If somebody wanted to put a plant in an indoor container with some vegetable plants, like a tomato plant and a pea plant, and make it look as though it's just another vegetable; is there a way to do this? For instance, could one simply cut off some of the "fingers" on the leaves without killing the plant? The yield would not be an issue here, as privacy is the main intent of this. Also, if one wanted to keep the plant small and short, how soon can the top be cut to reduce vertical length? So my questions are: 1- Can the leaves be "manicured" to not have five fingers and the plant sill survive? 2- Can, and if so how soon, the main stem can be cut to limit vertical growth? Thanks so much to anyone who helps answer my questions. p.s. I know about the low stress training but it would be undesirable to call any attention to a big bushy plant. The goal is to make the actual plant itself as small and insignificant to the eye as it can be, while still being able to be used for it's intended purpose
Sounds like it would work, that is unless you want to actually flower the plant and maybe smoke it afterwards...
Well please explain why it could not flower? I would assume that the plant would flower it would just produce fewer buds; providing it does not die from getting it's leaves mutilated.
From what you're saying I think you want to cut a couple of fingers from the fan leaves so that the legendary leaf shape isn't really there? I don't really see why you couldn't do this as long as most of the leaves are still left to absorb light. You're right in guessing it will decrease the yield, but its not like you won't get anything. The only problem will be once it starts budding, if you have a plant with the usual type of cola it won't be hard to recognise once its a decent way into budding. The smell could also be a giveaway depending on strain. I would suggest trying a strain like Dr. Grinspoon from Barney's Farm, from what I understand it doesn't have a big main cola like most plants but produces lots of popcorn buds. I'd guess it wouldn't be as recognisable as other plants, but I really don't know for sure. I'm just trying to help but I might be completely wrong hahaha, would be interesting to see how you go about it though. Good luck
this is a crazy idea. the plants roots would be constantly competing for root space with the other vegetables in the pot. you would get a very small yield maybe less than an quarter but i could theoretically work. if you think you're going to just grow a smokeable plant in one of the windows of your house, and people won't raise a question of doubt as they walk by, then you would be kidding yourself.
Wouldnt even be worth your time or money. Even if you could disguise it during veg. it would be pretty obvious what it was 7 weeks into flower... wouldnt recommend it. Happy Growing.
SmellyMelly, thanks for the info. The cola could be a problem but I doubt it will be. Detection from neighbors isn't really an issue, it's more of a concern for the little sister. mobluntz, the vegetable roots are nit going to be that big of an isuue. I have grown many vegetable plants in a single box inside before and it works just fine as long as you are careful to water and fertilize each plant enough so it does not have to compete with the others. And I'm not some teenager trying to grow to sell to all of my high school friends, this is more of an experiment, so if my yield is a quarter, then sweet. Because not only will I have learned from the experience, but I will also have a quarter that came out of it. I can buy my own, I just want to try growing once to say that I did it and I smoked it; without having my little sister or younger brother come in and be like "I saw a picture of this plant in D.A.R.E(drug abuse resistance education) class!!! Thats illegal I'm telling mom!" p.s. my mom is totally cool with a single plant. So long as the younger kids don't see it. but she refuses to go in my room while it's there lol. I'm planning on starting this in 2 weeks when I come home from college for summer break.
if your mom is ok with one plant, then do one plant the right way in a smaller grow tent where you younger siblings wont see it. wouldnt you rather have somewhere near an oz instead of a quarter
But the whole purpose of growing this way is to experiment with it, not to maximize the yield. I ultimately hope to go on to experiment with growing a plant with the bonsai method that can be kept alive for a very long time and used for cuttings to clone with, without looking like a felony growing in a pot.
@bentham Do you think I've never read anything about growing before? And did you not bother to read the questions that I asked before posting? When did I say that smell was an issue? I plan to use ona gel as an odor blocker along with opening my window and turning on the fan. Since it's just one small plant I'm sure it will be fine. Please don't put up a half-assed post that does not help nor answer a question that someone has asked.
Mate I think you should just go ahead and give it a crack, try working out some methods and just see what works and what doesn't. Worst case scenario if the plant gets to the point where you're really concerned your sis will find it, just pull it and try something different. There's no point in trying to get good info out of these people that seem to be bud snobs, have a go and prove them wrong hahaha. Maybe you could tie the branches down throughout the other plants so they're not very visible, they wouldn't get as much light but it could make the plant pretty hard to see if its growing hidden by branches from other plants?
Chill out dude, nothing stops smell, not even ONA gel. It covers it up but you can still smell dank when you get near it. And you won't yield much if you're topping the plant. You really need those new branches that all stems from the main stem...Also, it'll stretch twice to three times its height but oh wait you already know about growing so nevermind. What height do you plan on growing with? If I were you, I would LST that thing to the ground for every inch it grows. Keep it on there like a vine. When you have that going on it won't look like a marijuana plant at all. I suppose you could manicure it but with the stress from LST it will be slow growing for a long time. EDIT: I've heard bad things about leaving ONA gel right next to bud too...I remember reading somewhere the bud can absorb the smell.
Sorry about the post, I was pissed off about something completely unrelated to this and had a short fuse there, my bad. Thanks for the info about the ona gel, I was planning on keeping it underneath the shelf that the plant will be on(about 1 1/2 feet below the plant), so I think it should be ok. As for topping the plant, I really am not too interested in the yield, I just want to be able to say that I grew it and smoked it. The LST sounds like a good idea though, I have read up on this in the past quite a bit and it might be an option, but I don't want the thing to get too bushy. I want this whole project to be as small as possible but still effective. Even if I only yield 1/8 I would cool with it. And yes, I did know about the plant growing during flowering. I do not have any height restrictions, but I would like to keep the plant around 1 - 1 1/2 feet. So I would plan on flowering when the plant is around 8 inches or so. I know this could lead to some undesirable circumstances such as low yields or the plant not being able to support the weight of the flowers. However I am on a time frame here, I only have about 3 1/2 months from start to finish. Any way man, again, I'm sorry for unloading on you. And thanks for the info.
It's all good. Yeah I'd definitely LST if you can. Use anything (I used pipe cleaner). Yeah just keep the ONA gel away from the buds, I just mean like don't leave it in a closed cabinet with bud or putting it on top of the soil or something. Yeah you're good with 1.5 feet. Most of us do rubbermaids and they aren't much taller. I'd expect a quarter to a half with LST and a few messups. Goodluck man. Maybe even get an autoflowering strain.