Mini plants and trimming/topping?

New to growing pot, infact, this is my first crop. I would always think about growing pot but never really figured i would get around to it. The cost of set up, juice for the lights, the smell, pretty much everything put the decision on the better side caution. Strike that! a friend of mine moved away and couldnt take their aerogarden with them and donated it to their long time smoking buddy. Take it home to notice that there is no medium, nutrient packages, or instructions to come with the shell of the garden. Now being a swingy pro poker player my roll was down considerably at the time of me getting this product so I couldn't afford to go buy all the knickknacks that go with the aerogarden. Got some beer cups and a half full of dirt and planted 6 seeds i got from a few bags this last year. (6 being the total number i could squeeze into the bowl like area sitting on the base stand. anyway, 1 came up over night, 3 more the next day then 2 lag sprouted 1 died, the other is dwarf. Transplanted them to bigger pots 2 weeks in, and again 4 weeks in to the pots they are currently (and will remain) in. roughly the size of 2L ice cream buckets. They were under 24 light for 4.5 weeks and i switched them to 12/12 just 3 days ago. I am curious about topping, as well as trimming leave on my biggest plant. (In comparison to the others it is monstrous.) I will post pictures of what I have trimmed, and hope to get some advice, bear in mind, very limited in resources. Also curious if nurtients could supliment the need for bigger pots, (expecting to lose half to being male, but am still limited for space.) This is my first post in the forum, and Im sorry if i sound like a doped up noob at his keyboard, i kinda am. Thanks for any advice.

quality isn't really there for the pic since its a webcam, but I topped my plants today, Im not sure (1st time topping) if I did it in the right spot, I clipped as close to the nodes as possible.

Any ideas on utilizing my light better Im all ears.
Had to add half tissue boxes to both sides on the light so i could get mroe plants under it.

I also found some flower grown nuts, president's choice magic grow 10-55-10 I hope this doesnt kill em. It said on the bag to only treat every 3-4 weeks, assuming this doesnt kill my plants, should i continue using this? how often? again, low budget so anyone got any ideas?

Most of a plant's growing resources are put into the top of the plant where new leaves are forming. By topping, you cut off that growing shoot at the top and leave a few nodes on the plant, each with a growing shoot on either side. Because the plant will still keep growing, its resources will then be put into the shoots left on the plant. The top two will usually grow fastest because they are closest to the light. Any of these new shoots can also be topped, causing whatever shoots you left on that stalk to grow faster. We top our plants, leaving two nodes, and then chop the top two shoots, leaving a node & two growing shoots on each. This will usually cause six main colas in flowering.

No. Plants need room for root growth or they will become root-bound & die. No amount of nutrients alone can prevent this.

I am of the opinion that you should at least upgrade the light to a 250-400w HPS for flowering. The cost really isn't that high, and your yield will benefit quite a bit. Those nutes seem good for vegging. The topping you did looks fine. Good luck!

Mother's Finest said:

No. Plants need room for root growth or they will become root-bound & die. No amount of nutrients alone can prevent this.

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Now in your experience would a 2L ice cream bucket be big enough for finished plant?

BoggsDiamond said:

Now in your experience would a 2L ice cream bucket be big enough for finished plant?

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That really depends on how much of a yeild you want, i dont believe that 2L buckets will give your roots the needed room to grow!(my first grow ever i used 1 gal buckets for 4 plants and barely got a half ounce, dry) i would suggest at least a 3 gallon bucket for each, but then you have issues with space under the light..there might be no way around having to upgrade your lighting system, unless you want to lose a couple plants. best of luck tho!

Im assuming Im going to lose 3 to being males, that will leave me with 3 under the light. I started them on 12/12 so Im assuming once they show their sexes i can get them females more light but as far as upgrading anything, im trying to do this with household items. (I have recently moved back in with my parents for 2 months and i want to do this incognito. it is currently in a box with the only clue being the smell. How long should it take to show sex on 12/12?

thx for all the advice.

How much of an impact would having the lights turn on 15 mins early or late in the 12/12 cycle?

So I have been manually unplugging my aerogarden for flowering stage at noon and midnight, set alarm and didnt wake up, was 1.5 hrs late turning on the light, what kind of damage if any did i do?