New Grower NL First Time Grow... Total Newb

[AKA Rambo]

So even at 4 ish weeks I can bend her over? I feel like I'm gonna hurt it in a way, I may try to LST my smaller plant tommorrow morning..

What is the best thing to sorta tie them down with? I thought about using some screws into the side of the pot and using a rubber band to hold it over, what do you guys think?

 

[Fish Juice]

Lace them down

Yeah my ballast is switchable and dimmable, from like 400 watts to 660 watts..

Im currently running 600 watt HPS on 20/4... Its going into week 4, so you think I should definetly switch to MH?

One plant is growing like crazy, i have like 13 bud sites.. The other plant is a scraggly lil fella...

I only run hps, but if you have a mh bulb use it for vegging and switch over to the hps when they are ready to flower. As far as the lst go's, you can feel the plant with your fingers to tell whether or not it'll accept being manipulated, the older they get the more woody (and less pliable) they become. Don't worry, if you do snap a branch just tape it up and support it and it'll probly live and actually make for a healthier plant. Yours should still be pretty soft and "bendy" at 4 weeks. Also if you just kind of start slowly softening the stalk between two sets of branches rather than getting the bend done in between only one set, it spreads the stress and bend out more for really radical twists & turns. Hope this helps. F.J.:gthumb: Edit: I'll be posting pics of my four week old Northern lights which I just lst'd last night if you wanna stop in and check them out this weekend i should have them up by saturday sometime.

 

[Guerrilla_in_the_mist]

So even at 4 ish weeks I can bend her over? I feel like I'm gonna hurt it in a way, I may try to LST my smaller plant tommorrow morning..

What is the best thing to sorta tie them down with? I thought about using some screws into the side of the pot and using a rubber band to hold it over, what do you guys think?

I don't think the rubber band would work very well - its not "adjustable" enough - too easy to put too much bend into your plant, which could cause a catastrophic failure (breakage of the main stem).

I use twist tie material - available in the gardening center of most department stores. It comes in a roll, with a built in wire cutter, so you can cut off as much - or as little - as you need.

I don't twist it around the stem or branches - but bend it in the middle, put that around the stem or branch - and secure it to the side of the pot (I just use clear packing tape, as its simple and secure).

I have started LST (aiming for a 90 degree bend over the first three inches of stem coming out of the soil) on my first two grows, starting when it grows its fourth set of leaves - and thats worked out pretty well (I plant the seed two thirds of the way across the pot, so I can bend the growing tip to grow straight over a longer distance, before needing to start bending around the curve of the pot). But I would hazard to guess that its probably never too late - but you might not get it bent as far over as if you started earlier.

This is a shot of my current grow - a Hobbit, LST'ed to 90 degrees.

If it were me - I'd start a bend of twist tie about two thirds of the way from the plants bottom - and bend it over until I felt real resistance - then secure it. I'd suggest being very gentle, though - if you feel resistance, secure it at that point - wait a few days, then see if it will bend a little more. Gentleness and patience being the bywords, in this.

After you've LST'ed a couple of times - you'll have a much better feel for how much bend you can put into these plants.

Great luck to you, AKA!

 

[DABaracuss]

If you want to get more aggressive with LST or need more of a bend..cb420 told me to squeeze the stem kinds mash it then it wont break when you bend it..and it grows back stronger in that bend spot.It may droop down for a few hrs then it will stand right back up.:High 5:

 

[Fish Juice]

If you want to get more aggressive with LST or need more of a bend..cb420 told me to squeeze the stem kinds mash it then it wont break when you bend it..and it grows back stronger in that bend spot.It may droop down for a few hrs then it will stand right back up.:High 5:

I absolutely agree, it works on lots of plants, many people call it "pinching" and it helps, ALOT ! I pinch EVERY branch including/especially main stems and it really bulks up a plant. They usually recover within just hours and will produce more and bigger flowers. it'll really bush your plants out too. Simply give each one a quick pinch till you hear a 'pop' or 'snap' and walk away. If you happen to really hurt one just prop the branch up and wait a day, it'll heal. I've found this to be true: THE WORSE YOU TREAT THEM, THE HEALTHIER THEY WILL BE. Then keep and eye on the places you've pinched, within a few days you'll see a big knot starting to form where the pinch was, you'll have BIG & healthy plants.:key::tip::beast: So go ahead, beat them up a little, lace them down and generally treat them like crap Edit: if you pinch the main stem and it splits into four "pieces", you've done it correctly, DON'T WORRY, IT'LL HEAL and grow a big ol' knot !

 

[AKA Rambo]

I practiced pinching on my main stems weeks ago when they kinda got a lil heavy up top. It has worked out great just as you said but I have never pinched anywhere else on the plants.. I was always worried if the plant spent too much energy fixing itself, that it would have less energy to spend on budding?

 

[Fish Juice]

I only do it in veg and preflower though, once a plant starts to bud they get real hard & don't take to kindly to being pushed around & they get real "breaky". As far as time is concerned though, my personal belief is that the results are worth the extra couple days of healing time, if a plant is healthy it never really skips a beat. Some people don't touch them but I'm kind of a hands on guy and like to mess around to better my abilities and see just how each variety responds. I am new to autos but have been pinching the crap out of the 8 I have going and they seem to love it, along with a few other techniques.

 

[DABaracuss]

Really depends on the strain if you can do stuff to it..some dont take kindly to stress others love it lol ...thats why its good to grow out a few of the same train to test these things..I saw a test on pulling leaves and I wont be thinning mine at all.

 

[virginia gent]

Looking good. I love my LED's, less heat, less elec. My first few grows were of 5 plants under 1 135w UFO 7band and 4 4ft t-5 (grow and bloom bulbs). Did alright but after adding a Blackstar 240w uv did great (until half the leds died). There seems to be nute issues with LEDs (cal/mag) but I use cal/mag as a regular part of my nute schedule. Good luck and good grow karma.

 

[AKA Rambo]

Well my plants are still kickin strong. I will post pics asap. I discovered a shit ton of lady bugs coming by the house and well I caught about 20 or so and let sm go on my plants.. These things are looking right at home on em..

I got lucky as a dog..

I am also growing a bubbelicious. It has been sprouted and going for about a bit over a week.. Wish me luck fellas!