Help! Seedlings stretching?

Hi! First timer here. These three White Widow Autoflowera germinated on the 17th. Since then they keep shooting up. They germinated in peat pellets on a heat mat with a dome. Once they sprouted, I potted them in these pots with Fox Farm Happy frog. Watering is fine I believe. I’m just worried that these guys are getting too leggy. I’ve been using full spectrum and red blue spectrum led lights like 4 inches away from the tops. Any suggestions? These are going to be planted in smart pots outside. If these guys are doing ok, how do I know when it’s safe enough to transition to outside life? Thanks in advance, this is all so overwhelming right now lol.



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Welcome to the forum!
Looks like there stretching for some light.
What type of light are you using?
You might need to lower it some…
But I’ll let the season vets give you a more certain answer.
Happy growing

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Welcome aboard @ObiRonKenobi, cracking forum here. My seedlings do the same, so much so I’ve had to prop them up in the past as they tend to fall over. When you transplant to a bigger pot you can bury that stalk almost to its first set of leaves, that will take care of the floppy bit. I see you have two seedlings in the one pot there. I would have one out of there before it’s too late as they will compete for root space :sunglasses:

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Lol. The middle three are the white widow. I’m also seed starting vegetables and zinnias for the garden. :slight_smile:

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These:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082YWKWGH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_CG7KKWBEZYG38CW2KQC6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GYR9SSM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_WE5SC02ME56YEY2W820C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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Welcome to the forum. They are stretching due to the light is to far away. Or lack of enough lighting.

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My guess is also the light is to far. I’m going to tag a light guy. @KeystoneCops
If he can’t he’ll know a light person. Good luck

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Let me tag our light specialist he will give you the run down @dbrn32

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@ObiRonKenobi Welcome. You’re going to be post-limited as a new member, so try to keep your posts dense for now.

Stepping back, let’s figure out:

How much dried flower you need (per month/week)?

How much dried flower you want?

How much you spend on flower every month now?

How much you could spend today to set this up?

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Hi. This is kinda just an experiment for now so not looking to sink mad amount of money. but to answer your questions:

How much dried flower you need (per month/week)? My GF and I go through 2ozs monthly

How much dried flower you want? I was hoping three healthy plants may yield close to a pound.

How much you spend on flower every month now? 400

How much you could spend today to set this up? like i said, not looking to drop a ton, but i could probably spend 300-400. Cant do a full indoor grow bc GF doesnt want us to break our lease. Also, cannot grow more then three plants at a time outside because, reasons, lol.

Heres how far my lights are from top of plants. Please note all three middle plants are the white widow, disregard the rest. Im using Fox Farm Happy Frog as soil. I also have the complete nutrient fertilerzer packs from bergman.


Thanks for any help and advice! Its much appreciated.

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I think I understand, but I’m not entirely sure. Are you trying to get these three plants ready to be transplanted outside to a container or in-ground location? Or are you going to keep them going indoors?

The lighting you have is doing you no favors. The good news is that’s easy to fix.

If you’re just looking to get plants started indoors, I’d recommend something like an HLG 65 or HLG 100 B-spec. There are cheaper options out there,

If you want to grow full cycle indoors, we really need to come up with a comprehensive plan. That budget is tight.

Let’s recalibrate yield expectations too. On your first grow, with 3 autoflowering plants, 2 ounces of good, dried flower per plant should feel like an accomplishment. If you grow photoperiod plants next time, and grow them vegetatively indoors for a few months prior to putting them out under the sun, you can hit huge numbers.

You have a lot of other decisions to make. Everyone here is happy to help you through the process.

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Are you trying to get these three plants ready to be transplanted outside to a container or in-ground location? Or are you going to keep them going indoors?

No, i will be transplanting them into 5 Gallon Smart Pots outdoors. I just dont know when is good to do that. (Also, for a couple of reasons, I need to get these bad boys ASAP. I just dont know what a reasonable time that would be.

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Well, as soon as they can handle the outdoor environment, they’ll be doing better under the sun than that light.

Fabric pots are fine. I don’t know if you’ve thought too much about the medium. Since we’re limited by your post count, maybe you’ll find it helpful to browse the outdoor section and see what other members have accomplished.

Pay close attention to the size of the containers people use, the specific medium, and what they add to it (water, amendments, etc).

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Expect up to 4 months before they finish.

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I think the stretch is from too low of light intensity.

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I do that as well :scream::rofl:. I have kale, peas and tomatoes in my seedling tent just now. It’s great for getting things started :sunglasses:

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You want a fan gently blowing so that they tremble ever so slightly. Also, those will need to be transplanted again as those containers are quite small to complete a grow with. Autoflowers like to be started in the same containers that they will finish in with no transplanting.

In terms of light what is the make and wattage of the light. As I mentioned above using a fan will make the stems stout and strong :blush::blush:

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No dig at you, but these lights are garbage and a marketing gizmo. A friend of mine got one to try and it is a POS. Not even sure why they sell these

Already have a fan going. :grinning: Can I start hardening off and just plant it into its final 5 gallon Smart Pot outside?

I think that would be better than relying on that light. Do you know how to harden off?