Stretching?

[cbgb]

'hey 420 peeps ........... i have two female NLH#5 X SSH ,2nd week flowering, one is bushy and one has become a tall northern pine ...lol .......since the switch to 12/12 she has grown leaps and bounds. she is very lean but healthy.......with 6'' growth between nodes.......she looks like she is slowing down will this (stretch) stop ?? i am running out of ceiling height ** over the last two weeks she has grown 4" +/- per day........thoughts, comments, ideas are more than welcome ................ an early thank you !!!

 

[Emilya Green]

yep, they often times double in height in that first 2 weeks of flower... and then they stop. You might have to end up bending one down a bit and supporting it somehow.

 

[LEDBud]

At the end of week 3 the stretch slows as the production of Buds increase.

I bend my plants tops and branches to stay level instead of climbing for the sky.

When you bend you end up with more tops at the top level forming a plateau of buds if done right.


Even the main stem can be bent by hand by squeezing the stalk between your thumb and forefinger until it crushes.
Once crushed you can bend it into position gently.

If you are not feeling like crushing the stalk you can tie into position instead.

Main thing is to keep the height down and as level as possible.
A little training goes a long way to keep the plant in your control.

You can see here what has happened by bending tops and branches.

The Photo is at day 56 , the plants are 3 weeks into Bud now with a plateau of buds

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I've used string before to tie down the top cola only really helps if it has got a fair amount of flex in the stem tho.

 

[cbgb]

thanks emilya and bud. @ bud , my other girl also nlh#5 X ssh (planted at same time) photoperiod seeds looks just like your beautiful plants !!! did nothing to it..............this is my fourth grow , still learning, have never topped a plant yet but the next grow , you bet! out of all those grows i never had a plant take off for the sun like this one did......so i can tie down the main stalk at the top and have it growing kind of sideways? too scared to pinch and bend :-X lol.....

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Pinching or cutting the main colas at this stage will only harm yield.

One of the last few strains grown hit about 120cm in height & these got tied down.

Ye ya can see some red string in those pic's and buds grow just fine side ways.

Just test with your fingers lightly to see how much bend you can get first before being tied don't want to break em !

 

[cbgb]

@ fuzzy .........those buds look kind !!!!! a picture says a thousands words , thank you so much for posting those....in the second picture from the top i notice you have no fan leaves ........ was this taken just b4 harvest or do you thin out the fan leaves during the grow?

 

[LEDBud]

Yep tie her down , a Arch shape like Fuzzy Ducks first example or pulled flat without a arch either or what ever your plant wants to do when you bent it.

thanks emilya and bud. @ bud , my other girl also nlh#5 X ssh (planted at same time) photoperiod seeds looks just like your beautiful plants !!! did nothing to it..............this is my fourth grow , still learning, have never topped a plant yet but the next grow , you bet! out of all those grows i never had a plant take off for the sun like this one did......so i can tie down the main stalk at the top and have it growing kind of sideways? too scared to pinch and bend :-X lol.....

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Ye those first two pic's where before harvest, i normally trim the fan leafs off if i'm entering a plant into POTM for a better pic

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

On a side note i do use a little bit of defol these days & i normally do this at the start of the 2 week flush period before harvest plucking off about 50% of the fan leafs to improve light conditions to the lower canopy which may help yield.

But there are some variations in the defol method tho...

I'm also a fan of LST aka low stress training & as you can see i've used string recently, pipe cleaners in the past & even small plant canes with clips as this all helps improve light to the lower canopy to which may help yield...

 

[Rifleman]

Could be different phenotypes in the same strain. I have grown three of a certain strain and gotten a different plant each time. Well actually only two types, but the one I'm growing now is dwarfing the other tall phenotype I grew.

 

[cbgb]

thank you to all who commented on this topic !!!!! the stretch is over !!!! 10/21/15 switched to 12/12 on 12/27 a confirmed female. over a 7 day period she grew 16" including two nodes on the main that are about 6'' apart !!!! the next node to appear was only 3'' apart. i still may have to bend since i have about 7-8 weeks left ........ here is a pic of the northern pine ~LOL

 

[LEDBud]

I think you need to bump up the light , mo light mo bud.


It has the look of a light starved plant.

What are you using for lighting with it ?
~~~~~~~~~

 

[cbgb]

hey bud , i dont think it is a light issue as the one next to it looks just like your bushy jack's ........i am a cfl grow .... i have 5600 lumens at about 4'' from the top of each plant and along with that 3 x 2800 lumens surrounding each plant on each of thier 3 sides to get into the interior of the plant.......i have done about 4 grows like this including nysd , pink amnesia x nysd fem-auto, etc and have had good results. thanks ....

 

[LEDBud]

Its a odd plant , it will be interesting to see how it flowers , it may throw one big Cola.
Like Big Bud does.

It looks male , could it be ?

 

[Rifleman]

I'm betting the stretch isn't over yet.

 

[cbgb]

they are two female NLH#5 X SSH , that is a fact ...........beautiful white whisper pistils all over the bushy one and on the skinny one but not so many, i would a super cola ......they both went to 12/12 flower on 10/21 and showed sex on 10/26.........i also thought that skinny one was gonna be a hermie or male by the way it was acting but it is healthy just thinned out..............what did you think of my lighting set up ?

 

[LEDBud]

I like to blast my plants with light so I am somewhat biased , not everyone uses as much light as I would.

a 400w HPS has 55000LM and is good for a a 3x3 area (42w ft) Your 28000lm in CFL lights are equivalent to 250 HPS watts.

Technically your under powered but that has not stopped you from having successful harvests. So take it for what its worth.

a cfl grow .... i have 5600 lumens at about 4'' from the top of each plant and along with that 3 x 2800 lumens surrounding each plant on each of thier 3 sides to get into the interior of the plant.

 

[cbgb]

you would be correct rifleman ! this plant is reaching for the stars ........ this morning i arced the top ...... now my overhead lighting for this plant is no longer illuminating the top of the plant after the arch .... should i put lights facing the new arched top ? i believe if i do not the plant will fight the arch trying to face the light................

 

[Rifleman]

you would be correct rifleman ! this plant is reaching for the stars ........ this morning i arced the top ...... now my overhead lighting for this plant is no longer illuminating the top of the plant after the arch .... should i put lights facing the new arched top ? i believe if i do not the plant will fight the arch trying to face the light................

Take a look at my latest pictures on page 8 of my current journal, and you tell me. My light is maxed out, BK inches from touching it, she doesn't want to bend over, and when I do tie her over to the only solid support close, she crowds my other two out of the light footprint. Wish I could advise better, but adapting and overcoming is the name of the game. Be sure to post your solution.