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Stltoed
Well-Known Member
My plants have been in flower for about 10 days. These two plants, Strawberry Banana wont stretch too much. I've grown it quite a bit and have never seen them stretch more than 7 inches or so. I've stopped tucking them. I dont want the buds to grow below the net, so I'm gonna let them do their thing. If these plants were known for stretching you may still tuck a while.
Let's start with the plant in the closet... there were 2, but the shorter was quickly being eclipsed by the larger. The plant that graduated to flower was seriously sick. It was a mother, the same mother that I used to clone the hydro plant. It's amazing how different the 2 look. Part of the reason for that is the neglect the mothers recieved when they weren't giving clones. They weren't being fed properly, and the light was turned way down. When I decided to send the two to flower they wouldn't eat, and had lockout issues. I flushed them for quite a while and gave them nothing but fulvic acid to help chelate the available nutrients. The smaller one wasn't moving fast enough so I pulled it. Here are some shots from underneath. You can see it gave a quite a few clones. The inside growth has been trimmed up. The branches are spread, the light is being utilized.
The topside of this plant looks so much better than it used to. Leaves look good. No burn, no nutrient issues showing other than a little discoloration at the very tip... I can live with that.
The hydro plant is doing very well. It never had the issues the other plant had. I've spent quite a bit of time pulling leaves to allow the new tops to get light without the large leaves getting in the way. You can always just tuck the leaves under the net, but I know in a week I will have twice as many to contend with. I dont want to block the flow of air underneath, so I pull the leaves.
In the first pic. You will see leaves AND small branches. These shoots came from the inside of the plant closest to the meristem. They usually have a shitty node separation and dont do too hot. Dont get me wrong, they will bud, especially directly under the light, but I have so many beautiful tops to promote, I feel the energy should go to them.
Take a look at the underside. A nice clean gap between the lid and canopy. This is just a good practice. You want to make sure you have a nice air flow in there as I stated.
I will continue to trim the new growth that is taking place anywhere other than at the tops
Since these plants dont stretch much I wont tuck a branch tip under a string if I know it wont grow enough to point up when it's time to flower. You will see that I have a 6-8" wall of growth at the edges, not a smooth flat taper. If I have a couple tall tops I will lightly zip tie them back a couple inches to get my flat canopy.
I will be adding a PK booster toward the end of next week. I dont think I've been over this yet. I'm going to be using Hula Bloom by Grow More. I'm a big fan of a PK boosters I start after the stretch and go to about a couple weeks before harvest. I will say that it's easy to over due it. Too much Phosphorous or Potassium will leave you with issues like lock out in Calcium, Magnesium, zinc and iron. I'm not one to have a PPM over 1000. It happens, but I've had much better luck with smaller numbers.
I hope yall find this thread entertaining, if not informative. For the new guys/girls... just remember theres a million ways to do it. This isnt the gospel of plant training. Your plants will look and behave differently than mine. Your most important asset is your imagination and the ability to put it to work. Take a look at my growroom. It's a 10x12 shed in Southern California where Summer temps go above 105F 40C. These pictures arent pretty. But the system as a whole works very well in various conditions. My imagination had a field day here.
Let's start with the plant in the closet... there were 2, but the shorter was quickly being eclipsed by the larger. The plant that graduated to flower was seriously sick. It was a mother, the same mother that I used to clone the hydro plant. It's amazing how different the 2 look. Part of the reason for that is the neglect the mothers recieved when they weren't giving clones. They weren't being fed properly, and the light was turned way down. When I decided to send the two to flower they wouldn't eat, and had lockout issues. I flushed them for quite a while and gave them nothing but fulvic acid to help chelate the available nutrients. The smaller one wasn't moving fast enough so I pulled it. Here are some shots from underneath. You can see it gave a quite a few clones. The inside growth has been trimmed up. The branches are spread, the light is being utilized.
Take a look at the underside. A nice clean gap between the lid and canopy. This is just a good practice. You want to make sure you have a nice air flow in there as I stated.
Since these plants dont stretch much I wont tuck a branch tip under a string if I know it wont grow enough to point up when it's time to flower. You will see that I have a 6-8" wall of growth at the edges, not a smooth flat taper. If I have a couple tall tops I will lightly zip tie them back a couple inches to get my flat canopy.
I hope yall find this thread entertaining, if not informative. For the new guys/girls... just remember theres a million ways to do it. This isnt the gospel of plant training. Your plants will look and behave differently than mine. Your most important asset is your imagination and the ability to put it to work. Take a look at my growroom. It's a 10x12 shed in Southern California where Summer temps go above 105F 40C. These pictures arent pretty. But the system as a whole works very well in various conditions. My imagination had a field day here.
