When should I flower and top?

[yanksfanelite]

I planted from seed on the 29th of September, which then sprouted on the 3rd of October. I run a light schedule of 18/6 and the plant is now around 6-7 inches tall. The steam is a little weak but am in the process of helping that because the leaves are all growing faster than the stem itself. I have the plant supported right now with some string and is doing great under two 42watt CFL's both of which are soft white seeing how daylights are hard to find. I just ordered a small clamp fan which I should have this week to get a little airflow in my growbox. Only growing the one plant because this is my first grow so trying to learn as I go with this one! Any help would be great and also I am trying to stunt the growth height wise and make it more bushy if possible because only have about 3 ft. of grow room before the plant would start growing out of growbox.

 

[hotrodharley]

If it must be supported at present do not top yet.

 

[yanksfanelite]

Yeah trying to strengthen the stem cause leaves are growing to fast for it and was making it bend over. I have read though to start flowering light cycle 2-3 weeks after sprouting but I find that hard to believe when mine has been growing 12 days and is only 6-7 inches tall

 

[Closetgardner]

You'll most probably have to flower when the plant is around 10inches as it will double or tripple in height when flowered. You can top it when it's at 5/6 nodes you should also lst to bring the height of the plant down and it will encourage side branches to become tops too which should increase yield. Hope this helps a . CG

 

[Closetgardner]

A fan will strengthen the stem a whole lot

 

[yanksfanelite]

Awesome that does help and what should I do to bring the height down and encourage side branches?

 

[yanksfanelite]

I don't have fan blowing directly on the plant itself though right?

 

[TheGoldenGreenThumb]

what strain are you growing? If you have a sativia in your box it may be a problem no matter what you do to keep it that small of a height requirement

 

[yanksfanelite]

No idea to be honest what strain it is.....my dad and I had purchased some really good stuff and to our amazement we found 1 seed which happened to be a good seed and now here I am with a 6 inch plant that hopefully is a female ......this is first time either of us have found a seed in some really dank weed so will see what happens

 

[MyPetSkunk]

I don't have fan blowing directly on the plant itself though right?

Yeah you should. But only if its an oscillating fan. It is good for the plant to get hit with wind, but not a neverending gust. If all you have is a non-oscillating fan, set it up as close as you can so that the plant atleast gets some draft from it, but not directly on it.

 

[yanksfanelite]

Also....I am only currently running two 42w CFL's (2700k) on just one plant which I will take a pic of and post this evening for everyone's opinion cause want to make sure I can learn as much as possible on my first grow. Do I need more light since only growing the one plant? It is being grown in a plywood box that I built with flat white painted interior. Am using a 14" high pot that is about 11" in diameter with MG soil that contains upto 6 months of food in it. Any and all advice/criticism is greatly appreciated because my next grow will be with feminized seeds.

 

[MyPetSkunk]

In my opinion, you should have at-least 4 cfl's on the plant to be fully effective. One up top, and the other three surrounding the plant a little above half the plant height. Just watch out, cfl's create a good deal of heat. Keep them about 6" away from your plant for best effective coverage.

 

[Closetgardner]

In my opinion, you should have at-least 4 cfl's on the plant to be fully effective. One up top, and the other three surrounding the plant a little above half the plant height. Just watch out, cfl's create a good deal of heat. Keep them about 6" away from your plant for best effective coverage.

6Inches I disagree 3 at most above the plant. but I agree he should have 4 of those cfls!

 

[kryptoniteglo]

Regarding the fan -- gentle wafting so that the stem trembles a bit, not a wind tunnel so that it's whipping around. It's the jiggling motion that will strengthen it. You don't want it fighting for its life each time the fan turns on it!

 

[yanksfanelite]

I just now ordered two 40watt CFL daylight bulbs with clamp light fixtures to add to my two 40watt CFL soft white bulbs so will change out my top lights to the daylights and my two side lights will be the soft whites. Any other advice/criticism anyone has to offer?

 

[yanksfanelite]

What is this LST that everyone speaks of?

 

[kryptoniteglo]

^^^Low stress training. It's a way to train the plant to grow horizontally at times, not just vertically. By doing so, the overall plant will take up less vertical space. It's good for "shortening" your plant's height so that you can grow in smaller spaces.