Am I Doing This Right? Day 22 of First Grow; LST Help

[tronN00dles]

Hi everybody,

First time poster and grower here. Today is Day 22 of my Northern Lights Auto I currently have growing in a closet. I started LST today and I've attached a picture below. I'm hoping you folks could give me a few pointers/comments/critiques on anything you see.

But first, an overview of my setup:

Strain - Northern Lights Auto (qty = 1)
Growing medium - Fox Farm Happy Frog, 25-30% Perlite
Pot/Drainage - 3gal fabric pot resting on stones in a plastic saucer; turkey baster used remove runoff
Lights - 1x 135W Quantum Board LED by HLG
Light Cylce - 20/4
Lux - 35,000-45,000 presently
Temperature - 25C/77F when light is on; 18C/65F when light is off*
Humidity - 65-70% in seedling phase; been reducing 5% every week. Currently at 50-55%.
Nutrients - Nothing for first 2 weeks; 1/2 of suggested dose for light vegetation of GH Flora Trio at day 15; 1/2 suggested dose for aggressive vegetation at day 20
Water - Tap water, pH 7.0. Watered/fed every 48-60 hours, approximately 2L/0.5gal each time.
Tent - 20" x 36" x 60"
Exhaust - 4" inline fan and carbon fliter
Ventilation - 2x clip-on 4" fans

Anyway, I think overall it's going okay. A little short and the leaves show some drooping, especially a little before/after the lights come on. But otherwise, she's a nice shade of green. Here she is at day 22:

A few issues I encountered along the way:
1. Initially over-watered in the seedling stage (I pretty much treated the seed like a full grown plant!)
2. Low temps when light is off (I live in a very, very cold environment). I pretty much rely on the light for heat. I tried a little space heater but I couldn't keep the humidity up while using it.
3. Excessive wind in the first two weeks
4. Had the light too far away between days 7-14.

I think each of those issues stunted it's height a bit, but live and learn I suppose!

Anyway, I just started LST (no topping, too scared). But I really don't know if I'm doing this right. Is the main stem supposed to be vertical as it exits the soil, then I bend it to be be relatively horizontal? What I've done here is pretty much put it on a diagonal:

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

tronN00dles

 

[Chester]

There are many forms of training for pot plants … if this beautiful plant was mine all I would do is a small pinch (super crop) near the top of the main stem. Wouldn't even bend after pinching … this would result in 3-5 tops … may have to pinch the same stem a second and third time over a couple days …

Easier than super cropping would be to pony tail the center leaves for about 8 hrs a day for 3-4 days … this would make your plant create additional tops. I would probably use this technique rather than super cropping due to the density of your leaves … good example in this thread … https://www.autoflower.org/threads/mephisto-grow.48511/#post-940204

Although it's a happy plant you stunted it slightly, probably from over watering and if you need heat run the light 24/7 … if

 

[tronN00dles]

There are many forms of training for pot plants … if this beautiful plant was mine all I would do is a small pinch (super crop) near the top of the main stem. Wouldn't even bend after pinching … this would result in 3-5 tops … may have to pinch the same stem a second and third time over a couple days … Although it's a happy plant you stunted it slightly, probably from over watering and if you need heat run the light 24/7 …

Thanks Chester,

I'll definitely look into super cropping. If I decide to do that in the next 24 hours, but keep it bent until then, will it recover? Or should I get the ties off ASAP if I'm considering super cropping. Also, can having an inconsistent lighting schedule negatively impact the lady? i.e., I've been running 20/4 for 3 weeks now, could changing to 24/0 hurt her at all? In fact, I told myself the next time I grow an auto I'll run a 24/0 schedule; just not sure about changing part way through. But I don't know of any reason why I shouldn't at this point.

Really appreciate it bud!

Cheers,

tronN00dles

 

[Mizzo81]

U should put a support at the base pulling back the other way = less stress on the roots.

 

[Chester]

If your seed is from a quality vendor there should be no problem changing your light schedule … I change mine frequently throughout a grow. If you're growing for the harvest I would remove the bend and encourage the plant to stand upright. If you're growing to learn how to bend pot plants then leave it in place … you may need to add CalMag to you nutrients soon … week three is when Calcium problems show up … I add it automatically rather than wait and fight it the rest of the grow … there are many opinions on LST … most are correct … I aim for medium sized bushes when I train a plant …

 

[St. Tom]

hi growbro you seem to be ticking all the boxes and your girl looks great but as @Mizzo81 said you should of put a support but if she seems ok just leave her now and let her recover and i wish lots of success growing your own weed but i warn you this hobby gets addictive

 

[Mizzo81]

hi growbro you seem to be ticking all the boxes and your girl looks great but as @Mizzo81 said you should of put a support but if she seems ok just leave her now and let her recover and i wish lots of success growing your own weed but i warn you this hobby gets addictive

Haha yeah I enjoy it just as much as the end product.

 

[tronN00dles]

Thanks for the tips everybody.

I think I'm going to stick with the LST for this round, but I have added a support in the other direction at the bottom. Looks good. Next time around I'm going to look into topping or super-cropping I think. I'm also switching to a 24/0 light cycle starting tonight and I'll start supplementing with some Cal-Mag very soon.

If anyone else has any comments feel free to chime in.

Peace,

tronN00dles