Haha, you're so right. Barely 12 hours later and the main stem went back up to about a 45 degree angle. I bent it back down and actually secured it with a paperclip hook so it will stay at almost a 90 degree angle and let light get to the all the little middle tops. Most of the remaining fan leaves had already turned up towards the light too, it's pretty amazing. Also had to crop most of the larger secondary tops again as they were almost straightened out as well.
You're learning the tricks of the supercropping method. After you do 4-5 crops it will become obvious and easy which branches need bent where. I used to stress about training now it's a breeze. All of those little nodes in the branch intersections will come alive now that they're on top in the main light and become good size tops on their own instead of small larf which is what they end up as if you don't expose them to light.
It's pretty nuts, all the training required in order to keep most of the larger chutes down. I had to secure 4 more limbs down with paperclips last night, every day it's getting bushier and bushier. I really think it's ready for another thinning out of leaves again tonight, the larger fans towards to original top of the plant are blocking a lot of the lower potential tops from receiving any light. Here's for the last two days- Day 33- Just a day later, the top is still mostly horizontal, but I did just LST the main top back down earlier that day so that's to be expected- View of the main top- View from the right- Front of the pot- View from the left- After some super-cropping and LSTing- Day 34- Two days after the main super crop, the main top and most of the top fan leaves have corrected themselves towards the light. It's already looking like ready for another trim- Here's the "top"- From the right- Front- Left side- I haven't even taken pictures for tonight yet but i'm 80% certain I'm going to be thinning out some more leaves for air circulation and light penetration.
Update for the last few days. Day 35: Took off just a few leaves today, to let light in to some of the smaller "larf" tops- Front- Right side- Left side- View of the top turning up towards the light- Day 36: View from the right showing the "top" of the plant almost vertical- Front- "Top" of the plant- Left side view- Took off a few more leaves, the plant is growing like crazy- The end result of a little trimming and more super-cropping with LST- I'm having a lot of branches split open when I do the super-cropping, is this normal? It doesn't seem to be phasing the plant or hindering it's growth in the least- My girlfriend says it looks like a poor mangled mess, lmao... I have to admit, the branches aren't pretty, but I love the sight of all the tops emerging. Day 37: Didn't need much today, just some water and some LSTing. Front- Right side- The main top and all the growth around it- View of the top-
Day 38: Definitely needs another thinning out of the leaves, a lot of light is being blocked from smaller tops. For instance, I'll remove smaller fans like this- In order to open up light for the tops underneath it- Here's what was removed in the long run- And here's the end result for tonight, May 8th- Front- A little closer- Right side- Right side a little closer- Left side- Top of the plant, I LSTd it down towards the top again to stretch it outwards more- It's measuring 2 feet wide at the widest point, most of it is around 20-22 inches wide. I haven't even tried counting the number of tops lately but I'm sure it's about 30 now. I'm most likely going to switch to flowering around the end of the month, that'll be the two month mark and I'm not exactly sure how to keep it stretching out the way I'd like except for extremely rigorous super-cropping, and I may need to start using some pliers with electrical tape to save my finger tips, they can't take much more of the super-cropping the thicker branches. I think by the end of the month I'll be right around 2.5 feet wide, which I feel is great for my first grow in a 3x3 tent.
Yeah, looks like a scene out of the grudge or grave encounters or something, upside down spider walk with broken limbs...
Stop removing leaves from the top canopy. Why is there so much stem exposed to good light? Remove all the ties you have holding it down. My stems don't usually split like that if I've done the bend/crease right. They'll split sometimes when you are too hard on them but they often quickly heal anyway. You should tape them if you split the stem. You need to leave that thing alone. One of the coolest parts about supercropping is it takes almost no effort at all. You crease the main stem down and bend a few branches here and there. That's really all it takes. You don't have to have all these ties and remove all of these leaves. Let the plant stretch out. Remove growth from the bottom up only from here on out. It looks waterlogged. Is it warm enough in there? Do you have plenty of air circulation? To me you're making the mistake of just trying too hard. It's very common for beginners. Some people can't keep their hands and scissors off of their seedlings before they're a foot tall. Have you looked through this tutorial? Super Cropping Marijuana: Simple Secret to Bigger Yields | Grow Weed Easy "STEP THREE: Fixing any tears in the outside stem & tying down In the best case scenario, you don't even need tape, because the outside of the plant is still whole. If you've gone a bit overboard, you may need to use duct tape (or another strong tape) to reinforce the plant so it can heal properly, especially if you can see a open slit or crack on the outside of the stem. If there was no cracking (yay!) then you only need to secure down your stem (or it will flip right back up in a day or two). Plant twisty ties or regular zip ties both work great! Regardless, the place that you originally bent will grow a big 'knot' almost like a permanent band-aid, which can transport more water, nutrients, and other good stuff compared to before. STEP FOUR: Removing ‘bandage’ tape Wait about one week before removing any tape. It's normal for the tissues to have discoloration at the healing sites. If the site is still grey and appears totally wounded, just put the tape back on until it has grown her protective 'knuckle'."
The main stem is exposed to light right now because of the limbs being bent away and held down, away from the main stem, even most of the smaller chutes that would normally be growing up in the middle of the plant to cover the main stem are being stretched outwards instead of up. I don't remember when exactly the limbs started breaking open like that, but I feel like I wasn't doing anything different when I did the creasing so I figured it was normal, and the plant didn't seem to care so I didn't really think twice. Should I tape up those limbs with the holes in them and let them heal then? They've been split open for a few days now and I'm not sure if the plant will let me bend them back to normal shape but I'll try if I should. It just seems like every other day anything that that I remove grows back two fold, I bet tonight or tomorrow that main stem will be almost hidden again. For most of the smaller "top" chutes that have been emerging in crowded spots, I have only been removing lower leaves. I will leave it alone until you tell me to trim again though, lol. Waterlogged, should be plenty of air circulation and temps are staying between 70-85, usually closer to 80. Are you saying that because some of the leaves look droopy? I did add some weak nutrient solution as well earlier last night in an attempt to try and drop the ppm again, is the plant maybe reacting to a decrease in nutrients? Looking at it today the droopiness seems to have gone away. I was definitely afraid of removing too much at first, but with how thick this girl is and how fast she's growing, I feel like I still could have removed more leaves from lower down on her lol. I will restrain myself from here on out though, thank you for the advice Tbone. Sent from my HTC U11 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Fixed that post, idk what the hell happened with the quote. Sent from my HTC U11 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
@Tbone Shuffle Here's a pic from just now, about 10 hours after all that trimming that left the main stem exposed, temps are at 82 right now- Sent from my HTC U11 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Wow, it's made a huge turn around. Now scroll back and look at when you started. You only had a single main top. You now have about 30 and you didn't even top the thing at all. From here I would just stretch it wide and bend down any top that attempts to power above the rest. In order to get proper light distance to the majority of those tops you can't have one way taller then the others. All I am really trying to accomplish with my training is to create an even canopy with just the right amount of tops to take full advantage of my grow space. That's how you maximize yield. You don't want to be able to see much floor in the bud space. You want it to be almost nothing but tops that are the proper distance apart and thickness so they get decent light penetration and enough air circulation they can develop.
Hahaha, I'm telling you dude, even with all the trimming and breaking open some limbs, nothing seems to be phasing this plant. That's all I've been trying to do, all the while removing certain top canopy leaves to reveal light to smaller tops that want to grow from lower below. I love your method instead of scrogging, I'm pretty sure by the end of the month I'll be able to accomplish just that, an even canopy with about 40-50 tops all the same height, about 2.5 feet wide. I don't mind if it doesn't quite reach 3 feet since that's how big the tent is, I'll just be happy to get something I can smoke and a few valuable lessons out of my first grow.
Hey buddy are you using liquid scillica? That should stop the stems from bursting. Makes the plant turn to rubber. I abuse the shit outa mine and never snapped anything since i started using it Sent from my SM-J330FN using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I use growth technology one. Can get it on amazon for about 10 quid. Really does make a massive difference like. Also i see you never topped her. Its not neccesary as youve obviously figured out but it does make a more symetrical plant which id say is easier to train into an even canopy. Doesnt slow em down as long as theyre growing prooperly. Looks good though man. Im with you on the defol aswell. I take tonnes off and find it makes them grow faster. Little and often is better than a big one every week or so tho. I took off about 50% from a big plant last time and she fell out with me for a good 10 days. Thought she was a gonner lol. Sent from my SM-J330FN using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I use GH armor si. If you look at actual silica percentage in it it's one of the strongest on the market. It's 10% silica. Advanced rhino skin is 1%. Botanicare is like 2.5%. The only bummer with silica supplements is they are alkaline and require additional adding of ph down to counteract them. Just have to figure that out. They are also always added to solution first or they'll react and form solids with the other nutrients.
See, thats something ive been reading a lot recently. ive been using it for almost a year now and always put it in last lol. Wonder if thats why i get a pile of gunk under my pump? Doesnt cause me any problems like but ill put it in first this time and see if it goes away Sent from my SM-J330FN using Grasscity Forum mobile app
My silicon SiO2 soluble in water is 14.6% And archer if i put my silicon in with epsom salts or my nutes it binds to it and lumps form in the water i always feed the silicon seperate to the nutes. Sent from my SM-G950F using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Yes, you can't add it last. It will bind to the silica and it will fall right out of the solution. I think it's magnesium or calcium that it binds with but you have to add it to plain water first when mixing a batch of nutrients. GH micro is second.
Ahh i dont use gh series lol. Im dutch pro for nutrients, does it make any difference? As ive said, ive read a lot on here about it fucking with the mix etc when in first but honestly cant say ive had any problems from that or anything else growing in NFT. Got a 22oz auto on my first time using sillica which was my second grow. Had zero problems with anything other than a 4 inch square build up of some residue at the pump end of this slab of roots Not sure what % my sillica is but ill check in 2 days when im up as i cant find it online. Its "growth technology, liquid sillica" if anyone else knows how to find it in the meantime though Sent from my SM-J330FN using Grasscity Forum mobile app