1st week of flowering and I can already see space becoming an issue. Ideas?

250w hps in cooltube
2x2 dr60 tent
3 fem's from seed: 2 sour diesel, 1 cheese
temps 78-84F 45-60% humidity
planted 6/23, switched to 12/12 schedule on 7/29
roots organic soil - FF nutes

Hey guys I'm only a few days into flowering and I can see the space becoming an issue very quickly. They are already packed in there so there isn't really any space to LST them down, I have about 6-9 inches if I take off the yoyo's and chain the light to the top. Do you guys think I'll be ok, or should I try cutting them down? Dunno when it is too late to top.

Also one more thing, can someone tell me wtf this is(pic attached)? Showed up on the first 12 hour night with all the other preflower's but looks really odd. It's on one of the sour diesel's (strongest plant of the bunch), right about 4th or 5th node. The cheese was ready for flowering but I had to start the sour diesel's on 12/12 before preflowers showed up on their own because I saw this space issue coming.

Only thing I can suggest is super cropping, I wouldn't top.. At all.

Top them or tie them bitches down quickly. Your going to run out of space. I do it all the time.lol

supersillybilly said:

Top them or tie them bitches down quickly. Your going to run out of space. I do it all the time.lol

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Would you really top your girls when they are already into flower? That just sounds like a recipe for a low yield to me.

I agree tying them down could work but at this point, the top probably won't bend the way it would if during veg but I guess he could make a few extra inches by tying it down though. I've never tried to tie anything down mid flower :\ I always try to compensate for the stretch.

Sounds like tie them down is the recommend solution, I'll give that a shot and see how much I can. Just worried that with them already pretty crowded if it's going to be a problem, course I'd rather them be pushing into each other than pushing into the light.

Any ideas of what is up with that growth in the last 2 pics?

Its only a couple of days into 12/12. They grow for about another 3 weeks. Totally safe to top them now. I don't even give my plants bloom nutes until the start of week 3. Thats why people get yellow leafs after 4 or 5 weeks

supersillybilly said:

Its only a couple of days into 12/12. They grow for about another 3 weeks. Totally safe to top them now. I don't even give my plants bloom nutes until the start of week 3. Thats why people get yellow leafs after 4 or 5 weeks

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What's the latest YOU'D suggest topping then?

Personally I'd top them coz he aint going to have space. Why did u type "YOU'D" in caps. He can do what he wants but there is no problem topping now, especially as hes going to have major issues with space

supersillybilly said:

Its only a couple of days into 12/12. They grow for about another 3 weeks. Totally safe to top them now. I don't even give my plants bloom nutes until the start of week 3. Thats why people get yellow leafs after 4 or 5 weeks

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Thanks for the information man. I already gave them the first bloom nutes according the feeding schedule they came with, I'll make sure I flush them well and hopefully avoid any kind of burn. It's my first time though so it wont be the first mistake I've made so far lol.
I'll try to tie them down first, hopefully I can make it work. Maybe 3 plants was too much for my tent, was just trying to make sure I got enough to last me through the next grow cycle.

kizzzzurt said:

Would you really top your girls when they are already into flower? That just sounds like a recipe for a low yield to me.

I agree tying them down could work but at this point, the top probably won't bend the way it would if during veg but I guess he could make a few extra inches by tying it down though. I've never tried to tie anything down mid flower :\ I always try to compensate for the stretch.

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Yea man I totally underestimated how fast they were going to grow after changing the light cycle. When you refer to the stretch I'm guessing this growth spurt is what you're referring to. Does it continue through the flowering month, or will it taper off soon?

supersillybilly said:

Personally I'd top them coz he aint going to have space. Why did u type "YOU'D" in caps. He can do what he wants but there is no problem topping now, especially as hes going to have major issues with space

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I type you'd in all caps because I wanted to? And to emphasize that I wanted YOUR input on the situation?

I've personally never tried topping during flowering so I wanted someone that has experience doing so, for input. I've only read bad things about topping during flowering but since you are nay saying this, I wanted YOUR input.

Also because you said that it's only been flowering for a few days so you'd top it, seeing as it has 3 weeks left of growth. Well, the question at hand was, "what is the latest that you would top your flowering plant?"

edit: not angry

Yeah go for it m8. I do it all the time. Under estimate the stretch.lol Its up to you. Personally I would just top them, get an even canopy. U will be suprised the amout they will grow in the next 3 weeks. Whatever u choose to do good luck

NEWBIERR said:

Yea man I totally underestimated how fast they were going to grow after changing the light cycle. When you refer to the stretch I'm guessing this growth spurt is what you're referring to. Does it continue through the flowering month, or will it taper off soon?

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The stretch is what super is talking about if I'm not mistaken. It's basically just a vertical growth spurt that a plant goes into for about the first month (strain dependent on how long it lasts and how big the stretch it) of flowering.

kizzzzurt said:

I type you'd in all caps because I wanted to? And to emphasize that I wanted YOUR input on the situation?

I've personally never tried topping during flowering so I wanted someone that has experience doing so, for input. I've only read bad things about topping during flowering but since you are nay saying this, I wanted YOUR input.

Also because you said that it's only been flowering for a few days so you'd top it, seeing as it has 3 weeks left of growth. Well, the question at hand was, "what is the latest that you would top your flowering plant?" I don't see how you're getting angry over that?

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Sorry buddy just thought you were having a go. lol U know how easy it is to misinterpet things on here.lol
I would say a couple of days after the flip would be the latest, coz they need a few days to recover but I dare say you could do it after 7 days or so but wouldn't advise it, might affect your final yield. Ive put plants through hell and back and they have still produced great results.lol

Hey super, do you still get killer yields even when not giving them bloom nutes after 3 weeks flowering? Do you give them any nutes the first 3 weeks of flowering?

supersillybilly said:

Sorry buddy just thought you were having a go. lol U know how easy it is to misinterpet things on here.lol
I would say a couple of days after the flip would be the latest, coz they need a few days to recover but I dare say you could do it after 7 days or so but wouldn't advise it, might affect your final yield. Ive put plants through hell and back and they have still produced great results.lol

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Yeah I was just wondering what the max time you would top is. 7 days sounds about right, if the stretch you're working with is about a month or so long. You'd probably at least want 2-3 weeks of growth left before the flowers started to hit, so that sounds okay. I just feel like topping without vegging out a little is a recipe for disaster.. I think it may be because my plants don't stretch very much? I have a strain that's been growing for years now and it just seems to MAYBE get 1.5 times bigger, if that when flowering. I hear about people saying 2-3x bigger after the stretch and I just don't see it. (Flowering and vegging under HPS, started under fluros).

First 2 weeks I give them grow. Week 3 I do half and half then bloom and boost with a bit of overdrive till they finish. I dont even measure or ph. Lazy git and I pull off not too bad yields

^^^^^^^^^

I like the sound of that system. I might give it a shot. Thanks.

Thank you super kizzurt, your advice and goodwill is much appreciated. Rollitup and hydro store employees have been an invaluable source of knowledge so far. +rep to both of you kind sir's.

So it looks like everyone else is as stumped as I am by the little growth in the last 2 pics?

I would tie them down personally. You don't want to top the colas when you already started flowering. JMO. You could also consider using some bushmaster in the second week of flower, that will help stop vertical growth as well. They usually only "stretch" for about two weeks, once you start seeing balls of hairs on the tops they are pretty much done stretching (maybe a couple inches at the most after that). I generally account for them to double in size during this two weeks (I usually grow sativa crosses, Indica has less stretch). Also if you can take your grow yos off and hang your lights directly from ceiling you will get a couple extra inches as well. Good luck