Ideas for support on multiple plants

[Bnelly]

Hey all, I've been doing some research trying to find the best way to support my plants before they get too big and cant really decide on the best option as this is my first grow. I've got plenty of time as they are being grown outdoors and are photoperiod plants.

My situation:
I've got 7 plants in 5 gal fabric pots, I dont plan on repotting them to bigger pots.
I currently have all 7 on a picnic table in my yard, we are doing a bunch of chemical spraying to make the yard all rocks and I dont want them near that stuff. I plan on moving them out into the yard and into their permanent positions once this is all done.

I am mainlining most of them, so I want something to support the hopefully big ol' colas. Im leaning towards making a PVC SCROG that will fit over all of them and support the branched about half way up the plant. I would like to save as much room and money as possible, although I'm not against separating them to allow access either.
Also thought about plant cages/ rings but the rings are a bit too expensive for the size I need.


Hopefully some experienced individuals can lend some advice. I will try to get some pictures of the area I'm thinking of making their home when I can

 

[AdaminCO]

I’ve been seeing a lot of folks use tomato cages lately.
I use 4’ bamboo sticks from Amazon.

 

[Emilya Green]

I have had amazing results with tomato cages... the plants love them and I like being able to move them about and rotate them along with their support.

 

[Bnelly]

Thanks @AdaminCO and @Emilya! You both have been enormous help with my first grow!

@AdaminCO Do you put the sticks in the pot or into the ground? And how do you use them? I've seen people put like a thin netting around sticks to hold everything together

I can get the tomato cages for like 3 bucks from the home depot. Are they something I should be putting in ASAP? I think the cages would make LST a little easier, but @Emilya how is it watering with the cage? I'm already having some trouble getting to the stems on some for the last step in watering

 

[AdaminCO]

This is how they look. You just have to space the sticks far apart on one side for watering access.

 

[Emilya Green]

I trim out the bottom third of the plants anyway before I get to bloom, so there is absolutely no problem getting to the top of the soil all around in order to water.

 

[Bnelly]

Holy cow! Shes a beauty! I really like how the sticks look. I think I'm going to give both of them a shot since I have plenty of plants and see how each of them work. Any preferences for tying down? I currently have twine but I think it may start cutting into the plants here soon

 

[AdaminCO]

I use pipe cleaners. Soft and easy to use.

 

[AdaminCO]

Those sticks are used for cooking Marshmallows in a camp fire.
They have actual bamboo ones too that are even sturdier. I couldn’t find them for this grow, so I got the thinner ones.

 

[Bnelly]

Haha if they work they work! I never would have guessed they were marshmallow sticks. I really like that pipe cleaner idea! Im gonna make sure to get some

 

[Nunyabiz]

SCROG and pipe cleaners

 

[Bnelly]

Thats kinda how I was imagining it looking if i went with SCROG. That fastening branches to other branches is something i never would have thought of or at least not for a while. Also was that grown in a bath tub? Thats amazing instead of having a tent

 

[Nunyabiz]

Thats kinda how I was imagining it looking if i went with SCROG. That fastening branches to other branches is something i never would have thought of or at least not for a while. Also was that grown in a bath tub? Thats amazing instead of having a tent

SCROG works nice to even out the canopy.
And the pipe cleaners work great once the buds get tall and start to fall over from all the oil, you duct tape one cola to pipe cleaner to the wall and then connect bud to bud in a framework all supporting each other and spread to where they need to be.
And yes that's a bath tub which is really almost like its custom made to grow.
The white tiles reflect fair, the tub totally contains all the mess and can easily be washed clean and down the drain.
Its 9' ceiling so plenty of head room, bathroom fan to vent and bring in fresh air, heat and AC in the room, what more could you want? And all I had to do is toss two pots in the tub and hang some lights and i was done.

 

[Bnelly]

As a bath tub, it really does look like a great grow room. I'm heavily considering getting a grow tent and trying to have a small grow inside. How is the smell inside your house? That was the big thing my housemates and I weren't sure about.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Our house always smells like weed just from opening up jars and making oil anyway so we never notice at all.
Now that we're shut ins I actually like to have the house smelling nice, no chance of anyone coming over.
But I am sure if it was necessary I could close that room off pretty easily and exchange air through a carbon filter.

 

[Bnelly]

Using a carbon is a fantastic idea! Im sure if you were able to set the tent to a slight negative pressure you'd be solid as well. A carbon is definitely an easier idea though. Thank you for that, it gives us some more options to consider

 

[CanadianJim]

There is a kind of wire made specifically for training plants. It's coated in a soft rubber to keep it from damaging plant stems. If you're careful you can reuse the pieces you cut for years. It comes in rolls, so you can cut it to whatever length you need. We got it at Home Depot.
I don't use tomato cages anymore. I live in a fairly windy area and they rubbed right through the bark/skin on some of the stems.
And if your plant gets too big, like if it's in the ground outdoors, they don't help for long. I had both a tomato cage, and gardening stakes on this one last year.

 

[Bnelly]

Damn, that sucks. Were you able to get it replanted? We get some pretty wicked winds too, blasting down from the mountains and up off the ocean. Which sucks because the wind makes like vortexes in our backyard and even if I move plants to the side of the house to help, they get hit from the other side lol the only saving grace is I have stakes in the soil to help hold the base of them down, originally used them for LST but then realised the usefulness of just having the extra support

 

[CanadianJim]

Yeah, I got her upright again. But a branch that was, by itself, as big as most of my indoor plants ever got broke off. Two more branches broke in the next windstorm about a month later, but she was tied to the fence by then so she stayed upright. A freestanding trellis might be an idea. If you have the room, and the carpentry skills to build it.

 

[Bnelly]

That would be very cool, our landlord wants a vertical trellis for a flowering vine we have in the front yard. So I'm sure its pretty much the same concept