Mephisto Genetics Sour Stomper LST help

[karryne]

Hi everyone!
I'm very happy I found a Meph community here and to see Sour Stomper is appreciated. I'm new to growing and I picked Sour as my first.

My first attempt (used 2 seeds) wasn't great, but the new one (another 2 seeds) looks promising.
Here are the girls: Roxxy and Sonya.

Roxxy is 21 days old, Sonya is a week younger, day 14 atm. Sonya profile pic below:

I've been following the grow logs here and now I'd like to ask for some LST advice with Roxxy.
@Hotfire if you have the time, since you have a Sour grow log already going, but I do appreciate any and all help!

I started LSTing Roxxy on day 17 with those tiny hooks you can see in the pics below:

She's bushy but not that tall since I made her stretch horizontally for the past 4 days.

How should I continue? Carry on keeping the tiny side branches under the hooks until they grow longer?
Or start using plant wire, or let them be for now until they get a bit taller and then start using wire?

I was a bit enthusiastic with Roxxy and started the LST process early. I think I'll wait with Sonya until week 3 or 4.
Ideally I'd like them to fan out vertically like @Hotfire 's did (beautiful plants mate btw!)

And a final question, regarding one of the old ones. How much longer until this is done, would you think?

Somehow they survived my lack of experience and I havent had a smoke since January so I'm eager to test them out.

Thanks for sticking around until the end
Cheers!

 

[Hotfire]

Hey! Awesome looking plants! Look forward to seeing them produce fat nugs for ya! Okay so with the lst I was using these clips (I'll add a picture below) and using plant ties to spread out the nodes. Just know you will have to adjust every 12 hours or so. Everytime you see the tops of the plants bend em and tie em down. I'll also add a pic of how I use the ties along with some better shots of how I did the lst. I start training around day 14 - 16 and stop when I see preflowers which is usually when the plant gets stiff around day 30 - 40 (depending on the cultivar.) If I can help anymore please let me know. I think @Talonxracer is a good person to follow if you are into plant bondage check out what he's got going. And the final question you had about the other almost finished plant, I'd say another 2 weeks but I'm still a noob so dont quote me. Still alot of white hairs that's what I'm going off of. I'd pluck off some of those really dead leaves asap though.
Here are the pics, hope this helps! Much love!

 

[Hotfire]

also 1 more thing to add, any fan leaf that is touching the dirt i would cut that off, i personally dont like my leaves touching the soil. not saying this is correct, its just what i do.

 

[karryne]

Thanks a lot for the tips mate!
I think I have a better picture of the process. I won't top Sonya (too afraid of that still) but I'll try to bend the new nodes and leave the stem growing up as much as possible. Probably bend the stem at some point as well, but less than I did with Roxxy and in the opposite direction of the nodes. Hopefully she'll resemble yours more.

Just got these today:

Adjusting the ties a couple of times a day sounds good, gives me something to do while visiting.
I check the temp and humidity a lot anyway, I work from home and I throw an eye at them when I go for a glass of water or have business i nthe kitchen.

I'll pluck off the dead leaves from the old one as well.

 

[Hotfire]

Thanks a lot for the tips mate!
I think I have a better picture of the process. I won't top Sonya (too afraid of that still) but I'll try to bend the new nodes and leave the stem growing up as much as possible. Probably bend the stem at some point as well, but less than I did with Roxxy and in the opposite direction of the nodes. Hopefully she'll resemble yours more.

Just got these today:
View attachment 1591762

Adjusting the ties a couple of times a day sounds good, gives me something to do while visiting.
I check the temp and humidity a lot anyway, I work from home and I throw an eye at them when I go for a glass of water or have business i nthe kitchen.

I'll pluck off the dead leaves from the old one as well.

No problem any time! sometimes you can get away with leaf tucking to help things catch up if you feel its ever too early to start tying. dont be afraid of topping! I have never had a plant not respond well. You can top after the 4th node or what i do is cut off the very bottom nodes (the ones with a single leaf that come out first) then start the count from the remaining nodes(i dont count those very bottom nodes they never really amount to much). I dont top after day 21 or before day 16. In my experience so far doing this, the 5th node should be exposed enough to cut between those days. Youtube how to top autoflowers if youd like to see someone else do it a few times before trying it. You can also get similar results without topping by tying one end of the stem to act as an anchor and using another tie down on the other side of the pot to start bending over the main branch. everytime she pops up tie her down again and all the side branches will eventually outgrow the mainbranch so then tie those down too.

 

[FarmerJake]

I won't top Sonya

Do it. Two maybe three days from now

 

[karryne]

Do it. Two maybe three days from now

I read that in Newman's voice. Impossible to resist!

Roxxy's LST is going well. She was growing mostly on one side of the pot, now she's spreading evenly across.

I topped Sonya, because there's simply no resisting Newman's voice. Tried to avoid and not hurt the side growth:

All seems to have gone well, but I think I see a problem with young Sonya. Those top leaves that started arching down.
Any idea if overwatering or underwatering may be an issue and if so, which?
I'm guessing it can't be the light, but I'm just not sure between too much or not enough water.

 

[Hotfire]

I read that in Newman's voice. Impossible to resist!

Roxxy's LST is going well. She was growing mostly on one side of the pot, now she's spreading evenly across.

View attachment 1592714

I topped Sonya, because there's simply no resisting Newman's voice. Tried to avoid and not hurt the side growth:
View attachment 1592715
View attachment 1592716
View attachment 1592717

All seems to have gone well, but I think I see a problem with young Sonya. Those top leaves that started arching down.
Any idea if overwatering or underwatering may be an issue and if so, which?
I'm guessing it can't be the light, but I'm just not sure between too much or not enough water.

Looking good! Dont panic ive had that happen with the leaves a few times. First id check soil for over or under watering. For referance, my TDV is about the same age and size right now and in a 3 gallon pot, she is drinking about a half gallon every other day (every cultivar is different). If its not that and your watering is good, you might need to raise your light. Leaves will start to turn away from too much light. If its not that, ive had leaves do weird things when too close to a fan. Check those 3 things before you do anything else to her, it may outgrow it but check those first. PLEASE remember im a noob too, if you want more solid advice jump in the live stoner chat everyone in there would be more than happy to help out. https://www.autoflower.org/threads/live-stoner-chat-apr-jun-23.90539/page-1142

 

[karryne]

Thanks @Hotfire ! Hmm, I'm giving her almost half the water you're giving your TDV.
It could very well be that. I had a problem with overwatering the older ones and I stunned them badly. Could be I'm on the other extreme now.

I also moved the fan slightly away from her (she was a bit too close) and adjusted the lights.
Will go to the live chat (thanks for the link) in a day or two if the problem doesn't correct itself by then.

 

[Hotfire]

Thanks @Hotfire ! Hmm, I'm giving her almost half the water you're giving your TDV.
It could very well be that. I had a problem with overwatering the older ones and I stunned them badly. Could be I'm on the other extreme now.

I also moved the fan slightly away from her (she was a bit too close) and adjusted the lights.
Will go to the live chat (thanks for the link) in a day or two if the problem doesn't correct itself by then.

water the whole pot slow with that half gallon so it can seep in and not just run off from areas of the pot that might be dry. if its just water or you have a clean plant saucer you could bottom feed and youll see it soak up the water fast, once it slows down, top water, then put your clean saucer back in. sounds janky but it works if you need to get water to the very bottom. i did that after a night of forgetting to water and it bounced me back. not something i do all the time.