Stunger's Last Stand: Banned To The Balcony!

My outdoor girls always get rained on at least once- they love it!
Stunger said:
showed a cheap plastic device that fits over a plant stem requiring a 90 degree bend and like a bendable plastic straw it holds it's position
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@VetSmoke85 used something similar in his cabinet grow awhile back, maybe he'll chime in with where he got them...He's in the UK...
Also -type in "plant benders" on amazon- it'll bring up a nice variety of em- some are cheap, some are ridiculously expensive...
 
Hey! Yeah I think they're called Bendz. They worked well. I'll try to remember which grow I used them on. Probably got a pic of them in action somewhere. Think they cost £5 a pack which had 20 at least. You just gently bend the stem into them and they hold in place. Can cut them to reduce the angle too.
 
Here they are.
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Thanks very much for showing those @VetSmoke85 , they look pretty good, nice and easy to apply. I find too many LST wires being attached to the pot rim can make it quite tricky getting access to the plants undercarriage.
 
Stunger said:
Thanks very much for showing those @VetSmoke85 , they look pretty good, nice and easy to apply. I find too many LST wires being attached to the pot rim can make it quite tricky getting access to the plants undercarriage.
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Yeah it can get a bit silly. They are pretty useful. I think on that one I used a few on some branches to create an S shape going up in an attempt to slow them down.
 
Stunger said:
Tomorrow if the rain lets up, I should have a window of undisturbed opportunity to do some canopy flattening. The suggestion of the weighted paper clips is a good one, but we can get quite strong winds hitting the balcony it can move weights and stems around where they end up elsewhere on the stem where you didn't intend and perhaps scrunching some future bud growth. I will probably just LST them in place. I was hoping by selectively semi crushing the stems in a supercropped manner that I could slow down the stretching but this girl, the Godfather OG is not really slowing down.

@nickeluring who does some wonderful balcony grows with autos, showed a cheap plastic device that fits over a plant stem requiring a 90 degree bend and like a bendable plastic straw it holds it's position. Unfortunately I haven't seen that product locally in NZ, but it looks spot on for what I am trying to do. I'll post a pic of his if I can manage it.
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Thanks AlmostHeaven, I'm now at that stage of wanting to check all the time :cool:

Cheers BC, I need the supercropping for stealth too. Yell out if you see anything like those plastic doodahs in the pic above locally.

I don't think my reversing worked on the CBD Express auto. It was certainly worth a try, which I did so for 28 days. Who knows I might find a seed in her buds like you, but I won't be holding my breath for it haha.
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Hey Stunger,
Those clips are named Plant Bends. I use them on every plant and I find them absolutely amazing. I got my last batch from Amazon, and I have seen some on ebay as well. I highly recommend them if you can find them.

Bends.jpg
 
Thanks Nicky, they look the business, I wish they were in my local garden shop. @VetSmoke85 posted me some good links of similar, from which I since went off and found some of the hydro tomato growing industry in NZ uses some very similar clips for truss support, altho from the brief look they seemed directed at the commercial industry, but they are around it seems. Hope all's well with you.
 
Yes, thanks mate. All is good over here. I hope all is good with you as well, and I wish you a happy grow year to come.
I just harvested 8 plants before xmas and have a lot of trimming work to do. 6 down and 2 big ones to go...
I got 3 little seedlings cooking in the tent, and another one about to sprout that I'll just keep in the house as a house plant for fun. Germination problems made me germinate an extra seed.
Other than that I'm about to go commercial and will start growing CBD plants legally this year. I'm really excited about that. It should be fun.

VetSmoke85 said:
Yeah it can get a bit silly. They are pretty useful. I think on that one I used a few on some branches to create an S shape going up in an attempt to slow them down.
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I tend to do the same. It works very well for structuring a plant.

You'll enjoy working with the clips, Stunger. At least if those clips you got are any good. I don't think I've grown a plant without them since I first started to use them.
 
Also, be careful after you have placed a clip on a branch on a young plant and make sure you don't bend the branch upwards against the clip. You can break a branch very easily like that. They just snap right off if you apply pressure near the edge of the clip.
 
Stunger said:
Godfather OG update

Why does my best girl have a boy's name? Godfather OG, it sounds so masculine and not at all ladylike!

This girl seems to be loving it. She is my most impressive plant currently, she has really noticeably grown in the last 8 days, during which I have given her 2 rounds of supercropping and the odd tie of LST. I am endeavouring to 'cramp her in' a little and avoid the rather cumbersome leggy canopies I had last year.

So far she has received no feeding at all since she sprouted, she seems quite happy sitting in her 50L container of organic soil complete with worms living it. She has now reached the development stage where every morning on throwing open the balcony curtains I can see she has visibly grown overnight. I am now trying/wanting to stay on top of her stretching to avoid too much leggy branching.

8 days ago I gave her some supercropping

Godfather OG - after some supercropping 31/Dec/20

Godfather OG - after some supercropping 31/Dec/20

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Godfather OG - after some supercropping 31/Dec/20

Godfather OG - after some supercropping 31/Dec/20

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A few days later

Godfather OG - after supercropping 4/Jan/21

Godfather OG - after supercropping 4/Jan/21

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And overnight the following morning she had grown visibly further

Godfather OG - stretching overnight 5/Jan/21

Godfather OG - stretching overnight 5/Jan/21

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So the following day a further round of supercropping was done yesterday in the hot sun, it was our hottest day of the summer so far and it would have been in the 30's celsius on the balcony, perhaps it was cruel not to wait until evening but she is pushing the supercropped right angles straight very quickly but I notice in the hot sun she struggles to straighten them so easily, so that's why I did it when I did it, with the view that the supercropped 'corners' could maybe 'set' in place a little before the sun goes down, it may have slowed the straightening down a little but I don't think very much.

Godfather OG - more supercropping 6/Jan/21

Godfather OG - more supercropping 6/Jan/21

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Because I am growing outdoors, it's a long wait from last year to get to this stage again, but it feels so bloody exciting, like coming out of a big bloody long hibernation! I envy indoor growers who can be having plants in this stage of growth every month of the year, but at the same time I am glad of all the experience they gain because in a community like this the sharing is really really appreciated.:thanks:

And overnight today just 8 days after the first pic, she is looking like this.:ganjamon:

Godfather OG - 1 day after 2nd round of supercropping 7/Jan/21

Godfather OG - 1 day after 2nd round of supercropping 7/Jan/21

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Godfather OG - 1 day after 2nd round of supercropping 7/Jan/21

Godfather OG - 1 day after 2nd round of supercropping 7/Jan/21

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:surf:
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Well done, @Stunger ! She looks great! She'll become a monster. :thumb:
 
I miss the warm rain. That's about the only thing I miss about New York!
 
Stunger said:
Godfather OG update

Why does my best girl have a boy's name? Godfather OG, it sounds so masculine and not at all ladylike!

This girl seems to be loving it. She is my most impressive plant currently, she has really noticeably grown in the last 8 days, during which I have given her 2 rounds of supercropping and the odd tie of LST. I am endeavouring to 'cramp her in' a little and avoid the rather cumbersome leggy canopies I had last year.

So far she has received no feeding at all since she sprouted, she seems quite happy sitting in her 50L container of organic soil complete with worms living it. She has now reached the development stage where every morning on throwing open the balcony curtains I can see she has visibly grown overnight. I am now trying/wanting to stay on top of her stretching to avoid too much leggy branching.

8 days ago I gave her some supercropping

A few days later

And overnight the following morning she had grown visibly further

So the following day a further round of supercropping was done yesterday in the hot sun, it was our hottest day of the summer so far and it would have been in the 30's celsius on the balcony, perhaps it was cruel not to wait until evening but she is pushing the supercropped right angles straight very quickly but I notice in the hot sun she struggles to straighten them so easily, so that's why I did it when I did it, with the view that the supercropped 'corners' could maybe 'set' in place a little before the sun goes down, it may have slowed the straightening down a little but I don't think very much.
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Looking really nice, Stunger. If the Goodfarter OG keeps on growing like this, your balcony will be a sea of green.
 
Am rolling out a new thread for the coming grow. Your comments are of course very welcome.

Emeraldo's 2021 East-Facing Balcony Grow

Maybe I'm jumping the gun here, posting about an outdoor grow in the middle of January, but I do miss that grow I had last summer. There was never a dull moment. Now, with the ground covered in snow, I can hardly wait to get started. So, what kind of dreams am I having about this? Let's have...
www.420magazine.com
 
Emeraldo said:
Am rolling out a new thread for the coming grow. Your comments are of course very welcome.

Emeraldo's 2021 East-Facing Balcony Grow

Maybe I'm jumping the gun here, posting about an outdoor grow in the middle of January, but I do miss that grow I had last summer. There was never a dull moment. Now, with the ground covered in snow, I can hardly wait to get started. So, what kind of dreams am I having about this? Let's have...
www.420magazine.com
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Your grow last year was a really magnificent stealth be damned in your face balcony grow, in pretty trying times too. I am looking forward to how you'll approach this next grow, whether you'll continue with the advances you made last time or whether you'll be tinkering with it further. Good stuff, and looking forward to it! :hookah:
 
Stunger said:
Your grow last year was a really magnificent stealth be damned in your face balcony grow, in pretty trying times too. I am looking forward to how you'll approach this next grow, whether you'll continue with the advances you made last time or whether you'll be tinkering with it further. Good stuff, and looking forward to it! :hookah:
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Thanks Stunger. One thing's for sure, in the next West-facing grow, whenever that is, Super Lemon Haze will get a prime spot at the railing (not be on the shady side). This past summer, I relied on SLH to grow tall rapidly to get above the level of the raingutter so she'd have sun early, at least at her top. She did get up there quickly, but her growth in the shade was not strong enough, the leaves were pale and small, branches scrawny. I think she needs more sun to really thrive. If she would have the position Acapulco Gold, I wonder how she would perform. There are little tweaks like this I can do.
 
InTheShed said:
I miss the warm rain. That's about the only thing I miss about New York!
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Yeah, summer rain taps at my window... I guess you moved out to CA for NY, right? As Woody Allen says, the only cultural advantage of CA over NY is that you can turn right on a red light. I read you could do that in East Germany too. Thanks for your insights this past summer, it was great to have you in the conversation. ;)
 
Emeraldo said:
I guess you moved out to CA for NY, right?
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I moved to Los Angeles in 1988 and have been back to NY no more than three times since then!
Emeraldo said:
As Woody Allen says, the only cultural advantage of CA over NY is that you can turn right on a red light.
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I sucked up enough culture in the 30 years I lived there to last me a lifetime, so Los Angeles offers a huge number of other advantages over NY. And making a right on red in NY would kill an even larger number of pedestrians :).
Emeraldo said:
Thanks for your insights this past summer, it was great to have you in the conversation.
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Whatever I said I'm glad it was helpful. :cheesygrinsmiley:
 
Godfather OG & Mango Sherbert update

The girls are developing quickly now. It is an exciting time to see the progress of growth and knowing there's only a few more weeks to go before budset and flowering, and right now is all about building a base for the colas! Yay! :ganjamon:

Mango Sherbert (front), Godfather OG (behind) - 13/Jan/21

Mango Sherbert (front), Godfather OG (behind) - 13/Jan/21

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Mango Sherbert

The Mango Sherbert continues to look well and with good colour. She is quite open with larger internodal distances and huge fan leaves. So far she has only been LST'd, and now has got into a fairly nice low round shape.

Mango Sherbert, no topping just LST - 13/Jan/21

Mango Sherbert, no topping just LST - 13/Jan/21

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Godfather OG

The Godfather OG continues to grow vigorously. 2 days ago I gave her a 3rd round of supercropping and further fairly extensive LST, I went at it pretty harshly so she took a bit of a beating.

I have tried to condense the canopy rather than let it expand out too much horizontally to try to close out the gaps and train cola growth closer together. Last year's quadlined girls became quite cumbersome working around their bulk due to their large horizontal canopies.

Due to the beating she took I decided to then give them their first foliar feed with some Kelp extract (Seasol), worm wee, and Fish Hydrolysate with a few drops of Dr Bronner's Liquid Castille Soap as a surfactant.

Inspired by @Carcass, @VetSmoke85 & @nickeluring I tried to fashion my own 'bendy supercropping clips' out of plastic coated garden wire which were challenging to make work, I'd have to supercrop the stem then fit the 2 little loops at the ends of the clip to the stem, above and below the supercropped spot, and then carefully bend the wire clip to make it into a right angle. It worked to a point, until I accidentally clean snapped off a potential cola then I decided to abandon that approach and just go with LST training with the remainder. I did try to tape up the snap but by the next day it was clear it wasn't going to survive. It's always annoying to lose a potentially nice cola from a mishap.

To give an idea, here's a pic of one of the clips I made out of plastic coated garden wire.

attempt at a home made supercropping clip

attempt at a home made supercropping clip

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And with it applied to a supercropped stem to hold it in place

Applying home made supercropping clip

Applying home made supercropping clip

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Anyway, as I said I abandoned the homemade clips and ended up just carrying out extensive LST to train her canopy , here's a pic of her today, 2 days after her 3rd round of supercropping in 2 and half weeks. :hookah:

Godfather OG after 3 round of supercropping and LST - 13/Jan/21

Godfather OG after 3 round of supercropping and LST - 13/Jan/21

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All the best for everyone's grows and keep well.

:surf:
 
Plants are looking great!
I abandoned my supercropping clips too- within a couple of days, the plant got stronger than the wire...so if I need to bend anything else, I'll just do it the old fashioned way...
I too broke a bud off, but there was still enough "skin" connected, that taping it up actually worked. That branch hasn't grown much since I patched it up, but it"s still alive and flowering fine...
The one I broke off on my last plant fell right on the ground, so I didn't get quite so lucky that time ..
 
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