Ase's Multi-Strain Quadlining In Coco

Day 5 Veg

The little ones are getting bigger by the day and will need a transplant in the next week or so. In the meantime I will being to take nodes one and two off of the plants completely and then top them once they have recovered from that. In fact the DTF #1 was already at the correct point to take the first nodes so I went ahead and did it. I also got before and after pictures. For the newer people on this thread, I have a history of doing something and then thinking, I should have done a before picture. Anyways I am very happy with where things are at and I'm just really excited to get into the main quadline phase where I can start bending and staking. Not to underestimate the importance of right now for quadlining though. Everything I am doing is leading to building 4 main branches for support and that starts first with removing the first couple nodes so the growth stops there and just becomes more of a stalk, feeding the rest of the energy to the top where nodes 3 and 4 are just coming out.

The whole family, tallest to shortest. I almost took nodes one and two from the Tangerine Dream and Purple Trainwreck but decided against it. The deciding factor was if I took the fan leaves from node 2 then the plant wasn't going to be left with much fan leaf from the other nodes. That would cause more stress than I want to the plant due to this so I left them until tomorrow or tonight.
Same order just top view. You can see more of what I was referring too in the leaf development of the DTF vs the TD and PT, even though they are a bit taller.
Before removing nodes one and two.
After removing nodes one and two. I think you can see the stress a bit already happening on the plant. I bet it doesn't look like it skips a beat by tomorrow. I try and make sure I water right after stressing out a plant so it has what it needs to recover the fastest. Eventually they will just get used to defoliations and barely slow down but it's important to keep an eye on this first one since it is so young and see how it reacts. It's also one of the first time you can really learn to read the plant and see how it bounces back.
 
Looking great Ase and off to a spectacular start!

Now I’m here to pick your brain!! I have recently been gifted some critical+2.0 cuttings and after they rooted in only a week and began growing my approach to training these photo girls is going to be the quadline. I am also going to be starting some autos along side them to run an auto side by side with quadline vrs LST on a Pineapple Express by Barney’s farm and a crystal candy auto by sweet seeds.

After watching you and many others in the quadline journey I have been eagerly waiting to try my hand at it. Well my time has come and I look forward to learning as much as I can and grow some killer plants!

Ok ok enough of my rambling the real question I have is regarding the critical clones that have started to grow. I want to make sure I get everything times right since I’m using cuttings and not seedlings for my quadline.


I know they are still small but will I treat them the same as if I would a seeding? Wait until it stretches a bit more...top the highest node then create my “x” pattern with the remaining lower branches.

Would I want to create my lower “x” with the branches that are currently existing and top once I am able to access the highest node?

Thanks for your help Sensei !:Namaste:
 
Looking great Ase and off to a spectacular start!

Now I’m here to pick your brain!! I have recently been gifted some critical+2.0 cuttings and after they rooted in only a week and began growing my approach to training these photo girls is going to be the quadline. I am also going to be starting some autos along side them to run an auto side by side with quadline vrs LST on a Pineapple Express by Barney’s farm and a crystal candy auto by sweet seeds.

After watching you and many others in the quadline journey I have been eagerly waiting to try my hand at it. Well my time has come and I look forward to learning as much as I can and grow some killer plants!

Ok ok enough of my rambling the real question I have is regarding the critical clones that have started to grow. I want to make sure I get everything times right since I’m using cuttings and not seedlings for my quadline.


I know they are still small but will I treat them the same as if I would a seeding? Wait until it stretches a bit more...top the highest node then create my “x” pattern with the remaining lower branches.

Would I want to create my lower “x” with the branches that are currently existing and top once I am able to access the highest node?

Thanks for your help Sensei !:Namaste:

Yes you would treat them like they are still a seedling.What you will need to do is find a section of the plant that has 4 nodes that you can train 4 different directions. From seed it's easy because the nodes are symmetrical but from cutting they don't line up exactly so you have to find a section with 4 that you can work with and then top above that.

On the very first picture you posted, the top plant. I'd get rid of the leaf and node entirely at the bottom with the leaf that is cut and then wherever the next node is more towards the top right now I'd use as my bottom 2 branches and then the next node above that as the top two, to make the 4 branches in total for the quadline. Once you see the top two nodes start coming in then you can top above that and you should be good to go.
 
Yes you would treat them like they are still a seedling.What you will need to do is find a section of the plant that has 4 nodes that you can train 4 different directions. From seed it's easy because the nodes are symmetrical but from cutting they don't line up exactly so you have to find a section with 4 that you can work with and then top above that.

On the very first picture you posted, the top plant. I'd get rid of the leaf and node entirely at the bottom with the leaf that is cut and then wherever the next node is more towards the top right now I'd use as my bottom 2 branches and then the next node above that as the top two, to make the 4 branches in total for the quadline. Once you see the top two nodes start coming in then you can top above that and you should be good to go.

Thanks Ase! I’ll give her another day or 2 for a bit more growth then proceed with that route!
 
Day 6 Veg (13 days above ground)

As promised most of the other plants got their 1st and 2nd nodes removed today. I did decide to wait one more day on the two Indicas though. I just didn't think the amount of leaf that would be left on them was quite enough so one more day to keep growing without any stress. On all of the plants today I decided to spread out the inner parts. It exposes the brand new growth to light and that keeps the nodes more compact. If I remember right the new growth sees light and it signals for the next set of leaves to start pushing out earlier then it normally would have. ATF #1 will get topped tomorrow and I will see how fast the Tangerine Dream and Purple Trainwreck have recovered. If they keep growing like they have they might get topped as well.

Start.
Spreading outwards.
Finish. You can see a new node barely coming out of the middle now and that was completely hidden before.


 
Day 7 Veg - The Topping Begins!

Nothing that new to report today. The Girl Scout Cookies and the Double Berry both got stripped of their 1st and 2nd node just like I thought I was going to do. The DTF #1 got topped today and the Tangerine Dream and Purple Trainwreck are almost ready but not quite. I assume I will be topping them tomorrow and likely topping the GSC and Purple Trainwreck the day after. Not sure if the DTF#2 will get topped with the tomorrows group or the next day but likely it will be with the tomorrows group.

I always talk about learning to read a plant to know when to do things. When I waited to "strip them" of nodes one and two I was looking at the amount of leaf matter had grown and what the plant would look like if I did the defoliation. Leaves are essential for a plants growth so if there isn't enough left at this stage it can definitely stunt them. We don't want to slow them down and as you have seen so far, nothing I have done has really slowed them down. Now with the plants all stripped, I had to focus on what to look for when ready to top a plant.

In prior grows I used to just top them all at the same time but really each plant is different and needs to be treated that way. You need to do things based on the plant and not your own schedule you have for them unless you really don't have a choice. If you really have a deadline to hit or just can't wait an extra day or two then by all means do them all at once, but topping them all at once doesn't put them all back on the same schedule. Some have grown more than others and likely have larger root masses accumulating and the ones that were growing well won't notice it and the once that haven't reached the correct point will likely be further stunted. It's just a matter of a couple days too so might as well just get it right. In a humans frame of time a couple days really is a small amount. For a plant that is 14 days old one or two extra days to grow without any stress really makes a huge difference. Patience is a growers #1 virtue but it is a huge key in growing. You can be excited and just want to do everything ASAP but you are really hurting the plant by rushing things. Brand new growers really struggle with this concept.

So here is my before and after of the DTF in terms of topping. You can see the 3rd node is getting bigger and the 4th node has two leaves that you can clearly see coming out of the plant. It is way more evident once it is topped but you really don't want to top if these are any smaller than they are. Be careful not to pinch of cut the leaves coming out of the 4th node when you do the topping. Also if you spread the plant out with your fingers (just like I was showing in the last post) then it makes it a little easier to see everything and get a good topping in. Normally, I'd just do the transplant when the plant recovers from this which takes a couple days but since I am gone this weekend I'll likely top them all before I leave and just let them grow until I get back and then transplant them all. It just pushes things back a couple days and I am good with that.
A little better picture of what the growth from node 4 should look like in terms of size.
 
Day 7 Veg - The Topping Begins!

Nothing that new to report today. The Girl Scout Cookies and the Double Berry both got stripped of their 1st and 2nd node just like I thought I was going to do. The DTF #1 got topped today and the Tangerine Dream and Purple Trainwreck are almost ready but not quite. I assume I will be topping them tomorrow and likely topping the GSC and Purple Trainwreck the day after. Not sure if the DTF#2 will get topped with the tomorrows group or the next day but likely it will be with the tomorrows group.

I always talk about learning to read a plant to know when to do things. When I waited to "strip them" of nodes one and two I was looking at the amount of leaf matter had grown and what the plant would look like if I did the defoliation. Leaves are essential for a plants growth so if there isn't enough left at this stage it can definitely stunt them. We don't want to slow them down and as you have seen so far, nothing I have done has really slowed them down. Now with the plants all stripped, I had to focus on what to look for when ready to top a plant.

In prior grows I used to just top them all at the same time but really each plant is different and needs to be treated that way. You need to do things based on the plant and not your own schedule you have for them unless you really don't have a choice. If you really have a deadline to hit or just can't wait an extra day or two then by all means do them all at once, but topping them all at once doesn't put them all back on the same schedule. Some have grown more than others and likely have larger root masses accumulating and the ones that were growing well won't notice it and the once that haven't reached the correct point will likely be further stunted. It's just a matter of a couple days too so might as well just get it right. In a humans frame of time a couple days really is a small amount. For a plant that is 14 days old one or two extra days to grow without any stress really makes a huge difference. Patience is a growers #1 virtue but it is a huge key in growing. You can be excited and just want to do everything ASAP but you are really hurting the plant by rushing things. Brand new growers really struggle with this concept.

So here is my before and after of the DTF in terms of topping. You can see the 3rd node is getting bigger and the 4th node has two leaves that you can clearly see coming out of the plant. It is way more evident once it is topped but you really don't want to top if these are any smaller than they are. Be careful not to pinch of cut the leaves coming out of the 4th node when you do the topping. Also if you spread the plant out with your fingers (just like I was showing in the last post) then it makes it a little easier to see everything and get a good topping in. Normally, I'd just do the transplant when the plant recovers from this which takes a couple days but since I am gone this weekend I'll likely top them all before I leave and just let them grow until I get back and then transplant them all. It just pushes things back a couple days and I am good with that.
A little better picture of what the growth from node 4 should look like in terms of size.

Nice write up Ase ! Things are starting to take shape !
 
Day 8 Veg - Let the Recovery Begin!

I'm sitting at my computer with a wax dab of GG#4 sitting in front of me so I will be short and sweet with this update. I decided to top all of the other plants today. The Girl Scout Cookies probably could have gone with one more day before doing this but I realized that I am very limited on time tomorrow. Headed to Atlanta to watch the MLS cup final (Go Timbers!) and I will still need to pack and take care of a couple other chores before I fly out. So this will be my last update for a few days. I didn't want to forget to top the GSC and have it be like a week behind the others so I went ahead and did it. I could see leaves coming out of the 3rd and 4th nodes but the 4th node ones were super tiny. Hopefully she continues to grow and will enjoy the few days of me not being here to recover. They will all get transplanted when I get back. Ideally they should probably be transplanted tomorrow or the next day but a couple extra days in small pots wont hurt anything.

This was a picture of the DTF#1 today. She was topped yesterday and all that bright green inner growth shows me that she isn't slowing down at all. Less than 24 hours later and you can easily see where the plant is focusing on new growth. It's going to the 4 main branches that will be the base of the quadline. This is exactly what you want to see and why we've done all those other things up to this point. Have a great weekend everyone and GO TIMBERS!
 
There is so much sativa in my life that I am really looking forward to having it again. On the Indica side, I really like most things that are crossed with Northern Lights.
Northern Lights is a great night time smoke. I am going to do a female cross of my NL and Hindu Kush. I generally smoke a 50/50 bowl of those two most nights before bed. I figure its only logical to try a cross of those two. Might have a nice indica for you to try when I get this done!
 
Hey Ase hope all is well! My girls have rebounded nicely from the trimming and transplanting last week! can't wait for an update on yours.

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Northern Lights is a great night time smoke. I am going to do a female cross of my NL and Hindu Kush. I generally smoke a 50/50 bowl of those two most nights before bed. I figure its only logical to try a cross of those two. Might have a nice indica for you to try when I get this done!

Ooh that sounds delicious. I’m lacking a good pre-bed smoke. My Aurora Indica should work for that and it comes down soon. NL Kush sounds perfect though! Can’t wait!
 
Hey Ase hope all is well! My girls have rebounded nicely from the trimming and transplanting last week! can't wait for an update on yours.

Timbers lost but I’m having blast on my little vacation. I can’t wait to get home and see what’s going on with them. It’s not a time that I usually like being away from my plants (so early on) but it is what it is!
 
Is it bad to take the leaves up higher at the bud sites. Like the top node?. They block the 2nd node from the top

I would leave those on. If they are really big fan leaves and are blocking other colas then maybe you can clip one here or there but top fan leaves will almost always block nodes below it on the same colas they are on. I tend to pull off fan leaves that face the middle of the bowl (quadlined plants look a lot like a bowl shape) if they are blocking light from the inner most colas.
 
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