Weight problems

[Gordonb]

Hi
I am growing my plants in a 2'x4' grow tent with a 4' 6 tube T5 light. My plants look healthy enough but the harvest is embarrassingly light, from the last 13 plants I yielded a whole two and a half oz. I was told this was because of the fluorescent light. I am using soil medium and organic fertilizer and keep an eye on the ph.
I am using my plants to make cannabis oil, it really helps with the COPD but I'm just not producing enough to stay healthy. Anybody have an idea to boost the weight?

Thanks

 

[Stealthboat]

I know weight, aka yield, is directly related to a few things, two of them being size of the root mass and light received. Upgrading the lights or adding more light in the necessary, specific spectrum(s) will increase yield. Bigger pots allow bigger plants, so more yield. Your tent size might be limiting you in this aspect, so at the very least you can do something about your lights. I'm sure others will pop in and offer more solutions.

 

[Antics]

I assume 2'x4' length and width?

I don't think the lights are a problem... I yielded over 3 ounces on 2 plants using CFLs. (Compact fluorescents)

A tent that size, I would grow 2... MAYBE 3 plants. You grew 13 lol. Overpopulation is the first thing I would fix.

Focus on QUALITY first! Do your best with a few plants. Once you can get a good yield from 2 or 3 plants, the yield multiplies when you grow more. But you need to have the space for them.

I like to give my plants a 2'x2' square for each plant, and I'm pushing it now when I grow 2 plants in a closet that's only 2.5' x 3.5'.

Train them to grow short and wide. Height doesn't mean anything when using CFLs and Fluorescent lighting. The light penetration is something like 8-12" tops. So if you have 13 plants that are 36" tall, the top maybe 8" is getting good light, which means the rest of the plant doesn't get enough light for good bud production.

But I could go on forever on this.. Can you give us a better idea of your setup?

How to Ask for Grow Support
REQUIRED INFORMATION FOR GROW SUPPORT

What Strain is it?
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages?
How Many Plants?
Is it in Vegetative or Flowering Stage?
If in Vegetative Stage... How Long?
If in Flowering Stage... How Long?
Indoor or Outdoor?
Soil or Hydro?
If Hydro, Reservoir size?
If Hydro, Reservoir Temperature?
If Hydro, what type of Medium?
If Hydro, what type of Setup?
If Soil... What is in your Mix?
If Soil... What Size Pot?
Size (Wattage) of Light? How Many?
Is it Air Cooled?
Temperature of Room/Cabinet?
RH of Room/Cabinet?
PH of Medium or Reservoir?
Any Pests?
How Often are you Watering?
Type and Strength of Fertilizers used?
Size or Square Footage of Room?

This information is necessary for accurate support to be given.

And if you have pictures of the setup, they can also help a lot. This will help you learn how to upload and add pictures: Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

 

[Garage Grower]

in addition to what the others said, with fluorescent lights (either CFL or traditional tube) you need to have the light REALLY close to the tops.... like 4" or less but not touching. Like Antics said, you would ideally train the plants to grow low and wide with a very flat canopy. If you're not sure what that means or how to accomplish, you can check out my grow journal (linked in my signature below) for just one example of topping, FIM (a type of topping that produces more tops if done successfully) and LST (Low Stress Training). Think "Bonsai" as opposed to Christmas Tree.

Though there are a few other methods (FLUX, Mainlining, supercropping, etc) to get low, wide & flat, but Top/FIM & LST seems to be the more popular methods around here. Mine is no better than any other examples, but it's an easy link for me to show you (since it's already in my sig) and it's just one plant which might make it a little easier to see the results rather than some of the multi-plant grows going on around here.

If you DO let them grow naturally, then you would need to supplement with side lighting - this can be fairly easily achieved with CFL bulbs in clamp style work lights

Lastly, to

 

[Gordonb]

13 plants was 2 different growths (Guess I failed to mention that earlier), the tent fits 6 plants quite comfortably while they are in early flower stage but I agree that 6 was pretty crowded near harvest.
I am using soil and medi-one nutrient and cal-mag when needed, this time around I am growing 4 AK-48 plants under a 6 tube 4' t5 light (54w x 6) 12 hrs on 12 off.
The ph is always 6. to 6.5
Obviously I am fairly green to indoor growing and I don't have all the tools yet like a weather station for the temp & rh, I spritz them a couple of times a day & water them when the soil feels dry.

 

[Antics]

Ok gotcha, thanks for clearing that up.

When you have crowding, the plants end up competing for light, and blocking each others bud sites which you want to avoid, as fluorescents don't have good penetration.

Are these plants in Veg? If so, the 12 hour schedule is messing things up. Let them Veg for a while first with 18/6 lighting, then after at least 4 weeks, switch to 12/12.

I don't use a weather station either. I have an AC unit in this room, so the humidity is always 48-52%, so for Veg I have to mist a lot more, but it's perfect for flower. You can buy a cheap hygrometer for just a couple dollars.