Need suggestions on how to get plant to stretch, please

[too old]

Hello all. Here's the basics:

Hydro Grow in Coco

What Strain is it? White Rhino
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? Indica dominant
How Many Plants? One
Is it in Vegetative or Flowering Stage? Vegetative
If in Vegetative Stage... How Long? Broke through surface Sept 14
If in Flowering Stage... How Long?
Indoor or Outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Hydro (coco)
If Hydro, Reservoir size? Hand watering
If Hydro, Reservoir Temperature? n/a
If Hydro, what type of Medium? Coco
If Hydro, what type of Setup?
If Soil... What is in your Mix?
If Soil... What Size Pot?
Size (Wattage) of Light? How Many? Two CFL, 26watts, 6500K
Is it Air Cooled? yes
Temperature of Room/Cabinet? 22C - 27C
RH of Room/Cabinet? ~35%
PH of Medium or Reservoir? 5.8
Any Pests? NO
How Often are you Watering? "lift the pot" method, every 2nd or 3rd day
Type and Strength of Fertilizers used? CNS17 @ 60%, epsom salts solution @ 1/4tsp/4 litres
Size or Square Footage of Room? 144sqft

Plant is 19 days above ground. Is maybe 4" tall, has 5 nodes to top set of leaves. Nodes are almost touching each other, largest gap is about 1/8".

My problem is that this is planned as a mother and I need to start topping soon. Unfortunately, with my ongodly huge and mangled fingers, I can't get in to pinch off the tops. I have lifted the lights to about 2" from the top leaves, but all this did was make it bushier.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[jinn]

one of the easiest ways to force a stretch is to raise the light higher.
Another method is increasing the difference between lights on and off temps. the warmer your day cycle is as compared to night the greater your internode length will be.

 

[too old]

Thanks j. It's almost time for lights out, so I'll raise them another 2" in the a.m.. Pretty tough to get the night temp any cooler, but there is about a 7C difference, day and night. I'll see how it goes with the lights, maybe I'll leave the fan on all night as well. thanks again.

 

[too old]

Thanks jinn - I raised the lights this a.m., and eleven hours later, the top internodes have opened up enough that I can cut them off.

 

[jinn]

Glad you got what you were looking for man! hope the grow goes well!