Hello and thanks for stopping by stranger! So before I get started I just want to say I could not have done this with out the help from this site, so thank you guys 
I have a single plant operation currently in a printer paper box, so it's very cozy for the lowryder I have goin'
Setup:
6 warm light, 2 cool blue 23w CFL bulbs
2 5.5"x5.5" computer fans (1 in, 1 out) which are super stealth!
Organic worm casting enriched soil - 50%
Peat moss - 25%, perlite - 25%
MycoGrow - http://www.fungi.com/mycogrow/index.html
Jack's Classic bloom booster 10-10-30
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So after reading vigorously about how you should not top auto's because they have such a short vegetative state, especially lowryder! I have also read around the forums (and other sites as well, thank the lord for google) that when people would try to LST their auto's, they would snap the main stem, ultimately killing the plant, or they would do through the entire grow, tiring out the plant and getting a stunted yield because of it. The trick to getting the auto to respond well to LSTing is to SLOWLY begin to pull the main cola down at the top of the plant. I think the problem that a lot of people run into, auto's or not, is that they get impacient when LSTing and end up damaging / killing their baby. Another good method is using twine to pull the foliage out of the way of the auxilary bud sites. It's best to do research on how long the strain you're growing typically will be in vegetative state. The sooner you start it, the better. The main stem will harden to bush status by flowering time. You want to start pulling it's head down right about a week out of flowering. Everyday you want to make adjustments to the tie down that you're using to restrain the plant. I use meat twine, it's pretty sanitary, it's very cheap, and you can duct tape the ends of the twine to the side of the pot to easily pull the foliage out of the way.
The way I decided to do my LST to inflict the least amount of stress and/or damage to the plant is I first began tying the top of the plant down, with the twine right under the last node. It took about 6 days to get the plant to rest at a 45* angle. At this time, it began shifting it's energy to the side buds. The problem I found, at least with my light setup, is that the shade leaves will intentionally shift position over these bud sites, so you have to use the twine to re-expose these other bud sites to light. It's very minimal abuse to the plant as you're gingerly moving the leaves, no clipping necessary
Although I have not had a problem LSTing yet, (second grow I've deployed this method) I have heard that if you LST it for too long, the plant will focus it's energy on growing to adjust, rather than produce buds. So just be careful and see what works for you.
I'll try to keep picture updates through out the grow, she's a little over a week into flowering right now. Thanks for visiting!
*The pH tester is showing the aux. bud sites.*
I have a single plant operation currently in a printer paper box, so it's very cozy for the lowryder I have goin'
Setup:
6 warm light, 2 cool blue 23w CFL bulbs
2 5.5"x5.5" computer fans (1 in, 1 out) which are super stealth!
Organic worm casting enriched soil - 50%
Peat moss - 25%, perlite - 25%
MycoGrow - http://www.fungi.com/mycogrow/index.html
Jack's Classic bloom booster 10-10-30
_________________________________________________________________
So after reading vigorously about how you should not top auto's because they have such a short vegetative state, especially lowryder! I have also read around the forums (and other sites as well, thank the lord for google) that when people would try to LST their auto's, they would snap the main stem, ultimately killing the plant, or they would do through the entire grow, tiring out the plant and getting a stunted yield because of it. The trick to getting the auto to respond well to LSTing is to SLOWLY begin to pull the main cola down at the top of the plant. I think the problem that a lot of people run into, auto's or not, is that they get impacient when LSTing and end up damaging / killing their baby. Another good method is using twine to pull the foliage out of the way of the auxilary bud sites. It's best to do research on how long the strain you're growing typically will be in vegetative state. The sooner you start it, the better. The main stem will harden to bush status by flowering time. You want to start pulling it's head down right about a week out of flowering. Everyday you want to make adjustments to the tie down that you're using to restrain the plant. I use meat twine, it's pretty sanitary, it's very cheap, and you can duct tape the ends of the twine to the side of the pot to easily pull the foliage out of the way.
The way I decided to do my LST to inflict the least amount of stress and/or damage to the plant is I first began tying the top of the plant down, with the twine right under the last node. It took about 6 days to get the plant to rest at a 45* angle. At this time, it began shifting it's energy to the side buds. The problem I found, at least with my light setup, is that the shade leaves will intentionally shift position over these bud sites, so you have to use the twine to re-expose these other bud sites to light. It's very minimal abuse to the plant as you're gingerly moving the leaves, no clipping necessary
Although I have not had a problem LSTing yet, (second grow I've deployed this method) I have heard that if you LST it for too long, the plant will focus it's energy on growing to adjust, rather than produce buds. So just be careful and see what works for you. I'll try to keep picture updates through out the grow, she's a little over a week into flowering right now. Thanks for visiting!
*The pH tester is showing the aux. bud sites.*
