New grower questions: node stack, trimming etc

[Dimebagderek]

I’m new to the forums and growing, literally knew next to nothing a couple months ago. Started the germ on 4/20, they popped out of the ground on 4/26. Pictures as follow are from 5/4 (transplant day), 5/11 and 5/14. My main question is should they be so short. They seem pretty healthy just very close nodes and a lot of leaves. Most pics I see their plants are way taller by this point. Should I raise my light (black dog 800) up more? I started it around 18 in, 24 after transplant and then to 34 a couple days later. I’ve seen very little upward growth. Should I be concerned, the only real problem I can tell is that it makes working with its leaves and stems more difficult? Should I remove any leaves or just continue manipulating the top to get light to the lower parts?

 

[Greenlizard]

Welcome to the group Dimebagderek. I am guessing they are autos and that's why you potted them up into large pots so soon?
The plants look good but there is for sure some intense stacking going on. I think raising the light was a good move to start with. I also would stop manipulating, pruning, or topping for a little bit. Just let them do their thing for a few days and see if you start to get some stretch going on.

 

[Nunyabiz]

That is exactly what you want, dont change a thing and dont trim any leaves yet.
I would start to LST them (Low Stress Train) that way all those nodes get light and theres no reason to top the plant just pull her over carefully and tie down.

Your plants are looking excellent

 

[irie lion]

Hey @Dimebagderek - welcome to 420Mag!
Take a second to check out this link as it will help you to get to know how things work around here and get grow support:
Helpful Links For New Members
There are always loads of people around willing to give input and help out - so start up a grow journal so we can easily follow your grow journey!
Your setup looks great and clean, and your plants are looking healthy and stocky. Keep doing what you are doing - close node spacing is exactly what you want. Your plants will get some good height once it comes to stretch
See you around Happy growing

 

[Dimebagderek]

Welcome to the group Dimebagderek. I am guessing they are autos and that's why you potted them up into large pots so soon?
The plants look good but there is for sure some intense stacking going on. I think raising the light was a good move to start with. I also would stop manipulating, pruning, or topping for a little bit. Just let them do their thing for a few days and see if you start to get some stretch going on.

Thanks for the warm welcome. If I contributed it to anything less than inexperience I’d be lying. They are autos. Thought I read third node they would be ready for a new pot and I didn’t want to transplant more than once. That was one thing I thought could be wrong, busy trying to grow down instead of up. The top two were pretty ready the roots were starting to swirl, bottoms two def could have waited. I wanted to do them all at once though. Kind of glad I did, they took off after I moved them from jiffy to the fox farm soil. I only just topped the two bigger ones Saturday and only been LST since Monday. They were short before, but that definitely could be holding them back.

 

[Dimebagderek]

That is exactly what you want, dont change a thing and dont trim any leaves yet.
I would start to LST them (Low Stress Train) that way all those nodes get light and theres no reason to top the plant just pull her over carefully and tie down.

Your plants are looking excellent

Thanks! Unfortunately I already topped the two bigger ones. They are definitely responding to the LST, the under growth is much bigger even after only a few days. Was at least smart enough to not start chopping leaves off. Thanks for the input and kind words.

 

[Dimebagderek]

Hey @Dimebagderek - welcome to 420Mag!
Take a second to check out this link as it will help you to get to know how things work around here and get grow support:
Helpful Links For New Members
There are always loads of people around willing to give input and help out - so start up a grow journal so we can easily follow your grow journey!
Your setup looks great and clean, and your plants are looking healthy and stocky. Keep doing what you are doing - close node spacing is exactly what you want. Your plants will get some good height once it comes to stretch
See you around Happy growing

Thanks for the warm welcome and kind words. Definitely blind luck and quality gear have gotten me this far. I figured this would be a very good thing come flowering, I just need to stop comparing to other grows. All the videos and pic are always tall and pretty while mine are thicker than a 70’s porn bush. Thanks for the input and link.