So, I was going through some old posts from awhile back from some old, necrotizing grow thread from 2008ish on another site like grasscity and the grower was having problems with his plant stretching more than half of its original size after switching to the flowering stage. Come to find out, he switched his plants to a 12/12 light cycle from a 18/6 light cycle as many growers do. Now I was just thinking that oh well you know hes SOL, just gonna have to LST it or something. Well near the end of the topic this poster brings up a good point. He says when you switch the plant from a long day light cycle to an equinox day immediately, the plant does not take it as a natural "switching of the cycles" and she struggles to find the light that was once there at that time just yesterday, thus stretching. What is anyones take on this? Has anyone tapered down gently to 12/12 and seen a lack of the common stretch that many small-space growers are very hesitant to encounter? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Couple methods used to minimize stretching during flowering. One is to use a metal halide for the first two weeks of flower , the blue spectrums help reduce internode spacing. Second you could train them either do a scrog which in all honesty is the best method with the highest yield results, or you and super crop them 1-2 weeks into flowering as it will stunt any branches you crop and promote smaller branches to beef up and catch up to the upper canopy. Lastly about your light schedule yes you can alter light schedule and progressively get more and more darkness but this is a steady process you want to make sure that when you start they get a minimum of 10 hrs of dark to engage the photoperiod switch to flower. This method will prolong your flower time with potentially increasing the yield with it. Hope this gives you some insight and remember never hurts to do some reading on your spare time there is a lot for you to learn. G
I second the SCROG method. I've been using it for three years, and never looked back. First few grows stretched way into the light, and I had to break the stems and fold them over. Then the damn things recovered and the part that was folded over stretched into the light again. Making me need to make a second break in the stem. Granted, I was trying to grow a sativa and relatively low wattage. That's how we learn. My screen is for a 4x4 foot grow tent. I grow a single plant in it. My screen frame is made of cut PVC with eye hooks placed every 2.5 inches. Make a paper template and drill them starting at the center so it's all symmetrical. I use nylon clothes line string from Lowes and weave it into a nice net. When weaving it, do it from the middle and outward. Two continuous string runs running along the Y axis and two continuous string runs running along the X axis. This keeps the tension evenly distributed. Be sure to pull it tight after threading through each eye hook. My screen is 10 inches above my 5 gallon bucket (deep water culture). I top the plant at the forth internode while it is several inches under the screen. This is what works for me. With clever use of PVC (I use 3 inch diameter), you can make the entire frame and the legs very sturdy, and it goes together nicely and can be broke down nicely. Get a PVC cutter, and don't try to use a hacksaw. I wait until growth shoots are about 4 inches above the net and then use twist ties to tie them down to the net/screen. One day later, it will turn back up toward the light. Don't worry about the look of the canopy after tying it down. The leaves will straighten themselves out. You'll need to tie down every day or every other day. I have a nifty thing I bought at the local hydro store that is a 164 ft roll of green twist tie with a metal cutter built in. You can cut off any length you want with ease. Before I found this ingenious thing, I was stupidly using cotton string to tie things down. Difficult to work with and left lint and fuzz on the plant. Don't do this. Edit: Leave a good amount of space between the tie and the stem to allow for expansion of the stem diameter. I usually leave enough space so the diameter of the stem can double. You are just tying it so it is horizontal with regards to the net. Not trying to restrain it. When twisting the twist ties, you need to hold it in place from both sides. Don't count on the plant stem to act as a "backer" when twisting the ties together. It can and will break the stem. You may be tempted to do this due to the extreme difficulty and tedium trying to reach around thick foliage from weird angles. Wear sunglasses. Maybe even wear sunscreen. I once got a mild burn after working under my light for an hour. I'm very pale skinned. Invest the time and money into a SCROG screen, and you will be embracing the stretch instead of dreading it. Also, consider that a plant will stretch 40% of the flowering time. So if you know how long the strain will flower in total, you can calculate the total stretching time.
I spent a lot of time researching the stretch when designing my new grow room. There isn't a lot you can do. You can grow strains that are known for having a manageable stretch of say 100-150% on top (12 inch plant at flip ending at 24-30 inches) but you would be limiting your options to some degree. I'd say most strains will add 250% on top as a minimum. The Hindu Kush hybrids I'm growing from F1 beans I made myself were around 10 inches at the flip and finished the stretch roughly 25-26 days after the flip at around 36-44 inches. Still, you can embrace the stretch as suggested by qbit420 in the post above and use LST or SCROG techniques. That's where I've ended up. I'm LSTing at the moment but next grow will be a SCROG. Excellent information for SCROGing in qbit420's post too, the stretch lasting 40% of the total flowering time from the flip - I hadn't come across anybody quoting an actual figure but 40% of the period from flip to chop seems about right from my experience over the years.
no man thats a style of growing, like lst, or scrog. that plant was groomed to stay small, and it was trained to grow that way that has nothing to do with the natural progression that a plant goes through. im talking about giant colas View attachment 1578150
I urge caution here...although an interesting article, its by that "ANON" guy again, the guy everyone has been hunting for for the last few years ...who comes to the web wrights some fantastic shit ...then disappears, I'm not saying its wrong ...but if he's right why not claim this piece of work ............... Stick to convention and stick with GC
plants dont stretch per say, they just enter an increased growth period due to hormonal changes. many think plants stretch when they see leggy seedlings and of course flowering but the fact is "stretching" to get more sunlight is not in their genetic makeup and why would it be when growing a few feet or inches closer to the sun would have no gain whatsoever. slowly increasing night length will serve to lesson stress a wee bit, but will not prevent growth associated with flower. adding blue light, keeping night and day temps within 5-10 degrees and having adequate light, is the only way to keep flower growth in check. it's all about the hormones.
Does it matter that he dips out now and again if he's putting interesting/good info out there? Personally I like to grow weed rather than talk about growing weed.