Okay... so this is my first real grow. I have messed around a little before. My main question is if I fimmed my plant correctly. The pictures I am posting are 3 days after the fim. I am worried because it just looks like new leaves. I don't know what it's supposed to look like when it grows back.
These are the oldest pics I have if the fim, but like an idiot, I didn't take any good shots from the side
Doesnt look successful, little hard to tell. Not a bid deal regardless, she will recover. Honestly, if you want my 2 cents. FIM is never consistent for me. I would "top" and just cut that portion off, and practice some light "LST." No reason to get to crazy on your first grow. Good luck
Sooner the better, plant is already stressed may as well get it over with, I wouldn't expect a ton of crazy growth for a week or 2 while she recovers. Let us know how it goes
Kind of hard to tell by that pic, but if you got growth that is good. Is this the same node you pinched when doing a FIM? To get a good solid top I probably would have just lobbed that section off and topped at the next node down, no biggie either way. Now, can we talk about your heating/light issues? I noticed in your first pics your leaf tips we're curled in and looking a little crispy. The leaf texture itself looks a little leathery in the recent pic, does it feel rough? Sorry not trying to overstep, just something I noticed. You might just need to back your light off a few inches.
I uploaded a pic of mine, just to give you an idea of what one of my plants looks like when I top. You can clearly see where I cut, and the two new "top" nodes growing in.
I was having some temperature issues for the past week. I had to build a makeshift grow box. I live in a very hot area so I'm embarrassed to say I caught the temperate up to around 92 one day. That was the day her leaves curled up really bad. I rearranged my room and got her closer to the ac. Temp is staying around 76. Her leaves are still a little curled and rough, but they have been getting a bit better. I backed off the lights a little more today too. They are probably about 8 inches out now. I really appreciate any input you give! I'm trying to really learn.
I do have a makeshift co2 system from yeast and sugar that I maintain well. I have read that help with high temps too?
She recovered great! Looking much healthier too. Ive never tried Co2 but I know it's a good option for warmer rooms, something to look into.
The top have recovered amazingly. My next question is when should I start clearing some of the bottom leaves? I have read it speeds growth and makes the plant focus on the important stuff.
Everyone has different pruning methods, I remove anything to close to the bottom to where it drags or makes a mess. Other then that I try not to remove much until about 2 weeks before flip. Aggressive pruning is overrated imo, a lot of variables involved including type of lights and how much canopy penatration you get. Speaking of lights, what type are you using? Your new growth is 100% looking stressed. You still have either too much heat, or your lights are too intense/close for a plant that size. On your older leafs that leathery look should have returned to normal by the next day if the issue was corrected.
I am using 4 23w cfl. The temp has been corrected (staying around 76 degrees) so I will move the lights again asap! Thank you so much for helping! I won't prune until I get the lights/temps fixed so I don't stress her more!
I moved the lights back right after I posted, and I can already see a difference. The fan leaves are perking up towards the light. Thank you so much! I will post more pics tomorrow so you can see how good your advice has done for me!!!
Get yourself a co2 meter and you'll see how useless sugar and yeast is. If you're running any kind of exhaust it's 100% useless as it's immediately evacuated before the plants can utilize it. That's why co2 grows are in sealed environments with total temp control since no exhaust. Sugar and yeast will not put off enough co2 to help high tempts. Plants need atleast 1200 to 1500 ppms plus large enough lights for the plants to benefit. You're 2 liter isn't capable of producing such high ppms. Even if you reached those kind of ppms which you wont, your small cfls will not be enough light to benifit from additional co2. You're wasting your time. I tried proving a buddy with a real co2 grow wrong using all these makeshift co2 methods. That damn meter proved me wrong every time no matter what I tried