Hey folks, Well, my first grow is underway. It was a very difficult start due to poor weather, deer, and insects, but I have 5 plants that are doing very well right now. They are definitely "behind" schedule, but there is a lot of time left. I have about two months of awesome growing conditions before flowering, so hopefully my plants will work out. The recent growth has been OUTSTANDING. I have seen 2-3 new sets of nodes in the past 2 days. It is WONDERFUL to see such vigorous growth for a change. They are currently getting about 9-11 hours of direct sun each day, so I am very hopeful. I have one feminized plant going right now, so that will likely be a female. I hopefully will get about 3 females. Anyway, some of my plants are about a foot tall and they have many nodes. I just wanted to know if I should LST them. I really want to, because it will increase my yield, but I am concerned about snapping the stem or damaging the plants. Should I be worried? What should I use to hold the top of the plant down? Do I need to bend the plant over in such a way that the top of the plant is lower than the base of the plant or do I simply need to insure that the lower leaf sets are getting more exposure to light? I don't want to use any sort of board to tie the plant down to. I was looking for some sort of two pronged stakes of some sort that could hold the top down and look inconspicuous. Also, I really want to start feeding my plants some earthworm castings (1-0-0). Some castings were already added to the soil months ago, but I wanted to make a casting tea. The back of the bag says I need 1 part casting to 3 parts water. Since this will be the first time I have fertilized them, should I use 1 parts castings to 6 parts water or something even more dilute like 1 to 12? The castings are organic and they typically don't burn plants, but I figured I should ask. I have decided to germinate a few more plants. I know that it is getting late, but I figure with about 2 months of veg time left, I should be ok. As a matter of fact. I planted a plant last August just for shits. I got about a 1/2 o of some decent bud in a 1 gallon container and I did NOTHING to help it out. Thanks GC
ok, as far as the lst goes, do you really need to do it? like are you in a situation where you need stealth plants. if it dosent matter about the size than i would just tie em to some bamboo stakes. lst outdoors will not give you more yield compared to just topping and fimming the plant. And as far as the castings, im sure your plants could take a full strength solution of an organic nute thats 1-0-0. i would also consider using some more fertz. thats just me though. maybe some guanos...
Hey Mac, I think just about everyone stateside got a late start this year--myself included-- due to the rain and storms. Glad to hear everything up and running now. If you;re worried about snapping a stem, I can tell you don't. Last week I tried LSTing a stretched out seedling and almost snapped the still-tender stem in two on the countertie. It was literally hanging by the skin of the stem. But today, I saw that the top of the plant hasn't missed a beat, green as evey and growing like the weed it is. However, like 70s said, if you've got all that light and aren't interested in changing the shape of your plants to avoid detection, i wouldn't LST either. I do it to maximize my limited direct sunlight and bend it around a bit to break up the natural symmetry of the plant. grace
I always tie mine down - it is like LSTing in a straight line. Definitely increases yield. And helps with stealth.
I am confused about this. I have mostly heard that it increases yield, but now I have heard that for outdoors it doesn't make a huge difference. I think I will have to go with cantharis on this one. I have learned more from him than most other folks on the growing forums. Cantharis, So you just tie your plant down once? What do you use to tie it down? How low is the top of the plant compared to the rest of it when you tie it down? At what leaf set do you typically LST?
Makes all the branches make like the main cola. I use garden twine (hemp is best) tied near the top of the plant and to a lump of concrete. I pull the plant down until the top is about horizontal. As the plant continues to veg I move the knot to keep her in the right pose. Here´s one from an earlier grow - got just over a pound dried off of her.
idk, i think they both have their advantages, but personally, if you have the opportunity to grow some monsters, than dont bother wasting your time with lst. cantharis makes a great point where if you want some monsters but have limited growing space, than go for the lst! he proves you can produce pounds by tie the branches down to form many colas. BUT... if you have the space, security, and dont have to worry about how big your plants get than screw the lst and let em grow!!! a great and perfect example is grandma ghudinis grow. her shiva skunk from last year was incredible. yielding pounds and all she did was put a cage around em. i say grow em natural if you can...