that didn't have lamp or pump issues. Was also Auto Flower, though a different seed house, and had no issues going to flower with them.

I may take your suggestion and turn off the fogger and also make sure the box is as light tight as I can make it... then check again after a short while.

I'm willing to wait a bit to see what happens, just feels like I'm setting things back each time I have to cut the girls back.

Thanks again - mrmcr2