The Quadsquad Thread: A Community For Quadlining

[ReservoirDog]

Hello fellow #Quadsquad followers. Since uppotting my indoors, I have been slowing cuttting my undergrowth and have started on middle fan leaves, just a couple at a time.

I ask you all. Should I keep trimming some inside fan leaves and see if the little ones can catch up? Or remove some that have little to no chance?

I did as @Bill284 suggested and put 4 LED white lights on 24/7 above the canopies to imrove the veg growth.

Thank you and have a great week-end.

Hi Scott, can you detail your light scenario again, including the new lights Bill advised? Don't mean to take up much of your time, just can't glean exactly what the method is from what you wrote. Feel free Bill if you get first crack.

it looks absolutely beautiful.
Could be pic of the Month.
Excellent work.

True dat...

 

[Enjoying]

I am trying to figure out what to remove on these plants. I know it's not quad lined but I don't get much feed back on my journal so here I am. The text below the picture will explain what you are looking at. It's two plants in a three gallon pot. I should have used a five gallon for the tomato cage contraption to fit better. There is always next season =]

Everything in the first ring is lateral branching. The tops are outside

Tops tied a bit tighter.

Same picture as above just zoomed in.

Top of plant 1

Top of plant two

Side shot
So these pictures give you an idea of what I am dealing with. I may need to get better pictures of the tops but you see the large leaves and bushiness I am trying to tame. I guess I could cut the tops and try cloning them. BUT I would rather keep them tied down for a bit then train to grow up the cage using it to spread things out for light and airflow. My immediate thought is remove the shorter stuff so the plant just focuses on what has a good start already (minus the lateral stuff in the tops, time will tell me what to do there) and any downward pointing leaves - there are a few that never figured themselves out. However, this is my first time doing any training and I don't want to over prune, reducing yield and other negative effects that come from that. I highly appreciate any and all help or suggestions! Thanks for your time.

 

[Azimuth]

Hey @Enjoying ,

I'll give you my thoughts from a quadlining perspective although I know that's not specifically what you are trying to accomplish.

I top above the fourth node and remove nodes one and two completely and let the two branches each from nodes 3 and 4 grow towards the outer edges of the pot, keeping them relatively horizontal as they grow. The I use some of the small branches that form off of these main branches to fill in some of the gaps.

The reason for keeping everything level and flat is to help spread the growth hormones evenly across the plant. If any of the individual branches are allowed to grow higher than the others, like some of the ones on your plant, those branches will get a disproportionate amount of those hormones. And the same applies to flower.

You look to be growing outdoors and, if so, will soon be subject to lengthening nights (assuming northern hemisphere) which will trigger flowering. Any cutting of tops or branches will have the plant spend time and energy in repair mode so that should be factored in to your plans.

Another training idea is LST, or Low Stress Training, which involves bending the taller branches and holding them down with string, pipe cleaners, weights, etc. to help spread those hormones.

So, given your proximity to natural flowering, any topping or thinning should probably be done soon. Any lower branches that won't make it up to the main canopy can be removed to redirect any energy, hormones and nutrients to the other branches.

And that's what I would probably do with your plants. Tie all of the branches to a relatively equal height, with the tallest ones bent horizontal and the nodes spread out as best as you can.

 

[Enjoying]

Hey @Enjoying ,

I'll give you my thoughts from a quadlining perspective although I know that's not specifically what you are trying to accomplish.

I top above the fourth node and remove nodes one and two completely and let the two branches each from nodes 3 and 4 grow towards the outer edges of the pot, keeping them relatively horizontal as they grow. The I use some of the small branches that form off of these main branches to fill in some of the gaps.

The reason for keeping everything level and flat is to help spread the growth hormones evenly across the plant. If any of the individual branches are allowed to grow higher than the others, like some of the ones on your plant, those branches will get a disproportionate amount of those hormones. And the same applies to flower.

You look to be growing outdoors and, if so, will soon be subject to lengthening nights (assuming northern hemisphere) which will trigger flowering. Any cutting of tops or branches will have the plant spend time and energy in repair mode so that should be factored in to your plans.

Another training idea is LST, or Low Stress Training, which involves bending the taller branches and holding them down with string, pipe cleaners, weights, etc. to help spread those hormones.

So, given your proximity to natural flowering, any topping or thinning should probably be done soon. Any lower branches that won't make it up to the main canopy can be removed to redirect any energy, hormones and nutrients to the other branches.

And that's what I would probably do with your plants. Tie all of the branches to a relatively equal height, with the tallest ones bent horizontal and the nodes spread out as best as you can.

Thanks for the quick response!

What I am gathering from what you said is I potentially do not want to top (didn't want to try that this season as I would prefer to start with baby steps - like tying the plants - LST).
I am indeed growing outdoors and am in the Northern hemisphere. Summer solstice just past so I assume nights will gradually lengthen from here. I live in SoCal so my season is a bit longer than some.
I may remove some branches or tie down the tallest ones but it sounds as though it may be to late. Chances are I will just leave the plant to do it's thing while keeping the canopy as even as possible - maybe clean up some of the lower fans that are blocking things. That makes me think untying the top would be better at this point? I was trying to keep it lower than the lateral branching.
How do you separate your paragraphs? I used to hold shift and press enter twice but it no longer works 0.o

 

[Azimuth]

It's not too late as the same hormone idea applies to flowering as well. And if you untie the top it will reassert itself as the dominant lead. As long as the branches are somewhat flexible you'll be fine to tie them down. If they don't bend easily just do it gradually over a few days.

How do you separate your paragraphs? I used to hold shift and press enter twice but it no longer works 0.o

Just hit the enter button (no shift key).

 

[Enjoying]

It's not too late as the same hormone idea applies to flowering as well. And if you untie the top it will reassert itself as the dominant lead. As long as the branches are somewhat flexible you'll be fine to tie them down. If they don't bend easily just do it gradually over a few days.


Just hit the enter button (no shift key).

Thanks for letting me know how to separate paragraphs, it was getting a bit annoying. Lets see if it works on my end.

I flattened things out but the last two days have been HOT and it's only getting hotter over the weekend O.O The plants I tied looked MIGHTY sad compared to the other two but I think they are just thirsty. The tallest of the other two just seems thirstier than its mate (2 strains 2 each) probs because it's taller but DAMN it's a lot thirstier.

Anyways back on topic. I will post pics of the tie down, the sadness and again(a later date) when the tied plants look happy again. I am hoping I didn't let them get to dry.

After I read the post giving me your thoughts I tied and tucked. The bottom left and top right (the one above the upside down leaves) poked their heads up over night so I tied them because tucking didn't work.

Same as above just slightly further up. I figure different angles help sometimes.

Side side after being tied

Side shot different angle

These two are the ones that popped their heads up that I explained in the first picture. I tied them rather then tucking as they seemed to need a little more of a heavy hand.

These are the tops of both plants. Do you see anything I should remove? The plant may be in stretch at this point. The tops seems a little more spread out than they did BUT it could be my imagination... I don't think I have any pictures that really show it. If I remember I will try to get some if it becomes more obvious.

These are before I watered them today, as you can see they are THIRSTY. I am kind of glad I let them get to this point even though it was a complete accident only because it shows the lateral branching better imo, from the top anyways. The tops and main fan leaves are the ones drooping the most. Some of the fans? on the lateral branching are drooping but not nearly as bad. I am pretty sure they will bounce back BUT DAMN it's not pretty coming home to that!

 

[Azimuth]

The canopy looks nice and flat. Good job.

Are you thoroughly wetting the root balls?

If not, give them a thorough soaking over a couple of hours. Initially the soil can be a bit hydrophobic and rather than being absorbed, water will just run straight out of the pot.

If you are, that would suggest they are root bound. Can you up-pot them to a larger container? If they are root bound a larger container of fresh soil will be very helpful going into flower.

P.s. your paragraph spacing worked!

 

[Enjoying]

The canopy looks nice and flat. Good job.

Are you thoroughly wetting the root balls?

If not, give them a thorough soaking over a couple of hours. Initially the soil can be a bit hydrophobic and rather than being absorbed, water will just run straight out of the pot.

If you are, that would suggest they are root bound. Can you up-pot them to a larger container? If they are root bound a larger container of fresh soil will be very helpful going into flower.

P.s. your paragraph spacing worked!

YAY, I now know how to space paragraphs again. Thanks!

Thanks for the feed back it's nice to know when things are done right.

I typically water when the plant droops a bit as I would prefer slightly dry soil to overwatered soil for root health and other reasons. I water pretty heavy or so I think anyways. I water it a few times over about 15 - 20 mins filling it to where the water just about pours over the tops of the pots each time every watering.

These will def get root bound in flower. I didn't think things through as best I could so this run will be a little off but I have found that growing is a learning experience every step of the way and I enjoy that. Plus this is mostly a seed run as I am trying to cross two strains I am interested in. So smaller plants are okay as I don't need hundreds or thousands of seeds. Idk what made me think to try tying things this season with it being a seed run. Maybe I figured I could try separating the plants in hopes they would get dusted a little more evenly with different parents, though I recently read that the more parents the better for population purposes (males specifically) but Idk how true this is. Or maybe I thought with it being a seed run if I messed something up I'd still get seeds regardless, who knows... =]

The other two are in gallon pots. I figured I'd up pot the female if I get one as I don't need 10 foot males =] These would be in gallon pots but germination got a little odd when I ended up with two seeds in one pot (I thought a bird got it as it was knocked over and I couldn't find the seed) and I didn't separate them at transplant. Kind of glad I didn't as tying may have been harder with the tomato cage I am using and them in one gallon pots especially come up pot time. I have been thinking of removing the tray I have under this plant to catch water but I really don't want to have to retie everything plus the pot absorbs the water in the tray so a little extra water can't hurt. If I see roots in the water I will remove it as I don't want root rot or other fungus/bacterial problems.

It would seem I didn't kill them with severe dehydration =D They perked up last night when I watered them even though it was their bed time but this is what they looked like this morning. I feel I could organise the branches a little better and I might but the heat makes me really lazy so time will tell. I will keep pictures coming as things progress.

Still trying to figure out if I should thin out the bushiness on the tops and when should I untie them? My thoughts on that are once they show sex or maybe after flower stretch/ final stretch during flower (not sure how to word that one).

 

[Azimuth]

The bushiness up top is fine. If the bud sites were overcrowded then maybe, but they seem fine. And leave the ties on until well into flower since the plants are establishing and distributing the hormones now and you don't want to introduce a change that messes that up.

Then, either before they go into flower and/or after the stretch you can remove any lower branches that won't make it up to the canopy since those will steal nutrients and hormones from the main buds, but only give you small, airy, "larf" buds in return.

 

[bluter]

if you are quadding with a cage, you can run a couple wires cross ways on the upper two hoops scrog style, to support 2-4 branches coming up the center.

you can also just run a simple ubt style 6 spear cage grow. keep nodes 2 / 3 / 4, lose 1 and 5. 2 and 3 come up the outside of the cage, and 4 comes up the center. with a little lollipopping it gets you nice fat long colas.

this is my last indoor cage grow

considering you're outdoor, you might need a bigger pot as those things will get way bigger than what what my indoor will touch. get ready for some monsters. sweet work.

 

[greenjeans]

I'm looking forward to trying this with my outdoor auto.

 

[scottreid1966]

Hi all! Quick question. Can these clones still be quadlined? Didn't want to stress them while they were rooting.

 

[Azimuth]

If they are rooted, yes. Clones are different from seedlings in that they typically have alternating nodes as opposed to opposite ones so you'll only have one branch from each node so factor that in when you choose where to top.

And then the upper node needs to be held down a bit so the next one down can catch up.

But, I mostly grow with clones, so yes clones can definitely be quaded.

 

[Enjoying]

The bushiness up top is fine. If the bud sites were overcrowded then maybe, but they seem fine. And leave the ties on until well into flower since the plants are establishing and distributing the hormones now and you don't want to introduce a change that messes that up.

Then, either before they go into flower and/or after the stretch you can remove any lower branches that won't make it up to the canopy since those will steal nutrients and hormones from the main buds, but only give you small, airy, "larf" buds in return.

Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly with all of this, I very much appreciate your input!

I need to figure out how to become more comfortable with pruning plants(all of them honestly). I think being okay messing up is really the only way to learn. I was out there today looking and noticed a few lateral branches that surprised me with how small they are. I almost removed them but that fear of over pruning or it not being the right time stopped me.

 

[Enjoying]

if you are quadding with a cage, you can run a couple wires cross ways on the upper two hoops scrog style, to support 2-4 branches coming up the center.

you can also just run a simple ubt style 6 spear cage grow. keep nodes 2 / 3 / 4, lose 1 and 5. 2 and 3 come up the outside of the cage, and 4 comes up the center. with a little lollipopping it gets you nice fat long colas.

this is my last indoor cage grow

considering you're outdoor, you might need a bigger pot as those things will get way bigger than what what my indoor will touch. get ready for some monsters. sweet work.

Sorry for the delayed response. That indoor environment looks dialed in! I have never heard of UBT style growing. When you say lose node one and five I assume you mean remove vs top? By the look of the picture it looks like there is only one branch there in the center. But it is a little hard to tell. This style may be the answer for me by the looks of the picture. Do you use the cage as you would normally or turn it over? I ask because I flipped it over removed the first ring, kept the straight metal for legs and removed the regular legs as not to lose an eye while working with the plants. Plus I figured with the larger ring on the bottom I could spread it out more. It looks like you kept it as it normally is used which honestly may be easier as the smaller ring would make training faster in the early stages or so I think...

I'm not quading in a cage. It's more LST as I never topped. Though some string or the like in the rings may work as a SOG/SCROG

Thanks for the encouragement, I need it sometimes!

I won't be transplanting this season as it's mainly for a seed run (male dependent of course). Next season I may start in a seven or ten gallon with the bottom third flower dirt or just hope I can flush most of the N out come flower while watering during veg. The latter is most likely as I think if I flush the N out through watering during veg it'll also flush the flower dirt. If I start in seven to ten gallon I won't be transplanting, I'd top dress with some cooked flower dirt. I have no clue what I am growing next season though. I typically think that over during the winter.

 

[scottreid1966]

My 2 indoor girls were put to flower 2 weeks ago, looking good. Can't understand the difference in size. Treated them both the same. hmmm

I topped my 2 monsters by the fence and cried a little. As Bill suggested, I am trying to clone them but don't have a big enough dome and aren't doing so well but at least still alive after a week.

My 3 clones will be up-potted next week-end. I decided to keep the Dyno in the middle and one of the others that have Mykko for my next flowering indoors. The Dyno has caught up with the older clones. The last one I will just up-potand put outside. As you can see above, my 2.25 by 4.5 sq. ft flower room has room for only two quads and it's tight as a nun's you know what. lol . Will try not to let the next two grow so wide for better air flow.
It also looks like my Bonzai Momma can use another trim. I am pretty sure that its time to put her in a 4 incher square and trim the roots if needed. I should think so, it was started with the bill284 method. Can't see the roots at the bottom due to the perlite.
Hate wasting clipping though. Wish that I knew more people who could grow them.
Cheers!
Will post the outside grow after I attack them next week-end

#Quadsquad

 

[Sobergrower]

This is my first try ad quadline style growing. The two plants are in a 4x4 tent. Strain is gorilla glue. I have recently topped them and begun to open them up. I want to say thank you for sharing information on this grow style.

Here are the girls.

I haven’t started their torture sessions yet but am happy with the structure so far.

Peace……SG

 

[Sobergrower]

I couldn’t resist. Honest, I was very gentle with both of them!

I found these LST clips and have used them before. It appears to be less stressful on the plant. I may get some smaller ones or adjustable one for the future.

Peace……SG

 

[Enjoying]

I couldn’t resist. Honest, I was very gentle with both of them!

I found these LST clips and have used them before. It appears to be less stressful on the plant. I may get some smaller ones or adjustable one for the future.

Peace……SG

Where to find those LST clips?

 

[Sobergrower]

I got them off Amazon search LST clips and you will find lots of listings.