Tying plants down: outdoor grow

[Jmkhet]

I have some plants growing between 2 and all the way up to 5ft. Most are in the ground with the exception of 2 I havent transplanted as of yet....Death star and Thor.

Basically I'm curious as to how I'm supposed to tie down these plants for maximum yield as I've never done it before?

 

[TorturedSoul]

About like you would indoors, I suppose. Get the top of the plant below some of the lower portions, and the plant will redistribute the auxins (aka "plant hormones") that govern "top" behavior, thereby causing those formerly lower portions of the plant to act like tops, grow more, branch out, etc.

If there's nothing nearby to tie things to, just pound something into the ground. If you want to get fancy, do a web search for "auger tent stakes." Otherwise, lots of things will work. You can saw a 6' tomato stake into two or three pieces, point the ends (to make it easier to pound the things into the ground), cut a groove around them (to discourage the cord/twine/rope/etc. from slipping off) near the upper ends,, and use those. Pound them in so that they point away from the plant you're going to tie to them. Brush up on your knotwork, so you can adjust things occasionally.

 

[Emeraldo]

jmkhet,

From your photos I see you still have plants young enough to really mold them, soft mainstem tissue can be squeezed and the direction of growth can be easily changed to whatever you would like. If you wait too long, the stems get woody and more difficult to bend. Even then, you can bend and tie the top lower than some of the side branches and secure the tie to a stake to hold it strongly.

Here's how I trained one plant to keep her low to allow light to pass to other plants, also having the same effect of pushing up many internodal branches. I like to use velcroe ties for this LST stuff. I love the growth pushing up "sideways".

IMG_1805.jpeg

• Emeraldo
• Jul 1, 2020

Dream Berry bud platform

IMG_1776.jpeg

• Emeraldo
• Jun 19, 2020

Dream Berry, June 18

This is the same plant in the background, taken today.

IMG_1888.jpeg

• Emeraldo
• Jul 11, 2020

The view from G13 x Haze

 

[Enjoil]

I have some plants growing between 2 and all the way up to 5ft. Most are in the ground with the exception of 2 I havent transplanted as of yet....Death star and Thor.

Basically I'm curious as to how I'm supposed to tie down these plants for maximum yield as I've never done it before?

You can take a wire hanger and cut it into V’s and anchor those into the ground and take plant training wire or string and pull the branches down to the ground.

 

[Captain goodvibes]

I used to use housebricks tied to a string to tie my plants down sometimes when I grew outdoors.

 

[Mbunaaddict]

Too late now, but topping them around 24" would have been ideal. All tips above are great. Heres one of mine ive trained with three of the above suggestions. 84 growing points!

 

[Michaelllllllll]

Too late now, but topping them around 24" would have been ideal. All tips above are great. Heres one of mine ive trained with three of the above suggestions. 84 growing points!

Thats a great looking plant, sativa dominant, right.my name is Michael I live in Vietnam,can we talk?

 

[Mbunaaddict]

Sure buddy

 

[Jmkhet]

So essentially I want the plant horizontal? Or am I just trying to make everything at the same level? Majority of my plants are 5ft tall and 4ft around. I've been pinching the tops since they were about 2.5 ft to make them bushier....essentially crushing every 5th node leaves but not removing them. Ive never heard of tying until very recently.

Thanks for the help this far, much appreciated.

I'm an Ironworker by trade. I do have some concrete stakes I wonder if those will be sufficient for tying these plants down. They are about 2-3 ft in length with holes drilled through them made out of steel. I'll go snap a picture of one

 

[Jmkhet]

Concrete stakes

 

[Elvin]

I used to use housebricks tied to a string to tie my plants down sometimes when I grew outdoors.

Rope and bricks/blocks is the easiest way to do it.
Lay them on their sides and let the side branches stand straight like tops is what I used to do when I had access to seeds from a wholesaler (sold weed by the pound) back in the day.

 

[Emeraldo]

So essentially I want the plant horizontal? Or am I just trying to make everything at the same level? Majority of my plants are 5ft tall and 4ft around. I've been pinching the tops since they were about 2.5 ft to make them bushier....essentially crushing every 5th node leaves but not removing them. Ive never heard of tying until very recently.

Thanks for the help this far, much appreciated.

I'm an Ironworker by trade. I do have some concrete stakes I wonder if those will be sufficient for tying these plants down. They are about 2-3 ft in length with holes drilled through them made out of steel. I'll go snap a picture of one

jmkhet,

the plant need not go horizontal like mine is. it is far too late to start going horizontal in your current grow. read up and plan to do something like that in your next grow. but the principle is the same and you can still use it to improve your yield now in this grow too.

Tortured Soul said it in his reply to your OP. you can 1. cut off the apical mainstem tip ("topping"), or you can 2. bend the mainstem's apical tip lower than the competing branches' tips ("LST" or low stress training). either way you break the mainstem's central dominance over the plant's growth. the hormones are redistributed so that whichever part of the plant is HIGHEST will become the new dominant growing point. I personally like having multiple growing points about the same height, creating an even canopy and letting the several points compete for sun and for the pole position, more sun to more bud.

it may be a bit late in the season to simply top your plants, cutting off the mainstem, but that can be done up to two weeks before flowering starts. the first "topping" will produce two new growing points at the next lower node. if those two are topped at some point, there will be four. my experience is that after two toppings the mainstem slows dramatically and the side branches come up higher, creating a bush like plant with equal sun to all of those buds. all in all, I think you will be fine with what you've done already. next grow, plan ahead.

 

[EhCndGrower]

Gonna suggest if you can get a tomato cage up and over you plant. They have been great with my outdoor grow. I topped around the 5th/6th node. Then I take the limbs and feed them under the ring and tie them to the cage loosely with some green foam wire. These are as of today with some of my outdoor girls

RAINBOW KUSH

BLACK DOMINA