How I perform low stress training on my plants: Lots of pics!

[InTheShed]

Looking nice and bushy N420! I bet almost every grower has had either a fan or a light fall on a plant. Just one of those things!

patience is but one of the lessons this plant can teach us.

Wise words sensei!

 

[Spalding420]

InTheShed what a great thread man, thank you! I am on my first grow and started LST almost 2 weeks ago. A couple are really starting to take off with new bud sites, it’s so cool! At first I was worried I would mess up, but people like you and some others have really helped us newbies out, so thank you from my girls and me

Here’s a few pics from when I started and some progress. Next post will be the most recent pics, and please any and all criticism is welcomed. Thanks again and happy growing

 

[Spalding420]

Here they are with some definite new bud spots. The Sour Diesel is doing phenomenally well, so so cool to see all the new lateral growth!

Anything I can improve upon?

 

[InTheShed]

Here they are with some definite new bud spots. The Sour Diesel is doing phenomenally well, so so cool to see all the new lateral growth!

Anything I can improve upon?

Hey Spalding and to my LST thread. Lateral growth looks great!

Right off the bat I would say make sure that any pipecleaners are around stems and clear of any growth sites or buds. You should move this one for sure:

I think the bends are a little close to the soil (particularly the NL!). I'd go with at least a 2" PVC pipe.

How many nodes were they when you started laying them flat?

 

[Spalding420]

Hey Spalding and to my LST thread. Lateral growth looks great!

Right off the bat I would say make sure that any pipecleaners are around stems and clear of any growth sites or buds. You should move this one for sure:

I think the bends are a little close to the soil (particularly the NL!). I'd go with at least a 2" PVC pipe.

How many nodes were they when you started laying them flat?

Right on Shed, thank you! And I really don’t know what I was thinking putting the pipe cleaner on the bud spot, I think at the time that was the first one I tied and wasn’t really paying attention. I’ll change that as soon as I get home.

The bigger pipe sounds great, I’ll change that as well. Here is a pic the night before I started LST.

I also have a question for you...with the LST I’ve done it’s made it easier to see pests, and I’ve recently found a decent size caterpillar/slug wrapped around one of those buds and I must’ve just found him in time bc there was no damage. I have a bunch of products available to me from neem oil, to insecticides and what not(all organic) am I too late to spray for pests? I am finding leaves every other day with their slime on them, and also some aphids and possible thrips. What’s your best recommendation for the spray? Today is my only day to accomplish the spray due to work hours so any detailed advice would be extremely appreciated!

I have them pictured below. Thanks again man!

 

[InTheShed]

am I too late to spray for pests?

Let me lay out a few of my bug-spray ground rules (and these are my rules...follow as you wish!):
#1 Nothing with pyrethrins ever. Doesn't matter if they're from flowers or synthetic. Pyrethrins are banned on cannabis in many legal states and I don't use them. This eliminates the Safer Tomato and Veg.
#2 Nothing with oil in it for plants with pistils (so no neem or organic oil sprays in flower). This eliminates the neems and the All Seasons (made with petroleum, like we'd ever spray that on anything we're going to smoke/eat!), as well as the Natria made with canola oil.
#3 Diatomaceous earth (DE)...also not in flower.

Okay, what does that leave you? Two things work on caterpillars and are safe in flower (you do wash your buds at harvest, yes?). They are BT spray and Spinosad. I'm not sure where you are, but if you're in the states you can get them both at Home Depot.

I use BT for caterpillars in veg and flower. For other pests in flower, I use either Spinosad or Dr Bronners unscented liquid castille soap mixed with water.

In veg, I use the castille soap, neem, and 70% isopropyl alcohol mixed 1:9 with water. I spray every other day for two to three weeks, depending on the life cycle of what I'm trying to kill. I often alternate different sprays on different days and sometimes I'll spray them with iso/water every morning just as a preventative. Did I mention I grow outside?

One last thing...DE can be mixed with water and sprayed on plants in veg only, and I try to hit the bottom of the leaves only to prevent the dried DE from blocking the sun. It works well, but I've gotten away from using it lately. Iso/water is cheap!

[Oh...forgot your insecticidal soap. If it's just potassium salts it's good any time, but won't work on caterpillars. Wash your harvest!]

 

[Spalding420]

Wow thanks so much for the details! I guess that doesn’t leave me with much of my options LOL! That’s perfectly fine I’ll check for the options you mentioned. So since I am basically in flower on all plants, what do you recommend for pests?(I also grow outdoors)

I have never had a harvest before so I will definitely wash it haha! Was planning to do so but after you hearing you stress it and if I use any products, it seems a must. Consider it done

This is my first grow and it’s in my signature if you want to check it out, or even sub up I really appreciate the insight and your time! Cheers

 

[InTheShed]

Wow thanks so much for the details! I guess that doesn’t leave me with much of my options LOL! That’s perfectly fine I’ll check for the options you mentioned. So since I am basically in flower on all plants, what do you recommend for pests?(I also grow outdoors)
I have never had a harvest before so I will definitely wash it haha! Was planning to do so but after you hearing you stress it and if I use any products, it seems a must. Consider it done
This is my first grow and it’s in my signature if you want to check it out, or even sub up I really appreciate the insight and your time! Cheers

Oh, you're in FL! You'll find both the spinosad and BT at your local HD or Lowe's. The spinosad will handle most of everything except mites, which I've read some negative things on. Spinosad should only be used occasionally (6x per grow I've read), but you can use the castille soap daily.

What kind of bugs are you dealing with besides the caterpillars? I'll check out your journal today!

 

[InTheShed]

Howdy LST-ers! I thought I would jump in here with another plant I'm training. Since there were a few questions about LST for photo-period plants, here's a photo I'm training now.

It's a clone called It's It Punch (IIP for short) and it was a tall lanky thing when I got it. I transplanted it about 3" deep, up to its first node, and then bent it over. The mother of this plant took over an entire tent and grew into the light, so keeping this one under control is paramount.

Here it is at first bend:

20190504_180622 IIP.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 5, 2019

It's It Punch training

Three days later you can see all the new growth down "below."

20190507_081753.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 7, 2019

It's It Punch

And here it is this morning, 13 days after bending (pardon the caterpillar damage!):

20190517_083924.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 17, 2019

It's It Punch LST

20190517_083916.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 17, 2019

It's It Punch LST

I'm deciding whether to top it but it wouldn't be before I upcan it to the 10 gallon final home. In the meantime, it just stays low and heads around the rim.

 

[InTheShed]

This morning I had some tall leaders growing off the trunk of the IIP, so I curled them down without damaging the stem. I held my pointer under the stem and then ran my thumb along the top a few times until the stem remained curved. Low stress!

20190521_075840 IIP.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 21, 2019

It's It Punch

 

[Archiweedies]

She bent the knee!

 

[N420]

Hey Shed looking for a little advice.

I am growing 5 Barney's Orange Sherbert photo plants I have vegged them for 7 weeks so far. I have topped them once and have not really done any other training because I did not have the room in my veg tent. I transplanted them into 5 gallon pots tonight with the intention of flipping them into flower in 2 weeks in my flower tent that is 4x4. I would like to LST them and open them up a little more and was wondering if the 2 weeks before I flip is enough time to effectively train them. I was also wondering if I would leave the ties on for the duration of flower or take the ties off for the stretch

 

[InTheShed]

Hey Shed looking for a little advice.

I am growing 5 Barney's Orange Sherbert photo plants I have vegged them for 7 weeks so far. I have topped them once and have not really done any other training because I did not have the room in my veg tent. I transplanted them into 5 gallon pots tonight with the intention of flipping them into flower in 2 weeks in my flower tent that is 4x4. I would like to LST them and open them up a little more and was wondering if the 2 weeks before I flip is enough time to effectively train them. I was also wondering if I would leave the ties on for the duration of flower or take the ties off for the stretch

It's never to late to train them, as you can even open them up in flower if you want to get light to the lower nodes. As long as you have room (5 plants in a 4x4 can get tight) I would train them to fill in the space and then flip and let them stretch. No reason to take off the ties, as you have basically created a scrog without a screen.

With two weeks before flipping should give you time to get some good lower growth so it's definitely worth giving it a shot if you have the room!

 

[N420]

Thanks Shed appreciate it .
I will get started on the training soon. I was think of just taking some clones off one of the plants and only training and flipping 4 of them

 

[Sierra Cowboy]

Well I must say Shed that is an amazing read, backed with repeated results and photographic proof. With apologies for not reading all 8 pages, do you cover / can you do this to an older plant a.k.a. my current grow I would say they are about 18" tall today.

 

[InTheShed]

Well I must say Shed that is an amazing read, backed with repeated results and photographic proof. With apologies for not reading all 8 pages, do you cover / can you do this to an older plant a.k.a. my current grow I would say they are about 18" tall today.

Thanks Sierra! You can train an 18" plant to get wide, but it's probably too late to get the top lower than the lowers at this point. If you want the lower branching to catch up then topping at this point would be the fastest way to get there. You can keep the newer growth level and let the lowers catch up. Then when the tops of all the branches are the same height, you let them all grow up together. Nice flat canopy.

If you had time, you could top all the top growth at that point and train really wide, but it might be late in the season for that.

 

[Sierra Cowboy]

Really cool, I have a new neighbor and would like to keep "on the down low" this technique might just be the answer I am looking for.
I see why you have received the accolades that you have on this site, after reading 1 of your Tuts. I had to read them all. I have learned things that will help me be more efficient and effective going forward, Thanks for that!
What is your opinion of "super cropping" as I understand it, it is anything but LST it involves actually bending to the point of causing structural damage to the plant, which makes me cringe.

 

[InTheShed]

Really cool, I have a new neighbor and would like to keep "on the down low" this technique might just be the answer I am looking for.
I see why you have received the accolades that you have on this site, after reading 1 of your Tuts. I had to read them all. I have learned things that will help me be more efficient and effective going forward, Thanks for that!
What is your opinion of "super cropping" as I understand it, it is anything but LST it involves actually bending to the point of causing structural damage to the plant, which makes me cringe.

I've done a tutorial on super cropping but not a separate thread, so when I get to work I'll point you to it. And I do it all the time and recommend it for all sorts of reasons. I'll @ you when I post it later.

 

[Sierra Cowboy]

Thanks Shed

 

[Archiweedies]

Really cool, I have a new neighbor and would like to keep "on the down low" this technique might just be the answer I am looking for.
I see why you have received the accolades that you have on this site, after reading 1 of your Tuts. I had to read them all. I have learned things that will help me be more efficient and effective going forward, Thanks for that!
What is your opinion of "super cropping" as I understand it, it is anything but LST it involves actually bending to the point of causing structural damage to the plant, which makes me cringe.

You can literally snap branches on this plant to the point of near severing and not only will it survive it can redistribute energy to either attempt to repair the damage or send energy to nearby flowering sites.

There is, in my opinion, no reason to treat this plant like it’s some of Grandmas fancy old china ya know?

I've done a tutorial on super cropping but not a separate thread, so when I get to work I'll point you to it. And I do it all the time and recommend it for all sorts of reasons. I'll @ you when I post it later.

I like supercropping.

Might I suggest posting the link here too brother Shed? Just in case someone would like to see it and doesn’t get an @ mention.