Leaf Burn (Lighting System's Fault)

[NeuroGheist]

Okay, so i'll get right to it. I've never experienced a problem like this before, because i've never had a plant stretch as much as this BG (Bubble Gum) strain i'm working with right now. It's 3 weeks old and 12+ inches tall. Working on it's 6th set of branches, and i'm already seeing non-distinguishable signs of sex.

Anyways, a few nights ago, I turned off the light to give it 6 hours of darkness (i'm working with 18/6 here), and when I woke up, 4 of the leaf blades on one leaf were burned, brown, and slumped over. Pretty much dead. Now, the entire leaf didn't die nor get burned. Just 4 of the leaf blades (aka - 4/7 of the parts on the leaf.)

My question is...is this anything I need to def. worry about? I've never had a problem with burning thus far, and I have no idea how this'd happened. But when I woke up the plant was distinguishably close to the light, so I can only guess that's what did it. And i'd never experienced this before, so i'm almost certain.

As of now, I can't post any pics, cuz my camera cord is missing. Thus, why i'm going into as much detail as I can about this situation.

Anyways...should I worry about this? My plant stretched into my lighting system and 4/7 of the blades on one (just one) of the leaves, died. Do I simply remove the slumping leaves, leave the rest intact, and see what comes of it? Or will the death of 4/7 leaf blades actually really dramatically shock/kill the plant?

Again, kind of a no0b question. And something I probably shouldn't be making such a deal out of, considering i've grown before. But this has yet to happen to me. So i'm a tad concerned.

Overall, the rest of the plant is healthy. It's just that one leaf that suffered the damage. No other leaves/leaf blades are slumping down. Just 4 blades.

Any input would be appreciated. And again, sorry for the lack of pictures. As again, my camera cord is sorta kinda missing. =S If I find it, I will post pics if need be.

BTW - Yes, i've raised the lighting obviously, to prevent this from happening again. If i've simply just shocked the plant, that's okay. I can deal with that. But if this could kill it if it happens again, i'm not taking any chances.

NeuroGheist Reviewed by NeuroGheist on 11-13-2006. Leaf Burn (Lighting System's Fault) Okay, so i'll get right to it. I've never experienced a problem like this before, because i've never had a plant stretch as much as this BG (Bubble Gum) strain i'm working with right now. It's 3 weeks old and 12+ inches tall. Working on it's 6th set of branches, and i'm already seeing non-distinguishable signs of sex. Anyways, a few nights ago, I turned off the light to give it 6 hours of darkness (i'm working with 18/6 here), and when I woke up, 4 of the leaf blades on one leaf were burned, Rating: 5

[stinkyattic]

It should be fine if it's just a couple blades... couple things you can do with a plant that grows too fast:
Tie it down
Put something like a screen or a piece of plexiglass between the plant and the light
Use flouros (don't burn if the plant is well-watered)

[NeuroGheist]

Yeah. At the moment, i'm using a 150 Watt CFL in a heat lamp. Considering the mad amount of heat it puts out, i'm guessing that's why it happened. This was only noticed a few days ago, when i'd woken up, but it def. could've happened beforehand, when the light was on. (Thus why I think the light is at fault, here.)

I am considering tying it down, as well. As i've never seen a plant grow this tall, in such a short period of time. And the strange thing is, this plant is an indica strain. It's supposed to be fairly short, lol. Yet in 3 short weeks, it's over a foot tall.

Another question.

When will I be able to distinguish the sex of my plant? I've taken a magnifying glass to the internodes to check on what the sex (may) be. And i'm seeing green hairs extending from the internodes. Nothing (thus far) that looks like pollen pods. Just green hairs, and a few new leaves growing on the internodes further down lower on the plant.

When will the pistils (white hairs) be visible if it's a female? Or is what i'm seeing actually pre-mature pistils? Again, it's 3 weeks old. So it's not that important of a question. But I thought i'd ask, so i'd be ready.

So how long does it take for me to BE SURE of it's sex? Or how can I make it show it's true sex, faster? Cut down on the lighting?

Again, sorry for the off-topic side-question. =P

[stinkyattic]

Yeah. At the moment, i'm using a 150 Watt CFL in a heat lamp.

Just one? And why in a heat lamp? Heat is not good! Anyway if you're using a bulb that isn't one of those infrared heat bulbs... heat lamp??? huh? But you need more light than that.

. As i've never seen a plant grow this tall, in such a short period of time. And the strange thing is, this plant is an indica strain. It's supposed to be fairly short, lol. Yet in 3 short weeks, it's over a foot tall.

It's stretching from lack of light most likely. Go to the hardware store and get a bunch of cheap little clip-on desk lamps and put BIG ASS CFLs in them, put them around your plant.

When will I be able to distinguish the sex of my plant? .....i'm seeing green hairs extending from the internodes. Nothing (thus far) that looks like pollen pods. Just green hairs, and a few new leaves growing on the internodes further down lower on the plant.

You're probably just seeing either the normal 'spurs' or possibly secondary growth, but if your plant is only 3 weeks old those can't be preflowers.

When will the pistils (white hairs) be visible if it's a female? Or is what i'm seeing actually pre-mature pistils? Again, it's 3 weeks old. So it's not that important of a question. But I thought i'd ask, so i'd be ready.

About a week and a half after you cut the lighting down to 12/12

So how long does it take for me to BE SURE of it's sex? Or how can I make it show it's true sex, faster? Cut down on the lighting?

Wait until the nodes go alternating, then it's mature, and it will show sex quickly after reducing the light.

And study study study. There's lots of useful info if you poke back through old posts.

[Weedhound]

what he said.

[NeuroGheist]

Got the lamp cuz it was working and cheap. And seemed to get the job done, and even still does...with the drawback of having to keep it so many extra inches away, so the plant doesn't burn. It works, but at a cost. It still distributes light pretty well. Even more so, because my CFL is 150w.

I do infact plan on getting some more mini-CFLs. Maybe 2-4 more. Perhaps 40w bulbs. Then i'll get ahold of some of those bendable-neck desklamps, and give my plant some more light.

Although from the top where the light is, it already seems totally enveloped in light. I suppose I should give it more. Because it seems to not be branching off very much. Although the site I got the seeds from did tell me that the 2 problems i'm having, are common with this strain (stretching, and not being very branchy) and are even normal symptoms of the strain, i'm not sure this is all because this is how the strain is, or because i'm not giving it enough light. So i'll probably be purchasing a few more CFLs with lower wattage, just in case. Better safe than sorry.

Thx for the info on the sex. I'll keep that in mind, and keep checking for new growth, and update on anything new I find. And yes, I will indeed study, more.

I know a bunch already, i've just never had to run into problems with my plants before (all i've ever gotten were males, thus my question on females. The males I ended up getting all showed near-distinguishable sex by now, so I thought it'd be the same with females.) and I usually do it right. =P So this little conundrum was a first for me.

I didn't underwater it. I didn't underfeed it.
Furthermore, I didn't overwater nor overfeed it.

I simply let it grow, and it commited near suicide.
Lmfao. Imagine that. Irony.

Anyways, thx for the tips.
Will update when I see a major difference.
For rather better or worse.