LST question

H

haddy

Member
First off.. I must say that thats the best lookin grow Ive seen(very much a noob) here on RIU.. And that yield is amazing bro.. i have a question.. How do you top you plant and tie them down.. Im having a hard time getting a mental picture.. i understand the physical tie down part.. its mostly figureing out what parts of my plant im gonna tie and how i get my potential bud sites maximum light exposure?
 
HappyGrowing86

HappyGrowing86

Well-Known Member
haddy said:
First off.. I must say that thats the best lookin grow Ive seen(very much a noob) here on RIU.. And that yield is amazing bro.. i have a question.. How do you top you plant and tie them down.. Im having a hard time getting a mental picture.. i understand the physical tie down part.. its mostly figureing out what parts of my plant im gonna tie and how i get my potential bud sites maximum light exposure?
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i normally only have to top the plant 3 times before flowering. when the plants small i top it. then the next two nodes/ branches down from where i topped it, i tie apart. then once it grows up a little more i do it again. like i said about 3 times in my veg month
 
HappyGrowing86

HappyGrowing86

Well-Known Member
Webbdtoez said:
Every 3 months? how??
i thought they took at least 4 months, seed to finish...

I would love to do this. but i need to learn alot more about thit particular lst method.
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im not growing from seed man. the day my clones go into soil is day one. three months or less.
 
A

audi024

Member
HappyGrowing86 said:
that was a few harvests ago. i got 15 oz. off that plant. White Widow
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15 oz, that's awesome! Especially off of only 13 tops! I noticed that your previous pics had 24 tops, different grow? Do you have any more pictures of the under canopy lsting that you did? Or just more pics from throughout your veg cycle as you topped?? Sorry for all the questions, its just a perfect looking grow!
 
HappyGrowing86

HappyGrowing86

Well-Known Member
heres a new one for you
 

Attachments

Bird Gymnastics

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
HappyGrowing86 said:
Size: 3.5 ft X 3.5 ft mylar lined on three sides, open on front, white plastic board on floor

Veg lights: 400mh + 250 hps - 650 total veg watts
Flwr lights: 400hps + 250 mh + 8 - 26w 4200K cfls + 8 - 26w 2400K cfls = 1066 flowering watts
Lighting Schedual :
Clones - 24 hours (No HID lamps)
Vegetative - 20 hours
Flowering - 12 hrs (last two weeks of flowering 13 hrs)

Hood: Sun Systems air cooled hood w/ custom 16 socket cfl bracket

Cooling: Hood is cooled with a industrial heater fan mounted in a acoustic foam lined box - Absolutely Silent
Plants have a .25 hp industrial fan w/ a dimmer switch hooked up to the cord to adjust power.

Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients - Micro, Grow, Bloom ; Voodoo Juice ; Sensizyme ; Bud Blood
Humbolt County's Own - Snow Storm ; Gravity
Cloning Gel - Rootech cloning gel

Growing medium: I start clones in 3x3 rockwool cubes. Soil is 6 part mix that i make. perlite, kentucky riverbottom loam, worm castings, bat guano, a organic soil base that a local nursery sells

Odor control - custom build powered filter box (totally seperate from hood cooling system)
holds 10 - 20lbs activated carbon

I'm not sure how early other people start training there plants, but i start by topping the clones as i plant them in soil on day 1. This is not your typical topping of a plant. I trim the very top 1 or 2 nodes on the very end of the growing tip. Then about 3-5 days after i have planted a cube in soil, the plant should be through any stress from topping and planting it in soil. The next 2 or 3 nodes down from where it was topped should be showing signs of strong growth now that they are the only 3 branches on the little clone. I start by tying these tiny braches apart with cotton string and tie them to the edge of the pot. As it grows i prune nodes that a wont need before they get and larger than 1/4 of an inch, so the plant doesn't waste any energy on growing branches that i'm going to prune off. I tie the branches out and down spreading them as evenly as i can, until i have a plant with 13 - 15 heads about the same height. I trim nodes from the lower parts of the growing heads so there is no little "popcorn nugs" at the bottom of the stems of where my main colas will be. I do all of this in 30 days. If you do it right the plant will grow extremely fast and just how you want it to. As I begin to flower my plants I usually don't have to do any more tying to position the heads but i usually just have to adjust the height/ tension of the strings. I do have to always tie them up to each other when they start getting so heavy the plant can't hold up the weight itself. Thats it on LST unless anyone has more questions.

A few other tips - I fertilize every watering (except flushing the plants of course). I just find a level of nutrient solution that my plants can handle without burning or even getting to dark green. I think a constant light feeding program works much better than a heavy fertilization every other watering. DON"T OVERFERTILIZE. You can build up levels of minerals and other compounds in the soil the don't make the plant look like its having problems but rather just slow down growth. Also i keep the glass of the hood 8 inches from the tops of my plants. The cooling system is powerful enough to keep the glass around 85 degrees. I checked it with a laser thermometer. There is two types of ways a HID bulb can burn a plant. The first is just the heat energy put off, and secondly is by the intensity of the visible light coming off the bulb. Most sources say to keep your plants 18 - 24 inches from the bulb, but i find that my plants leaves wont start showing signs of damage until 3 - 4 inches from the glass of my hood with the glass being cool to the touch (85 degrees or so). So basically I'm just reiterating the well known fact that the closer you can bring your lights to the plants without burning the better.
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The custom cfl mount is awesome! Did it take a long time to build? Also where did you get a hood with both a MH and HPS socket??
 
Buddy Ganga

Buddy Ganga

Active Member
I use duct tape a thick string, then I started using old hangers and cutting them down and making hooks out of them.

Here are a few pic's of my extreme LST.

1208100049.jpgthe beach and needle5 294.jpgthe beach and needle 295.jpg1217102146a.jpg

I found some skewers made for shishkabobs and poked them through the sides which gave me more tie down qwith out moving to a larger pot right away..

This is what it looks like later.
View attachment 1512662the beach and needle 8319.jpg Plants less then 24 ichs from soil to top. Yet produced 4 oz's per plant.

View attachment 1512668Same LST diffent strain. Nothing but tops. A sea of green with out the sea.
 
Buddy Ganga

Buddy Ganga

Active Member
Bird Gymnastics said:
That is amazing man! I am a newbie grower and that is great inspiration. I am curious as to what your % was of your soil mix? Also, I am 3rd week into veg and was wondering if it would be a good time to start my lst? Great job again and ++REP
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You can start it any time in veg, but I like to start right when they hit veg. It will promote the lower branchs growth due to the light and top exchange.
 
Buddy Ganga

Buddy Ganga

Active Member
I went down and took a few pic's as I transplanted and LSTed this trainwreck.
It's about 14 inch's tall when I started.

growing 014.jpg I like to tie off my stalk to help it stay put from the pull.View attachment 1512828

Then I work the plant back and forth a little bit and then bend her over.View attachment 1512831growing 017.jpggrowing 018.jpg



Then I work the top around the edge of the pot tying it down every few inchs. I pin down the lower branch's and I' done for a few days with her.
View attachment 1512829

Now I have a plant that went from 14 inchs down to 7 inch's and the light is hitting every node on the plant, and the lower branck's think the plants been topped so they will all fight and grow for the top spot. The more I tie them down the more thickness she will put on too.

View attachment 1512830
 
Bird Gymnastics

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
Buddy Ganga said:
I went down and took a few pic's as I transplanted and LSTed this trainwreck.
It's about 14 inch's tall when I started.

View attachment 1512833 I like to tie off my stalk to help it stay put from the pull.View attachment 1512828

Then I work the plant back and forth a little bit and then bend her over.View attachment 1512831View attachment 1512834View attachment 1512832



Then I work the top around the edge of the pot tying it down every few inchs. I pin down the lower branch's and I' done for a few days with her.
View attachment 1512829

Now I have a plant that went from 14 inchs down to 7 inch's and the light is hitting every node on the plant, and the lower branck's think the plants been topped so they will all fight and grow for the top spot. The more I tie them down the more thickness she will put on too.

View attachment 1512830
Click to expand...
Thanks for the pictures. Ive read alot and have seen pictures but for some reason yours are really clear. anyways im gonna start lst tomorrow. Thanks for the advice and i'll keep you guys posted of my progress. + rep for the pictures
 
Bird Gymnastics

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
Buddy Ganga said:
You can start it any time in veg, but I like to start right when they hit veg. It will promote the lower branchs growth due to the light and top exchange.
Click to expand...
Mine is from seed not from a clone. It only stand about 3 inches out of soil. Do you think its too small to start lst? I can post pics if needed or you can go to my first grow in my profile.
 
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