Outdoor Organic Balcony Stealth Quadlining: White Widow/Gorgonzola

[Stunger]

LST-ing will keep a plant shorter, too.

I am using the LST to keep the growing height shorter and spread the plant out for the sun, but I wasn't sure if doing that would influence the plant to grow tighter internodal distances or whether that was just phenotype/genetics or some other reason, perhaps his plant's roots in the smaller pot have 'hit the sides' and decided it has run out of space for more root development and now it'll go up?

 

[Emeraldo]

I am using the LST to keep the growing height shorter and spread the plant out for the sun, but I wasn't sure if doing that would influence the plant to grow tighter internodal distances or whether that was just phenotype/genetics or some other reason, perhaps his plant's roots in the smaller pot have 'hit the sides' and decided it has run out of space for more root development and now it'll go up?

I've grown like you do many times. It's stealthy, the plant looks like a bush and from a distance is uninteresting. Now that I think about it, I think the internodal spaces are shorter when you grow with LST to half-circle the rim, or whatever. Vegging sideways seems to trigger different kind of node-to-time ratio, the plant just grows up and is pushed down and keeps on growing. You don't see any symmetry in the sideways grow. Without this training, an unhindered vertical growing shoot will have predetermined genetic code for the exact positioning of the nodes-to-be, hence their apparently even and perfectly proportional spacing.

So is the friend's GGa flowering before yours?

 

[Stunger]

I've grown like you do many times. It's stealthy, the plant looks like a bush and from a distance is uninteresting. Now that I think about it, I think the internodal spaces are shorter when you grow with LST to half-circle the rim, or whatever. Vegging sideways seems to trigger different kind of node-to-time ratio, the plant just grows up and is pushed down and keeps on growing. You don't see any symmetry in the sideways grow. Without this training, an unhindered vertical growing shoot will have predetermined genetic code for the exact positioning of the nodes-to-be, hence their apparently even and perfectly proportional spacing.

So is the friend's GGa flowering before yours?

We both spotted pistils developing about the same time in our plants, around the middle of the 4th week. But going on what I can see in his pic of his plant it looks like his plant is a fractionally more advanced in flowering. It certainly appears impressive in height. Both plants in these pics were photographed yesterday on day 36, same strain, 420 Gorilla Glue Auto. His one is in an 18 liter pot with no training and mine is LST'd in a 50 liter pot. I think both plants have either the same number of nodes or either his has one more node pair. His one is almost 1 meter high in the pic. See what you think?

A friend's Gorilla Glue Auto on day 36 from breaking soil

• Stunger
• Feb 6, 2020

1-GGa day 36 since breaking soil

• Stunger
• Feb 5, 2020

 

[Stunger]

The plants have continued to stretch further and some previously Supercropped branches have been recovering some height. I thought they may benefit from further Supercropping which I carried out. I managed to make one branch snap 95% with it hanging on by just a bit of skin, but I wrapped some electrical tape around it and when I checked later, it is looking like it will survive, tomorrow will tell. That particular incident occurred when I pretty quickly bent the branch without first compressing and crushing the intended bend site. So to repeat the advice of others, squeeze/compress/soften, then bend until you feel it 'give'.

First a couple of pics after Supercropping, taken from above. Then 2 profile pics, the first taken yesterday prior to Supercropping, followed by one taken this afternoon post Suppercropping.

Front: 2-WW, Rear: 3-WWG After further Supercropping

• Stunger
• Feb 6, 2020

L - R: 2-WW & 3-WWG after further Supercropping

• Stunger
• Feb 6, 2020

After thinning out, 2-WW & 3-WWG

• Stunger
• Feb 5, 2020

2-WW, 3-WWG, 1-GGa

• Stunger
• Feb 6, 2020

After the last photo was taken I switched the positions of the 2 Quadlined girls because the Widow (2-WW) now has a lower profile and can be placed a little closer to the right hand side of the balcony that is more visible to the neighbors, that side gets the direct sun beginning from 1pm whereas the left side only completes being in the direct sun at 3pm, which is not a massive amount, but it means a little bit more overall 'sun time' on them.

 

[Emeraldo]

We both spotted pistils developing about the same time in our plants, around the middle of the 4th week. But going on what I can see in his pic of his plant it looks like his plant is a fractionally more advanced in flowering. It certainly appears impressive in height. Both plants in these pics were photographed yesterday on day 36, same strain, 420 Gorilla Glue Auto. His one is in an 18 liter pot with no training and mine is LST'd in a 50 liter pot. I think both plants have either the same number of nodes or either his has one more node pair. His one is almost 1 meter high in the pic. See what you think?

Friend's plant also has wider leaves than yours, possibly indicating different phenos. Sometimes breeders say about the genetics: "looks like an indica, grows like a sativa" and vice-versa. Maybe he got that. That's a nice plant. Lady GGa.

Yours has leaves that are less fat and wide. Had you not used LST, yours would probably be that tall or taller, given the 50L she's in. She seems a bit behind friend's, but will probably put up some nice colas over the next weeks. I see your Lady GGa is at the sunny end of the terrace where she will thrive.

Assuming these are in fact the same strain, Gorilla Glue auto, it's not unusual to have these kind of differences, particularly since they are being grown differently. You can compare the bud on the two after harvest.

 

[Emeraldo]

... After the last photo was taken I switched the positions of the 2 Quadlined girls because the Widow (2-WW) now has a lower profile and can be placed a little closer to the right hand side of the balcony that is more visible to the neighbors, that side gets the direct sun beginning from 1pm whereas the left side only completes being in the direct sun at 3pm, which is not a massive amount, but it means a little bit more overall 'sun time' on them.

After supercropping like you've done they look a little rough, but that will straighten out as they continue on their way. Did you water them thoroughly after supercropping? They need that, especially after a thorough supercropping. Also you'll have to remember from now until a week or so before harvest: These girls will need a lot of water, pH'd if possible to a level for flowering, which is slightly higher than in veg.

If the first direct sunlight on the left side of the balcony is at 3pm, how long does that plant have light? I guess in NZ you'll have a nice long evening there this time of year.

One thing I would say about the two sides of your balcony: That 2-hour difference in sunlight can make a big difference in the quality of the bud at harvest. I can say this because each year in my semi-guerilla grow in California, there is a 1-hour difference between when the plants at the railing get direct sun (noon) and the second row of plants (those on the house side of the balcony get sun beginning at 1pm). For me the difference in ripeness is perceptible, visually at harvest (more amber trichomes), in terms of bud weight, as well as in effect. Also, the difference in height of the plants can be affected as between the two rows: In 2018 I had 2 plants each of two strains (Sour Diesel and ICE) and again in 2019 I had two Jack F1 plants, and so in each of those years I had two plants of the same strain in each position. One hour each day has an impact. The sunnier plant was always the bigger, with more, riper and heavier bud. The plants with "less" sun typically have less amber with a more cerebral, uplifting head high with less body.

Unlike you, I do not have the ability to switch the two rows to give the backseat more sun. So switching them out as you've done may give the new occupant of the right side a boost in ripeness in the end. I don't know if it is worth rotating them, evening out this difference...

How is the humidity? I imagine NZ is fairly dry in summer. How have the day/night temperatures been?

 

[Stunger]

Assuming these are in fact the same strain, Gorilla Glue auto, it's not unusual to have these kind of differences, particularly since they are being grown differently. You can compare the bud on the two after harvest.

Yes exactly, same strain same day germinated, different training, different locations.

After supercropping like you've done they look a little rough, but that will straighten out as they continue on their way. Did you water them thoroughly after supercropping? They need that, especially after a thorough supercropping. Also you'll have to remember from now until a week or so before harvest: These girls will need a lot of water, pH'd if possible to a level for flowering, which is slightly higher than in veg.

Yes I gave them a good drink afterwards. This morning on peeking thru the curtain I thought that they looked great, all their branch heads and bud sites have turned up in the night. I couldn't spot the broken one but by the absence of any wilted branch I would hope that means it is on the way to healing itself. Should be a nice look in a weeks time when the buds start to give the canopy a multi 'thistle flower' appearance.

If the first direct sunlight on the left side of the balcony is at 3pm, how long does that plant have light? I guess in NZ you'll have a nice long evening there this time of year.

At 3pm the left side is fully in the sun, at 2pm some of it is. They then get the direct sun till sunset which is about 8:30pm, so I'd say up till 7:30 is 'usable' sunshine.

But now with the smaller girl's height reduced from the latest Supercropping, I have now switched her to the right where she can make more use of the sunshine, and the larger girl is further left than she was but not as far left as 2-WW was. I think this optimizes what is available me. The smaller auto with the lowest profile is of course right most which maximizes her light.

How is the humidity? I imagine NZ is fairly dry in summer. How have the day/night temperatures been? Humidity is current 60 degrees (it is 9am)

The night time stays warmer for them with the radiant heat from the tiles helping, but maybe around 17C, give or take a couple of degrees.

 

[Emeraldo]

At 3pm the left side is fully in the sun, at 2pm some of it is. They then get the direct sun till sunset which is about 8:30pm, so I'd say up till 7:30 is 'usable' sunshine.

So somewhere around 5 hours of sunlight per day. That is enough. Especially since they get indirect light the rest of the day.

 

[Emeraldo]

... I think this optimizes what is available me.

Until the sun moves further north, right? Won't you get more sun on the left half of your balcony?

 

[Stunger]

Until the sun moves further north, right? Won't you get more sun on the left half of your balcony?

The angled balcony faces more West North/West. So being in the Southern Hemisphere the sun starts on the right hand side of the balcony (as you look out) slightly before 12pm, and starts to hit the left side around 1pm but doesn't fully cover the extreme left side until about 3pm, however with the switch around of plant positions I don't need to have the plants positioned to as far left as I as I did before thereby saving getting a little bit more sun than before.

I am wondering whether to do a another Supercrop on the bigger girl and bring her overall height down a bit. Having said that, it is a little hard to do so with various distractions around stopping me from discreetly getting on and doing it.

 

[Emeraldo]

...I am wondering whether to do a another Supercrop on the bigger girl and bring her overall height down a bit. Having said that, it is a little hard to do so with various distractions around stopping me from discreetly getting on and doing it.

It sounds like you are concerned about your stealth cover due to the lush green backdrop to the dead rosemary.
Let's review your options, as your girls keep stretching:
- continue to supercrop into about week 5 with no problems, and even thereafter
- plus LST and tie down, etc., even to the extent of diverting them downward
- top, i.e., cut the buds that continue to get too tall (if you do this now down low at the base of each cane it would still be early enough for the plant to recover and divert its extra energy to the other bud sites)

 

[Stunger]

It sounds like you are concerned about your stealth cover due to the lush green backdrop to the dead rosemary.
Let's review your options, as your girls keep stretching:
- continue to supercrop into about week 5 with no problems, and even thereafter
- plus LST and tie down, etc., even to the extent of diverting them downward
- top, i.e., cut the buds that continue to get too tall (if you do this now down low at the base of each cane it would still be early enough for the plant to recover and divert its extra energy to the other bud sites)

The latest supercropping to the Widow (2-WW) should set her up to harvest, when doing it I really 'dialed in' the feeling of softening the stalks and bending until I felt the 'internal giving' and then folding/bending the branches 90 degrees. I didn't apply any bracing or ties to maintain the 'bend', and the next day all supercropped branches still remained at 90 degrees. It is now looking impressively low, her folliage is within the balcony and nicely hidden as well as she can be. Plus the bud sites are turning up and they should be looking really nice in a few more days when they have developed more.

Yesterday, I also did some further supercropping to the bigger girl (3-WWG), but mostly it was constrained to fixing previously supercropped branches that had since grown higher. 3-WWG is nonetheless looking good, but her spread out canopy is close to 1 foot taller that 2-WW, and her height is reaching the balcony rail again. The balcony rail herb planters raise the 'stealth barrier' height still further and plus I still have one more herb planter (complete with uninteresting stray weeds and old herbs) I can add to the rail to further block off views of the canopy growth and add to the effectiveness of the stealth barrier.

Here's what I think. I don't want to cut or prune or lose any good potential buds to reduce the height if I can help it.
Ideally I would supercrop the whole plant to about 1 foot lower to bring it to around the same level as 2-WW. But the trouble with that is I think the stalks by now are very close to being too hard and woody, in which case I could risk snapping them which I want to avoid. I think I will probably add the additional herb planter to the rail to further block the neighbor's 'line of sight' to the plants. I think I will also look to do some further 'remedial' supercropping to the top of the canopy to bend down any branches that are still trying to go taller. Bearing in mind that the stretch period must be very close to stopping.

So if I can get away with a 1 foot drastic super crop I will do so. But failing that I will do as you suggest and continue to supercrop any errant growth to keep it in check, and use LST to further assist in lowering the 'tall poppies'. And probably add the extra rail herb planter to increase the visual barrier.

Other than that, the plants and their canopies are looking terrific. When I compare the pics of my last season's plants taken on the same day a year ago, they are chalk and cheese, this crop has so much more growth, much bigger and much more vigorous. I can't help but to drool over how they could turn out if I manage to avoid any screwups. Especially the incredible flat canopy of 2-WW with all it's bud sites turning up after supercropping.

 

[DonkeyDick]

I’ll be excited to see the flowers coming in now. It sounds like you’ve done an excellent job on the canopy control.

 

[Stunger]

I’ll be excited to see the flowers coming in now. It sounds like you’ve done an excellent job on the canopy control.

Cheers DD, It's all gone/going pretty darn well so far. As I have said to my local growing friend, "it's our's to screw up now". I have never done supercropping before this grow, so that's been interesting. I reflect back to past grows when I tried desperately to tie branches lower when I could have very simply and effectively used this method. I did a pretty solid supercropping to 2-WW the other day, I lowered her by close to a foot. She was looking like about 19 or 20 leafy baseball bats in a bucket and now she looks more like a green felt pool table! I'm intrigued how all that horizontal growth will pan out.
The second and bigger girl, White Widow crossed with Gorgonzola, her canopy is a tad higher than I would prefer, I expect she will still yet gain another 3 inches or more in height. So if I can either nurse maid her canopy control or pull off a heavy supercrop, then one or other should work fine!

 

[Dankman_420]

What a super journal! I only skimmed over it. But I loved the way you experiments with the males, getting some use our of them. Your girl's are going to yield well. I'm looking forward to seeing them late in bloom

 

[Emeraldo]

Sometimes I hang out the laundry on my terrace. Nice drying rack about shoulder height, a few beach towels, cut off the view nicely. I have to change out the towels every other day to keep it real looking. It's just a temporary thing until you can get the buds harvested. But if it comes down to the last weeks, a temporary solution is all that is needed.

 

[GardeningGnome]

I think both plants have either the same number of nodes or either his has one more node pair. His one is almost 1 meter high in the pic. See what you think?

Looking great! I'd say since you have so much bigger pot plus the supercropping, yours will be paying off much much better in the long run.

 

[Stunger]

Sometimes I hang out the laundry on my terrace. Nice drying rack about shoulder height, a few beach towels, cut off the view nicely. I have to change out the towels every other day to keep it real looking. It's just a temporary thing until you can get the buds harvested. But if it comes down to the last weeks, a temporary solution is all that is needed.

That's funny. I'm picturing the appearance of an inconspicuous rack of beach towels being changed every other day out on the balcony to block the view of Arjan's Haze #1 when the temperatures are dropping to freezing.

 

[Stunger]

Looking great! I'd say since you have so much bigger pot plus the supercropping, yours will be paying off much much better in the long run.

That'll be interesting. His is rocketing up in height but as you say mine is in a much larger pot, how will they compare in a couple of months? I have never grown an auto before, so it's hard to predict, I am hoping for lots but yet I don't really know what to expect, but time will tell.

 

[GardeningGnome]

That'll be interesting. His is rocketing up in height but as you say mine is in a much larger pot, how will they compare in a couple of months? I have never grown an auto before, so it's hard to predict, I am hoping for lots but yet I don't really know what to expect, but time will tell.

To be honest, I'm not sure how much space the roots of an auto takes up normally. But, with a healthy root-system that will continue to spread and grow the network of "feeding-tubes", which in turn gives more food for the plant, which in turn gives more green growth on top.