So I have been at this for over a month now and I feel like I'm figuring out a lot of the things I thought I knew before I started. The trials of a first grow are many, so many things to go wrong But I've worked through them with your help, many hours of lurking. And now my ladies I have two girls (I hope) in the darkness before flower but just in case my luck sucks I started three more seedlings which I now have been playing with. This thread is for the seedlings but I'll post updates about the other ladies here as well. One I used LST, one FIM, and the last I topped. So I'm going to keep track of those here. These plants I'm calling veg start date of 4/20 but it may have been the day before and I started with the various training on 4/25. I watered with Miracle-Gro Azalea food (30-10-10) at 1/4 strength yesterday. The LST hasn't done much, only very minimal growth at the top. Doesn't seem to be suffering. The topped plant finally started showing signs of growth at the cut point today. But has tiny leaves sprouting at each node!! The FIM plant is by far doing the best. It has four tiny sets of leaves growing in at the cut point and several leaves with tiny stems at each node. And now why you came (the second to last is the whole setup and the last one is the ladies in the dark both photos are from yesterday)
LST finally showing very minimal growth at nodes and a bit of new growth at the top. FIM still chugging along node growth looks fantastic, all four leaf sets coming in the top nicely. Topped plant is catching up with the FIM, node growth looks good and the two tops are starting to look promising.
The lights are in those y splitters so they are on an angle. And I had to move the lights up a bit the leaves got a bit crunchy.
Thanks for your suggestions Where is your super hero? he was my favorite! edit: oh i just didn't give it time to load
Yesterday was day 8 since training and the teens are about 13 days old total. The FIM plant has dense growth coming in at each node, the thickest is at the FIM'ed node however I still only have one top. The topped plant has two clearly definable tops and lots of growth at each node. The LST'd plant has lots of strong growth at the top but almost none at the nodes. And on that note, the FIM and LST plant lost their heads. Now all the plants have been topped. Pending the progress of the plant in LST the other two will receive LST as well. Pics as soon as the ladies have some recovery time. The ladies in flower (34 days old, 4 in flower) haven't taken off in growth yet but the fan leaves are getting huge. They are both LST'd and were also topped last night. All five plants were watered two nights ago with pH'ed water.
Watered all the teens tonight with pH'ed water. Originally topped plant is developing third set of leaves on each new shoot so it was started with LST today. I am hoping this doesn't stunt the amazing node growth too much. The node growth on the LST'd plant is still very very behind its sisters. And the FIM plant looks extra droopy. Its conditions are the exact same as the two other.... I rotated the plants hopefully that helps or maybe it's just a water sensitive strain and I'm going to have to pay more attention. As for the two in flower, one is doing amazing the undergrowth is filling in so nicely you have to move it to see the stem. The other I'm killing, not on purpose but the stems snap off so easily and I have snapped three fan leaves off.... they are in the way of the undergrowth so I was just bending them out of the way and *SNAP*. They were probably going to be axed eventually but not yet!
Watered tonight with nutes. I think one of the ladies in flower is a BOY!! The good news is I only planned for one making it through flower. The teens all look good, the topped girl now has four tops.... two are making their way out of the bush and two on the top so that's pretty exciting. The FIM still droopy but dark green and exploding with growth. And last and least the LST is still limping along, slowly but she will get there, no hurry.
my plants are almost in week 3. When do you top them? how long after you top do they need to remain in veg? and, is there a leaf set, or set number of nodes to look out for when to top?
I would top them right now if your lights are on (provided your plant is healthy). And then flower when your plant is 1/3 the size you think you want.
Interesting post, there are many opinions regarding pruning techniques. I have also recently experimented with LST, I'm not a fan of HST topping. During last summers crop I tried topping a few and although they did have more buds they never produced the big ' pine cone ' buds that the plants that were not topped. All the best buds came from the plants that were left alone. Recently I tried the FIM technique and the results were amazing ! The plants responded much more quickly then topped plants and there is way more big colas on the FIM plants, without any "recovery" time that topped plants need. I'm still experimenting and learning as I go but so far FIM works pretty darn good for me. Thanks and Best of Luck
I was going to top my plants but I decided to FIM them after I read this thread...what does FIM stand for anyway? Thanks for the info
I have no idea I read on one site that an anonymous letter to high times from South Carolina introduced and named the concept. But I don't know if that is true.
It's funny, FIM stands for "Fock I Missed" as the fellow who popularized it said after topping a plants realized he'd made his cut just a little higher than planned. It left a little part of the growing top above the stem. This plant really branched out nicely and recovered very quickly compared to the conventionality topped plants. You can Goooogle it to get pics, etc. My own limited experience with FIM technique has convinced me to keep using it rather than just topping the stem. My plants were getting too tall so I FIM'd a few. Usually with regular topping the two lower leaves below the cut become two new branches but on the ones that were FIM'd the top shoot grew several new branches in a beautiful "cone" shape. They also recovered very quickly. One of the FIM'd plants has at least twice the amount of big buds. Ya' gotta like that.
Not so happy update, I think both of the plants in flower are boys. This will be a tragic development. I will be gone till Tuesday so they have till then to show some sign that they deserve to live. The babies are doing great and I don't think I can call them babies anymore. They def need fed but it's going to have to wait till Tuesday. They are getting so bushy. And thirsty, they take about 16oz every other day. The photo descriptions are a list of the training progression. Photo 1&2 Fim -> Top -> LST 3&4 LST 5&6 Top -> LST
They were boys. and so off with their heads. Two of the teens got to move into new pots so they should be happier. The LST plant is suffering serious nutrient deficiency and didn't get transplanted. The two transplanted plants will go into pre flower darkness on the 25 th fingers crossed for girls. I put 5 more beans down for germination, hopefully I won't need them but just in case.
The teens will be a month old tomorrow! The FIM and Topped, two strongest, are going to go into pre-flower darkness next Thursday. The LST plant just looks stunted in comparison. I'm naming them this time maybe they will know they are supposed to be girls this time, the FIM'd plant will be Farrah and the Topped will be Tara. Both Farrah and Tara were transplanted into 10" pots Tuesday, fed Wednesday and lost all lower fan leaves today. They will get fed and watered once more before the darkness. Farrah seems to thrive on abuse, so when I broke a branch off while tying her down today, I decided to see if a clone would take, fingers crossed. If this plant is a girl, and the clone takes it will become my mother plant. Lotsa ifs and waiting to do but still a plan. The tight inter-node and bushy growth on Farrah is perfect for growing in a cab. She responds really well to trimming and tying. All 5 of my beans sprouted (this seems to be where I have luck) and are germing in peat pots one has already sprouted. The potential clone is also in a peat pot with a humidity dome. I'll have pics up of everybody on Thursday before I flip the switch.
I'm having a good week with the ladies no problems, everyone looks wonderful. The clone looks the same as it did the day it broke and it's been six days so that seems to be working out. I tossed two of the sprouts, I only had three solo cups, and the three sprouts that made the cut look great. The LST has made a full recovery from what ever def it had. And the ladies had their legs stretched, it's crazy how fast they grow. I'm trying to decide if I can just flower Tara and move Farrah back into the veg chamber. I don't think there is enough space....decisions for Thursday.
If I lst into a circle 6" in diameter then flower, can grow in a space 11"x18" and 10" from soil to lights( maximum)?