Hi! First time grower needs help please!

[Weaselcracker]

I usually supercrop the whole limb at one time and make the whole area I want affected turn soft and quite limp. I usually use it to slow limbs down when they are getting out of control. It also thickens and strengthens the limbs as they recover. Given that your plants are young and a little on the spindly side, I'd say just do a bit at a time and see how you like it. It's harder to supercrop a second time because the stems toughen up, but it can be done, just takes a bit more work. By then there's usually a new section above the super cropped area that is soft and ready to be squished as well. What are you doing the supercropping for- to strengthen the stems?

 

[Hobopr0]

Ahhh ok...was trying to increase the yields based on all of the videos on YouTube. I'm going to wait and see what happens in the next couple days since it pained me to do it in the first place. Just got back from the store but they only had the 150w cfl ($15). Gonna check Home Depot tmrw to see what they have. Probably pick up a few light socket splitters as well.

 

[Weaselcracker]

IMO the way to increase yields is to focus on the basics. Light, temps, good soil/growing medium, decent nutes, watering habits, and ph. Everything else is just frills to play with after you spend the next 12 years trying to nail the basics. There are a whole bunch of obstacles in your way - mistakes waiting to happen, which will tend to decrease your yield. Best to focus on keeping the plants healthy as possible. That's what will increase yield. Focus on issue prevention and basic good conditions, and yield will follow. I'm sure you'll have your hands full just trying to do that. I know I do and I've been growing for years.

 

[Hobopr0]

Yeah, point taken man! I'm thinking waaay too much about this and shold jus flw the KISS rule..Glad ur reeling me in here. I tend to jump the gun..I'll give u an update in a couple days.

 

[Hobopr0]

Should I have topped the girls prior to super cropping? Just reason somewhere that this should've been done first. Is it too late to do so at this point? Want more tops ideally no?

 

[Weaselcracker]

You can top them if you want. The point of topping them is to sort of flatten up the canopy a little and make a wider, somewhat more square shaped plant. Maybe wait for recovery from the supercropping first. The plants are young and a little spindly from low light -no point torturing them too much all at once IMO unless you have very rapid growth going on. But yes you can still top them.

 

[Hobopr0]

but isnt it also so that you can achieve more tops?? additionally, ive seen a couple vids that call for cutting the entire top of the plant (and u can just plant to clone) and others that say just to clip the little top piece so that it sprouts into 2 tops. sry a bit confused...then theirs FIM...my head is gonna explode.

in anycase. the flwing pics are what they look like now after the super crop i did yesterday. i did lose a couple leaves near the bottom but the points on the main stems that i did do....most of them want to grow back straight so i kinda been pushing them back down a bit...only one of the plants seem to be ok. lemme know what think....and pls keep telling me to leave them alone an be patient. damn

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[TheNarrator]

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Love the foil fortress

In terms of tents I went with one of the bottom of the line Secret Jardin ones. It has been fine but have had some issues with pinpoint holes in some seams although it appears to let more light out then it does in somehow. Nothing some tape couldn't patch up though.

I'm sure Gorilla would have better light proofing and they seem to be real sturdy so could be the go! Have heard of a few horror stories with cheaper tents coming back and finding them collapsed as the weight of lights etc hanging from the cross beam had caused the plastic components joining the frame to fail.

If you have an old wardrobe or something around and have some tools I would recommend making a custom space for yourself, that's what I will be doing when I change my setup.

 

[Hobopr0]

hahah...thanks man. wife was pissed that i raided the pantry room for these but this just started on a whim and has quickly getting out of control so need to make due with what i have laying around but understand that i need to step it up so that this wasnt all for nothing. was going to convert my wardrobe as well and keep in the bedroom (only real secure place and is where these are currently set up).

it's starting to smell so i hooked up my ionizer (ive read good and bad things on using these) and it seems to do the trick since the wife tells me that she can no longer smell it....im sure that wont last forever hence trying to get the tent /carbon scrubber/higher wattage CFL's (as u can see i have 2 table lamps/ a FL /one HID/ one desk lamp...i just dont have the extra $$$ for the proper set up (but it's coming).

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yes if you top a plant it slows down the upper growth. Two shoot start growing from the node below the spot you cut, and the side shoots on the lower nodes start to catch up to the top growth.
If you have more tops you can spread the plant wider and catch light more efficiently than with an untopped/untrained plant, which will grow in to a tall cone or spike shape normally.
There are many ways to do it. You don't need to supercrop to achieve what it looks like you're trying to do. I drill holes around the upper rim of my pots, then use pipe cleaners to tie limbs down, which let's the side branches grow up. You can also take an entire plant and just bend it sideways as you're doing. If it doesn't want to bend just supercrop a length of the stem gently to weaken it and make it more bendable. Then the side branches will grow up, whether you top or not.
Supercropping has it's place but it's a bit more stressful for the plant. Sometimes that's good if you're trying to slow a plant down in spots.
Topping and Fimming are close enough to be almost the same thing. Fimming can get you more tops if done right. Topping gives you 2 more tops. Here's a link to an article you may like. Doesn't explain topping really but still worth a read.

How vegetative growth time exponentially affects yield.

 

[TheNarrator]

Those tray things sit in my cupboard unused most of the time anyway, you have found a much better use for them!

I like the idea of having a space with a more solid structure such as a wardrobe mainly for peace of mind with hanging fairly heavy objects above my precious plants. It would also be much easier to set up a couple of different areas, say one for veg and one for flowering which I would love to have. If you've got the time to set your wardrobe up would save you some $$$ that could go towards lights, (just my two cents).

I'm a complete rookie so could be way off here but it looks like they are a bit 'stretchy' from lack of light so would even just chuck a few more cheap CFLs around them to tide you over if you think it might be a while till you can get your new setup.

 

[Hobopr0]

added some splitters/outlet sockets and the the most lumens i could find...heh

 

[Serpent]

there are so many sites contradicting the use of using MG...perhaps i got a bit over anxious but figure to give it a shot. i do also mist the leaves with water and was using the ceiling fan but just added an small desk fan to get the air moving more.

I see you got CFL now nice there looking so munch better good job your doing a nice job kept it up. I used MG for a hole year not knowing it was the worst soil but i never had a problem i use promix now but still use MG for seedlings there potting mix i find works good and just gives the seedling a little food when growing its N)o.14 P)0.14 P)0.14 then i swith to promix and start feeding with GHP after

 

[Hobopr0]

just some updated pics of the super cropping/topping i did a couple weeks ago. getting bushy so when should i start to initiate flowering? was thinking of keeping them vegging for a couple more weeks. also had to continue to make bends due to lack of space on 3 of the plants while the other 2 plants have been barely touched. did have some leaf casualties so am attempting to use these as clones using plain water. ill create another thread on that...lemme know what u think!

 

[Weaselcracker]

How much space do you have available for flowering? (Surface area and height) and how does that compare to the amount of space covered by the plants now?

 

[Hobopr0]

it's maxed out in height now...until i get the tent or modify my baking pan fortress.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Ok, but how much room do you expect to have when you flower? Some of those plants could be tied down horizontally, they will then sprout up from the sides. There are many other ways to spread them out as well. I would flower when your growing area is half full, or max 2/3 full, as they will probably at least double in size during early flowering.

 

[Hobopr0]

yeah im at the point where im waiting for my 2 in 1 tent from Yescom (48x36x70) so been having to bend/super crop/fim to keep the canopy down as u can see it's already past my height limits...that being said...i have 3 plants leaning pretty significantly so now am trying to fill in the "back" side of the plant if that makes any sense. so just super cropped and fim a few on the empty side and hope to see this filled in a a few days or so. am i going in the right direction? additionally....what about pruning or clipping some leaves to free up some space for lighting and air circulation...as u can see, it's getting bushy and im seeing that some fan leaves are covering the new growth so im trying to twist and tuck leaves here and there. lemme know what u think here....thx!

 

[Weaselcracker]

They look nice and healthy. I see that you're getting several tops on some of the plants. There are many ways to skin the cat, but based on my assumption of what you're trying to achieve there- I would flatten the canopy even more- like for the tallest plants perhaps tie the plant tips down -till you have most tops at the same level. A plant can be laid completely horizontally if necessary. A little supercropping helps with the stem bending process to soften it and avoid breaks. Also tie down/spread out side branches where necessary, for more or less the same purpose. I drill holes in the pot rim, or whatever else is down there and convenient to tie to, and use pipe cleaners. Eventually you'll have the tops all on the same flat plane, looking from above you will be able to see an even canopy of growing tops. Hope this makes sense, it's a bit garbled. Had a late night. Might be gibberish....
I don't normally take leaves off at this stage except for dying ones and lower side branches that will obviously never make it into the light enough for decent budding. Some can be used for clones. As the growth develops into an even height and fills the space- there ends up being full canopy of growing tops, and an obvious shaded zone underneath it all. I start to remove the lower growth as things take shape. Like the way, in a dense forest, the lower branches always die off to leave bare trunks. It will happen naturally or you can help it along. IMO you won't have any problems at this point if you don't remove any leaves.
Looks like transplanting time soon for the taller ones.
You're learning some good skills with the training you're doing. It gets intuitive pretty quickly.

 

[Hobopr0]

just some updated pics as of today. tent is enroute and once received (by the 25th), will be putting these into 12/12 finally! these 5 ladies have been started from some seeds around this past Thanksgiving so around 2 months vegging. as u can see, due to the height restrictions, ive had to top and super crop and tie down quite a bit just to make it all fit. that being said, it's gotten rather bushy and outta control. seems to have a bunch of tops..but as u can see....the voids ive had last week seem to be filling in nicely. i plan on topping/cropping some of these...or should i leave them alone!?!?

now question, regarding the 3 plants i needed to crop/train...when i receive the tent, ill obviously now have rom vertically, so do i now untie and let them just get vertical again? from the side view image, ive untied the back middle plant and now is getting light on the underside/canopy...or should i tie back down once i get the tent and continue to train horizontally for these?

there's one plant that can still go vertical w/o issues at this point as this is the runt and still in the smallest pot...will transplant once i get the tent. another plants has been bent like crazy and has been chasing light so it's a mess as well!

pls help to advise me on what i should be doing/concerned with these! should i start pruning? i havent yet, some some burned tips really.. im getting STOKED GUYS! hope these are fem though doh?!

btw, how much do u think these will yield approximately?? need u guys to walk me along!