New Grower Some help on LST, Plant Age & Lighting

[Herbfulness]

Okay guys so my herb is 18 days old and i just gave her some LST. I read alot and most people say they should start from young, i have enough vertical height to let it grow naturally but because of light penetration and also hopefully i can get a better yield. Before my plant got LSTed my two cfl lights (true 60watts) were hanging vertically above her around 1-2 inches but now that the main stem is pulled down, do i have to lower the lights so that the lower branch can get more lights or do i keep it that way.

 

[Bromeo]

Get those cfl's nice and close. You can even use them to bend and shape your lst work. The plant will always bend toward the light.:thumbs:

 

[Herbfulness]

So do i move my cfl lights closer to the lower branches ? Or just leave them be ?

 

[Liontamer]

You can keep them very close, I have several 25W CFLs dotted around at different heights, I am now in flowering and the plants growth is so quick I often come home to find a light that was 2 inches from the plant is now in the plant.
I have slightly scorched seedlings with them if they are 2 or 3 inches away but they don't scorch my present plants, I would imagine 60W would be ok at 3 inches from your plants but I would advise you to just hang in there and wait until some one that is 100% sure about 60W CFLs comes along to advise you rather than risk scorching them.
Good luck with your grow.

 

[Herbfulness]

Okay so here is some pictures of my 18 days plant LSTed. My lights are 2 inches away. As this is my first grow, i am very worried. Is my technique okay, if there is any wrong please do tell me.

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Looks good from here; but be very careful this early in the game. I usually wait until I've got a little more growth on my plants before LST; that stem in the picture looks a little fragile. Remember, LST is Low Stress Training, emphasis on the low stress part. If it helps to imagine it in your head better; pretend your plant stem is like a piece of copper tubing that you're bending. If you bend copper pipe a flat 90 degrees, the pipe crimps and you've just mucked up your pipe. If you gradually put the bend into it; you can still achieve a 90 while keeping your inside diameter.

If you take anything away from this; it's "gradual" and "slow." We're not there to tell you how much tension is on those strings; so you will have to get a feel for how much is too much and what is going to work. Don't feel bad if you have a minor "whoopsie," part of learning is accepting those "oh crap" moments. I've tried training with strings, chicken wire, light gauge wire, etc. Forgot I had some wire wrapped around a cola bud on a photo plant recently; SHEARED some buds RIGHT the blankety blank off the damn vine. HAHAHA! Honestly; you'll find what works but I've found that fuzzy pipe cleaners, like the kinds that children play with in arts and crafts, are incredibly useful for LST. I ordered a 100 pack for like seven dollars; cut them into thirds with a side cutter (a scissors would even work,) and use those to space branches and tie things down. Plus, the added bonus of the colorful fuzzies is that you can clearly see where the plant is trained (no invisible wire to shear off buds accidentally!) and they provide a cushion barrier between the wire and the plant tissue.

You're working towards a horizontal canopy; the purpose of this is to allow a more even level for bud sites while allowing the maximum amount of light to evenly disperse over the canopy. So rather than having a tall plant with a big main cola (which is deflecting and blocking light from the underside of the plant, where people get those lighter or more airy buds,) you'd grow a horizontal'ish plant where the light can distribute more evenly; regardless of it's penetrating power.

Make sense? Hope that helps a little! And yes; generally LST allows you to move your lights in closer to the tops of your plants. I only use CFL's for germinating/seedlings, so I'm not an authoritarian on CFL lighting; but as cool as they run I think you're alright there. Others will be able to tell you if you should stick them closer! Cheers bro!

 

[Herbfulness]

That answer was totally what i needed, can you check out my growing journal and reply my questions too ? Anyway the bend is not over exerting it over 90 degrees so it should be okay right ? This is my first grow so i am like worried about the plant 24/7 and also when will i see the plant start having it's vertical grow from the bent tip ?

 

[Herbfulness]

Look at the picture, will it hinder with the growing of the leafs ? Is it okay overall ?

 

[Liontamer]

You are definitely stressing too much over your grow, chill my friend, you are doing just fine. I agree with Vaporhaizer, they are a bit small to be messing with too much but you are not actually doing any harm, just be very gentle, they are fragile little things at this stage.
I understand your worry, I too am on my 1st grow and the early stages are very concerning, am I watering too much ? Am I underwatering ? Do they look pale ? Shouldn't they be bigger by now ? What am I doing wrong ? etc etc but just sit back and relax, the 1st few weeks with autos seems to be fairly slow, a bit mundane but just wait, another few weeks and they explode into growth, its just amazing how much they grow.
Your plant looks good, nice colour, good leaves, nice and healthy so there is no cause for stress.
Read as many of the stickies on this forum as you can, read, read, read, all the advice you need is already on here.
Look at other peoples grow journals, compare your plants to theirs and you will see you are doing fine but LST is not a pre-requisite of autos, you do not have to do it to get a good crop, you can still get very good gange by just leaving it to grow naturally.
If you want to do it just go easy, nice and gentle and you will see the top of the plant readjust itself to face up in a matter of hours.
Roll yourself a fat one and chill. Its all good.

 

[Herbfulness]

Alright thanks, i guess because i'm stressing too much and looking at it everyday. I should just sit back and chill out and let it do it's thing and i would love to roll myself a fatty and blaze up but i'm totally dry so i guess the plant is my only hope to get medicated. Check out my grow journal as i will be updating it