1st Grow Process.. Need help on few points..

Hey all..

We've got some plants going, in day 20 of flowering, the NL is on the short side but sooo bushy and seems to be doing great (pics below). The HB looks good too but am shocked at the height of this gal, and from what we've read she could double still. What do we do? prune? string the branches,? It seems like as the flowers get bigger (heavier yay) they are gonna topple some of these branches.. The other 2 strains are CS (really tall plant on right side) and TW (left side of pic).

How are they looking, we think they look gorgeous but we're just the mommies and think all our babies are beautiful..lol. Thanks for looking, for commenting and for any and all the advice. Suite & family

This one shows them much better, the height difference and stuff, going from right to left its TW, HB, NL & CS. thanks again all.

Suite

LST it, or top it , if you gonna top it, hmm , then id consider you to top it, around 1-2 inchs higher then your smallest one, so by the time it comes out of shock , well the other one will be close enouth in height, but meh , i say LST them

just bend them up :>

you have a number of choices. LST, topping, fimming, supercropping. All of those will control top height for a period while encouraging lower nodes to extend. If you have space and would rather not manipulate them you can always put shorter plants on something to raise them up and even the canopy...

Hey Gobbly.. (and others)

Not manipulating them would be in MY best *stress* interest lol!!! but I do want to do what is best for the plant. I like the idea of raising the shorter plants up to even the canopy but am curious as to the weight of the buds on the plants that have thinner stalks, can these be staked without causing any issues? Would tying them up with hemp rope be ok? Is one way better than the other? We do have plenty of height available? We have had some lighting issues and am wondering if this caused so much stretching? and is that what causes the thin stalks? We have a much better (1000w) system now and they seem happier.

Thanks for the opinions and ideas and please keep em coming.. Suite

Suiteness said:

Hey Gobbly.. (and others)

Not manipulating them would be in MY best *stress* interest lol!!! but I do want to do what is best for the plant. I like the idea of raising the shorter plants up to even the canopy but am curious as to the weight of the buds on the plants that have thinner stalks, can these be staked without causing any issues? Would tying them up with hemp rope be ok? Is one way better than the other? We do have plenty of height available? We have had some lighting issues and am wondering if this caused so much stretching? and is that what causes the thin stalks? We have a much better (1000w) system now and they seem happier.

Thanks for the opinions and ideas and please keep em coming.. Suite

Click to expand...

if properly done none of the trimming techniques I mentioned are dangerous. However some are harder to do that others. Supercropping is something you might hold off on because you can risk splitting the stem. They almost always recover, but can take significantly longer. Fimming can be a little tricky for the beginner, but a messed up fim ends up being a top most of the time, so it's actually pretty safe. lst is easy, just remember to bend in increments so you aren't snapping off stems. Topping is something children could do, you basically just cut it off above a node.

On the buds, for sure. Poles work well. Tomato cages or a loose mesh wrapped around the plant work well too. If you can tie it up that works (take a look at the link in my sig to see a number of plants heavily tied up in my flower room), the only thing I would keep in mind with tying up is that it won't work well if you have to move them. If they have to be movable you want to use stakes in or tied to the pot, or the mesh around them.

Light issues can easily cause stretching (not enough light, or a lack of blue spectrum). Stretched stems tend to be small and flimsy. Plants with tight node spacing tend to be much more robust.

they look stretched, spindly, and by looks of things you wont get a big yield at all

sorry dude

light needs to be closer for sure

loads of space between each node aswell - they look like they have been stretched from birth

3 weeks of flowering also - they look VERY under developed to me


but hey im not hating


i wish you all the best and hope you have a real good grow -


JUST MY 2 PENCE WORTH OF INPUT

Well thank you England for your input! However, I know they're stretched as we had incredible lighting issues in the beginning (mentioned in earlier posts) did you read any of those? (rhetorical, no answer needed). I was looking for any KIND advice on what could be done now, not to be told what I know already. Also the new light they're under is a 1000w hps, is there some secret you know to prevent them from burning if it's closer than the 15" it is now? And honestly, I know a lot of men, both gay and straight and not one of them refer to themselves as *mommies*... this dude is all curves. Have a good life and thanks for nothing. Suite

Sucks when that happens, constructive criticism gone wrong. I think thats why alot of people don't want to post here. Anyway, maybe on your next go-round you could look into getting a cool tube or building one for your light. Maybe you have already, I just didnt see it in the thread here. This would allow you to get closer to the tops. I wish I had a big-boy light lol, I'm a beginner with cfl's. A well-ventilated area cuts down on heat, also. I think I agree with the advice that right now, I would top your tallest plant down to about the height of your shorter one. Also, as mentioned above, LST isn't the rocket science some folks make it seem like...Ya just bend her over, trying to keep the stalk as horizantal as possible and the side branches will then face up. You can tie back foliage to allow more light to budsites. Hell, I'm doing a little LST and this is my first grow and I dont see the big deal. Use your imagination and just keep fooling with it till you get it how ya want. What kind of lights did you veg with, by the way? -newd.