Thanks for the advice, Gonzo! I've been watching a lot of videos today on LST and I think I have an idea of how I'll incorporate it into my grow. I think I'm going to get a small tomato cage and LST around the bottom ring and let the side nodes grow upward towards the next level. I think I'll have to take it extra slow and gentle though, because I was just bending my plant out of curiosity this morning and it seems super beefy and sturdy already. Maybe if I move it down from the light some, it'll stretch a bit to give me more length and flexibility to work with.
New Grower Dr. Frog's Think Different LED organic grow journal
- Thread starter Dr. Frog
- Start date
Day 18
Big update!
I've changed up a few things in the grow area since my last update. Before, I only had two 4" intakes that had knee high pantyhose as air filters. This caused a lot of negative pressure even with my fan on its lowest setting. Two days ago, I upped it to four 4" intakes with pantyhose. This helped a bit, but still the tent caved in on itself more than I would like. When I tugged on any of the walls from the outside, it resisted my pulling pretty strongly. Now I have two 6" intakes, and the 13x16" native intake port open. I've sealed each intake with some media air filter material I got from walmart. Apparently it has three layers. First layer kills mold and bacteria, the second is just some fibrous stuff and the final layer apparently has some activated carbon to grab onto smoke and fumes... so the package reads. At any rate, I felt like this filter upgrade was necessary because my townhouse has a bit of a dust issue. I don't know what the heck my landlord did prior to our move in, but there is a lot of plaster-like dust. With just my pantyhose filters running a few days, they went from "jet black" to having a nice white dust caking them. I'll probably install the same 3 stage filter material on my central air system to cut that down in the general enviroment.
As per Gonzo's suggestion I've started to LST train the plant based on his supplied photo and a ton of YouTube videos I watched at work. While my previous post mentioned that I would use a tomato cage, I've since changed that idea. I plan to build a scrog net out of some PVC pipe and string. It'll probably be a freestanding structure with legs instead of attached directly to the tent frame. I also plan to add some vertical structure with PVC above the frame that will hopefully keep the inner walls of the tent from bending so far inward.
As far as the LST goes, I have ZERO experience. Therefore, I'm hoping anybody will chime in with tips and advice. At the moment, I've made a loop in some nylon cord and lasso'd the top of the plant and attached the other end to a bamboo chopstick I have jammed into one of the holes on the side of the Airpot. I couldn't really find any advice on how to orient the bend in relation to the node geometry. What I mean is that, when viewed from above, the plant takes on a plus sign + structure. With this is mind, I didn't know how the plus sign should bend. My intuition leads me to believe that a diagonal approach would be best. This way, any nodes and leaves wouldn't be facing directly downward on the bottom of the curved plant. To put it another way: if the plant is +, I've bent it \.
So there's the current configuration. I took out the box I was using to raise the plant, so now it's at about 42" from the light. I like the bamboo stick in the side thing. I can gradually twist the stick over time to pull on the plant more.
So glad it's Friday and that I have the time to spend looking at my plant. The leaves and stems coming out from the original nodes are very busy which is telling me the plant is very healthy. I'm glad to see this organic, microbe-based approach is working out so well. I'd like to think the occasional foliar feeding of Pure Protien codfish hydrolysate is providing the plant with some easy-access nitrogen, thus the thick growth.
Tomorrow I'll start building the scrog net. If anybody has any suggestions, let me know!
Big update!
I've changed up a few things in the grow area since my last update. Before, I only had two 4" intakes that had knee high pantyhose as air filters. This caused a lot of negative pressure even with my fan on its lowest setting. Two days ago, I upped it to four 4" intakes with pantyhose. This helped a bit, but still the tent caved in on itself more than I would like. When I tugged on any of the walls from the outside, it resisted my pulling pretty strongly. Now I have two 6" intakes, and the 13x16" native intake port open. I've sealed each intake with some media air filter material I got from walmart. Apparently it has three layers. First layer kills mold and bacteria, the second is just some fibrous stuff and the final layer apparently has some activated carbon to grab onto smoke and fumes... so the package reads. At any rate, I felt like this filter upgrade was necessary because my townhouse has a bit of a dust issue. I don't know what the heck my landlord did prior to our move in, but there is a lot of plaster-like dust. With just my pantyhose filters running a few days, they went from "jet black" to having a nice white dust caking them. I'll probably install the same 3 stage filter material on my central air system to cut that down in the general enviroment.
As per Gonzo's suggestion I've started to LST train the plant based on his supplied photo and a ton of YouTube videos I watched at work. While my previous post mentioned that I would use a tomato cage, I've since changed that idea. I plan to build a scrog net out of some PVC pipe and string. It'll probably be a freestanding structure with legs instead of attached directly to the tent frame. I also plan to add some vertical structure with PVC above the frame that will hopefully keep the inner walls of the tent from bending so far inward.
As far as the LST goes, I have ZERO experience. Therefore, I'm hoping anybody will chime in with tips and advice. At the moment, I've made a loop in some nylon cord and lasso'd the top of the plant and attached the other end to a bamboo chopstick I have jammed into one of the holes on the side of the Airpot. I couldn't really find any advice on how to orient the bend in relation to the node geometry. What I mean is that, when viewed from above, the plant takes on a plus sign + structure. With this is mind, I didn't know how the plus sign should bend. My intuition leads me to believe that a diagonal approach would be best. This way, any nodes and leaves wouldn't be facing directly downward on the bottom of the curved plant. To put it another way: if the plant is +, I've bent it \.
So there's the current configuration. I took out the box I was using to raise the plant, so now it's at about 42" from the light. I like the bamboo stick in the side thing. I can gradually twist the stick over time to pull on the plant more.
So glad it's Friday and that I have the time to spend looking at my plant. The leaves and stems coming out from the original nodes are very busy which is telling me the plant is very healthy. I'm glad to see this organic, microbe-based approach is working out so well. I'd like to think the occasional foliar feeding of Pure Protien codfish hydrolysate is providing the plant with some easy-access nitrogen, thus the thick growth.
Tomorrow I'll start building the scrog net. If anybody has any suggestions, let me know!
Last edited:
Dr.Frog, congratulations for your decision and beautifull grow. :clap:
I do not see you have anchored the main stem. have you? You do not want gentle roots to be torn.
No problem, if stem is hard. Try to gently bend it as far as it goes and tye down. Next day you bend it a little further, or next node is ready to be used for tying. I think it is not so important, that you really get main stem down to the surface of soil, all you need is that main bud feels, that it is not main bud any more. For that reason it must stay at least a week under smaller tops. If you want to understand better, what exactly will be going on with your dearest, read something about apical dominance in wiki, if you have not already.
Some people recommend LSTing very early, well, I do not want to pull plant, that has not developed roots yet. One wrong move and you regret doing it. We do not want much delays with autos, as we all know.
Good Luck and do not hurry with bending. Next days, there will be some vigorous growth, main stem will be longer and already bent down, so you will easily bend it more. When longer, you tye at next node, which is always softer.
And there will be so many new branching and older branches will grow wildly. Now you just wait a little bit, that she adpts to this position.
Good Luck and be carefull.
I do not see you have anchored the main stem. have you? You do not want gentle roots to be torn.
No problem, if stem is hard. Try to gently bend it as far as it goes and tye down. Next day you bend it a little further, or next node is ready to be used for tying. I think it is not so important, that you really get main stem down to the surface of soil, all you need is that main bud feels, that it is not main bud any more. For that reason it must stay at least a week under smaller tops. If you want to understand better, what exactly will be going on with your dearest, read something about apical dominance in wiki, if you have not already.
Some people recommend LSTing very early, well, I do not want to pull plant, that has not developed roots yet. One wrong move and you regret doing it. We do not want much delays with autos, as we all know.
Good Luck and do not hurry with bending. Next days, there will be some vigorous growth, main stem will be longer and already bent down, so you will easily bend it more. When longer, you tye at next node, which is always softer.
And there will be so many new branching and older branches will grow wildly. Now you just wait a little bit, that she adpts to this position.
Good Luck and be carefull.
Day 22!
I haven't had much time to give an update due to being busy all weekend. I did build a scrog net for my tent though! I just bought a few lengths of PVC, some connectors and a cheap nylon trellis from home depot. I double layered the trellis to decrease the size of the holes in the grid. I also made it slightly larger than the tent to keep the walls from constricting around the plant's space.
Also, the scrog net is situated at a height I can comfortably work with while sitting/kneeling on the floor. I don't know how much space should be between the soil and the net, or, how big the plant should be before it starts weaving into the net. It's so short and bushy right now, so I'm sort of confused on that. I still have a string tied to the main stem, tied down to the side of the pot. It's at about a 45 degree angle now. I've tucked the larger leaves under the young growth, and have reintroduced my CFL as a side light to encourage the plant to grow towards the way I want it to bend.
I need some advice from anybody who has scrog'd succesfully on when and how to begin putting the plant into the trellis. Like I said, it's super bushy atm, and all the how-to guide videos I've seen have plants with much longer and more flexible stems. Maybe it's just too early?
Another question I have about using the scrog technique is what would be the best way to train a single plant? Should my pot sit at one side of the tent, while the plant fills in the screen from one direction? Or, is it better to grow straight up into the net from the middle and train the branches in all directions?
I also updated my intakes. I decided to just cover the back vent and one of the side vents with my media filter material. This drastically increased my intake surface area and now the negative pressure isn't as intense. The air quality in my place isn't the greatest, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, these intake filters should keep things dust-free. I think it's going to be especially nice having my scrog canopy situated above the intakes so the fresh air will be coming up under all the leaves.
I haven't had much time to give an update due to being busy all weekend. I did build a scrog net for my tent though! I just bought a few lengths of PVC, some connectors and a cheap nylon trellis from home depot. I double layered the trellis to decrease the size of the holes in the grid. I also made it slightly larger than the tent to keep the walls from constricting around the plant's space.
Also, the scrog net is situated at a height I can comfortably work with while sitting/kneeling on the floor. I don't know how much space should be between the soil and the net, or, how big the plant should be before it starts weaving into the net. It's so short and bushy right now, so I'm sort of confused on that. I still have a string tied to the main stem, tied down to the side of the pot. It's at about a 45 degree angle now. I've tucked the larger leaves under the young growth, and have reintroduced my CFL as a side light to encourage the plant to grow towards the way I want it to bend.
I need some advice from anybody who has scrog'd succesfully on when and how to begin putting the plant into the trellis. Like I said, it's super bushy atm, and all the how-to guide videos I've seen have plants with much longer and more flexible stems. Maybe it's just too early?
Another question I have about using the scrog technique is what would be the best way to train a single plant? Should my pot sit at one side of the tent, while the plant fills in the screen from one direction? Or, is it better to grow straight up into the net from the middle and train the branches in all directions?
I also updated my intakes. I decided to just cover the back vent and one of the side vents with my media filter material. This drastically increased my intake surface area and now the negative pressure isn't as intense. The air quality in my place isn't the greatest, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, these intake filters should keep things dust-free. I think it's going to be especially nice having my scrog canopy situated above the intakes so the fresh air will be coming up under all the leaves.
Too early. Expect some serious growth next days.:clap:
I've read that you want about 8" from soil to SCROG net. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
