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Help with new grow

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Arizona23

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I was going to use the LED just as a supplement for now until I can transplant them in the next few weeks but I will for sure keep the natural light coming to them as much as I can.
It just seems like my plants are kinda skinny and not looking fully healthy.
 

plantdude

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I was going to use the LED just as a supplement for now until I can transplant them in the next few weeks but I will for sure keep the natural light coming to them as much as I can.
It just seems like my plants are kinda skinny and not looking fully healthy.
They will rebound with more light. If you want to see what not to do check out my Plantdude 2020 plant torture grow log, it's chalked full of screw ups to avoid:) I think I've successfully made just about every mistake a first year grower can make. Sure, you can read the grow blogs of people that know what they are doing and learn from those, but it's nowhere near as fun as watching mistakes first hand:)
Here are a few pics of the hickory Pryor (seed planted July 10th) in the heat of the day vs what it looks like after it's been semi shaded for about 45 minutes (no water added)
image.jpegimage.jpeg
Another example from a young plant (think it was corojo 99 but forgot to check the label, seed started August 3rd)
image.jpegimage.jpeg

Moral - don't be afraid of full sun once your plants are hardened off;)

Just for the record these plants are in pots because my outdoor growing season is probably going to end the first week in November. If I lived where you do they would be in the ground.
 

Arizona23

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I will check that out ! Thank you !
I guarantee I’ll make some of those same mistakes as a first time grower lol but learning from others will definitely help out.
What is meant by ‘ harden’ of the plants ?
 

Arizona23

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I have the lights on them now , I’ll probably run the light until the morning time then just have natural sunlight on them then repeat the process
 

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plantdude

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I will check that out ! Thank you !
I guarantee I’ll make some of those same mistakes as a first time grower lol but learning from others will definitely help out.
What is meant by ‘ harden’ of the plants ?
Hardening off the plants means getting them used to the outside environment. It's a big shock when you move them from a relatively dark cool house to intense heat and bright light. If you expose them daily to a few hours of early morning and late afternoon sunlight (and outdoor low humidity and temp in your area) that "hardens" them off and gets them used to the outside world. Gradually exposing them to more and more outside time and light reduces the shock when you finally transplant them. It gives them a chance to develop more chloroplasts in their leaves, increase their root system, and undergo physiological changes that will make them better suited for drought, full sun and harsh conditions.
You can grow a beautiful lush plant by babying it and growing it in the shade. What you are after for flavor and leaf quality is a little different though. You want a ever so slightly slightly stressed but healthy plant that produces plenty of alkaloids (nicotine).

At two and a half weeks my last two batches of seedlings were on the screened in back porch at 95F all day and getting about 2 hours of semi filtered and direct late afternoon sun. At sunset I would bring them in and put them under the grow lights until about 1-2 AM. I would gradually increase the amount of full sun to harden them off. By six weeks they were getting six hours of direct sun a day and limited water.
 

plantdude

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I have the lights on them now , I’ll probably run the light until the morning time then just have natural sunlight on them then repeat the process
Turn the red on as well if you can. Blue is for growth but it makes them a little longer (leggy) with out the red when they are in limited light conditions.
 

Arizona23

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Gotcha, makes senses...Okay so I put the red and blue light on them, will have that on all throughout the night tonight and will just have some natural sunlight tomorrow during day time . When you say to start introducing them to the outside elements?
 

plantdude

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Gotcha, makes senses...Okay so I put the red and blue light on them, will have that on all throughout the night tonight and will just have some natural sunlight tomorrow during day time . When you say to start introducing them to the outside elements?
I start gently at about 2.5 to 3 weeks after germination with late after noon (or early morning) sun.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Turn the red on as well if you can. Blue is for growth but it makes them a little longer (leggy) with out the red when they are in limited light conditions.
I was vaguely familiar with info like this. I dismissed it because my high Kelvin lights result in squat plants, but that might be because they are close and bright.

My memory of this was when I ran a planted aquarium tank. Blue light penetrates deeper into the water, so plants "know" how deep they are because of the light colour.
 

Arizona23

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@ChinaVoodoo, are your plants indoor only? I remember you saying something about you running your LED lights on your plants 10-12 hours a day or are you using natural light and the LED lights together?
 

plantdude

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I was vaguely familiar with info like this. I dismissed it because my high Kelvin lights result in squat plants, but that might be because they are close and bright.

My memory of this was when I ran a planted aquarium tank. Blue light penetrates deeper into the water, so plants "know" how deep they are because of the light colour.
Just growing under red alone will make them even leggier. Having red with a little blue keeps them balanced. It's not been as much of an issue until the advent of the LED revolution where specific wavelengths can be selected. Blue light is supposed to keep them more compact but I think the issue with a lot of the LEDs is the overall light intensity, just the blue by itself doesn't appear to be enough with these smaller LEDs. Porpotionally less blue light relative to the amount of red light is usually needed. For the smaller LED systems running both seems to work better, my guess is because it probably increases the overall light intensity.
 

Arizona23

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@plantdude , ok so how would you run the setup then?
Daytime- natural light (window light )
Nighttime- LED all through the nighttime?

DoTobacco plants need a “nighttime” where there’s no light on them ?
 

plantdude

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@plantdude , ok so how would you run the setup then?
Daytime- natural light (window light )
Nighttime- LED all through the nighttime?

DoTobacco plants need a “nighttime” where there’s no light on them ?
Some are photoperiod sensitive for flowering. I know some people run seedlings 24/7 for light cycles. To me though it seems like some dark period would be natural though, especially once they start getting older. I figure I sleep for about 6 hours a day so my plants can too:)
 

ChinaVoodoo

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@ChinaVoodoo, are your plants indoor only? I remember you saying something about you running your LED lights on your plants 10-12 hours a day or are you using natural light and the LED lights together?
That was just seedlings. I just was saying the minimum is 10. Not really saying that's what I do. I actually go 14 because when I plant outside, that's how long the day is.
 
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