New Grower HERE WE GO! first time budget grower

[marilyn monGROW]

Yeah honestly the best thing you can do is try to break that main stem dominance with training. Eventually unless growing outdoors you run into way different light strengths if you don't tame the beast. Main cola getting crazy light, while lower side branching gets little or very weak light when compared to top cola. Short stock bushes are what we all want in a perfect world. Don't be afraid to bend those babes straight sideways. Give it a day and they will be bending back reaching for the light. I would do more trainging but I have limited space in my 3X3 and now it's all about getting vertical as you can see.
View attachment 1092536

And in this photo you can see that I have my stems horizontal to the ground, and even bent a little back down to the ground before they started flying back up. I have found that this is the easiest way to expose that lower growth to more direct light without toping or defoliating.
View attachment 1092537

lemme ask you this: what day are you in? mine are just starting to look like yours. at last week's check-in i had one or two colas just starting in, now i've got a bunch of white heads. also, i'm definitely using LST in this first grow. i'm not physically bending the stems the way i've seen some people doing it online and it's definitely because i AM afraid. it's my first grow and i ain't trying to do everything all at once without ever having tried this before. also, my understanding is that autos have a shorter recovery time which makes me even more nervous to fuck with 'em. so, i'm not bending the actual stems, but i AM strapping down stems. the idea of keeping all the colas the same height makes perfect common sense to me. the Girl Scout Cookies are taking to this the best, but, of course, the GSC is photo, not auto, so better recovery and her strain has much longer stretch in its arms. my two autos- Sharkbite and Short and Sweet -are natural bushes, so they don't look as "spread", but still all the colas are the same height from the light.

also, did you say you didn't do any topping on yours? i didn't either and i keep wondering if that was a good idea. again, i was afraid to and i'm definitely not getting rid of the tops now- they're the best looking part of the plants. but i'm sure topping is the right way to go. i think round three will be topping and more aggressive LST. or fuck it, maybe i'll abandon my plan of letting round two grow naturally and bump up my game earlier.

 

[marilyn monGROW]

Keep em low bro..... slower but massive yield improvement!

okay fella

 

[jumper114]

Like this. You can see how many bud sites I have developed :-

Three days earlier from the side. Almost every stem is individually tied down and maintained daily to create an even canopy. Doing this enables the side branches to catch up with the main canopy!

 

[Illini4life]

lemme ask you this: what day are you in? mine are just starting to look like yours. at last week's check-in i had one or two colas just starting in, now i've got a bunch of white heads. also, i'm definitely using LST in this first grow. i'm not physically bending the stems the way i've seen some people doing it online and it's definitely because i AM afraid. it's my first grow and i ain't trying to do everything all at once without ever having tried this before. also, my understanding is that autos have a shorter recovery time which makes me even more nervous to fuck with 'em. so, i'm not bending the actual stems, but i AM strapping down stems. the idea of keeping all the colas the same height makes perfect common sense to me. the Girl Scout Cookies are taking to this the best, but, of course, the GSC is photo, not auto, so better recovery and her strain has much longer stretch in its arms. my two autos- Sharkbite and Short and Sweet -are natural bushes, so they don't look as "spread", but still all the colas are the same height from the light.

also, did you say you didn't do any topping on yours? i didn't either and i keep wondering if that was a good idea. again, i was afraid to and i'm definitely not getting rid of the tops now- they're the best looking part of the plants. but i'm sure topping is the right way to go. i think round three will be topping and more aggressive LST. or fuck it, maybe i'll abandon my plan of letting round two grow naturally and bump up my game earlier.

My girls are at 25 days from popping from dirt. That photo was probably like 23 days or so. Start the training early and you will be rewarded with a nice bushy plant! Don't be scared to try new things. If you mess up, the worst thing that happened is you start over, best thing that happens is you learn from your mistake and become a better grower. Lst is typically recommended for autos like you said not because they have a slower recovery time per se but because they have a predetermined life cycle. Say it takes a week to recover from a heavy defoliation of leaves, a topping, or super cropping. That's a week of growth that will never be recovered whereas a photo has essentially an endless veg state because you control when flower is initiated. Don't be scared to push the auto limits though because I have seen more than a few people top with spectacular success. I'm like you and a little chicken shit with the autos to really get into that yet. Don't be scared to lst the crap out of those girls though. Get those things bent over and break that apical dominance. I guarantee you that you will not be disappointed. The key to training is to do it young though. When they are getting to preflower and really getting into flower those stems will lose the pliability they have when they are just starting to shoot out. That's when you need to take extra caution because broken branching can happen much easier at that point because they are starting to become hardened on the outside to support the weight of flower. Like I said it's a learning experience and you will never know what works best for you without trying it. Have fun and keep it up! We are all here cheering you on!

This is what you want. A nice even canopy of even height colas. Instead of one fat main cola you will end up with a bunch of fat colas

 

[marilyn monGROW]

DAY 42!!!

another week, another update.

everybody's coming along well. i feel like it's just a waiting game at this point.

and look, my friends, i really really appreciate advice and encouragement, but i need to stress that i HAVE been doing LST on these girls since before day 21. i got pics of it on page 7 of this journal. having said that, i have completely STOPPED strapping down Short and Sweet. she don't like it. and i'd rather have a happy girl than hurt her with my experiments.

@Illini4life 23 days?!? holy shit! i must've stunted my girls early on because mine are just starting to look like yours at day 42. yikes! what strain you got going?

okay, pics. i didn't do side-by-side this week, so there're more pics than usual. CHEERS!!

first i'm showing off Girl Scout Cookies. She has very long side stems that lend well to LST.

next up is Sharkbite! you'll notice she's more of a bush which makes LST a little more challenging. her arms are short, but she's as strapped down as she can be. you can also see how low she is compared to the nut-crackin' dog.

last but not least, Short and Sweet. like my mother, this lady is way too sensitive. every time i tried LST on her, she drooped so sadly and every time i took off her bindings, she perked right up. i've learned my lesson. she's gonna be who she's gonna be.

SIDE STORY, for those of you still reading this post. i consider you buddies now so i wanted to introduce you to someone pretty special.

my husband came home from work two days ago with a ten-day-old tortoiseshell kitten. he works with animals and this babe was brought in too small and too weak. it didn't look good. so, my husband figured he could leave it at work and probably lose it or bring her home for some extra love. so far she's doing amazingly well, but apparently hubz plans to take this kitten away from me when she's old enough and give her to some other lucky bastard. to him i say, "GOOD LUCK." i named her Jolene. i put the nut crackin' doggy in the pic for scale

Jolene

 

[baked in the bluegrass]

Hopefully shes not a lil minx like her namesake from the sad country song!

 

[marilyn monGROW]

Hopefully shes not a lil minx like her namesake from the sad country song!

we'll see, i guess! watch i come home to a note, "ran off with the cat. xxoo"

 

[baked in the bluegrass]

Lol

 

[420Forever]

DAY 42!!!

another week, another update.

everybody's coming along well. i feel like it's just a waiting game at this point.

and look, my friends, i really really appreciate advice and encouragement, but i need to stress that i HAVE been doing LST on these girls since before day 21. i got pics of it on page 7 of this journal. having said that, i have completely STOPPED strapping down Short and Sweet. she don't like it. and i'd rather have a happy girl than hurt her with my experiments.

@Illini4life 23 days?!? holy shit! i must've stunted my girls early on because mine are just starting to look like yours at day 42. yikes! what strain you got going?

okay, pics. i didn't do side-by-side this week, so there're more pics than usual. CHEERS!!

first i'm showing off Girl Scout Cookies. She has very long side stems that lend well to LST.
View attachment 1093482 View attachment 1093483 View attachment 1093484


next up is Sharkbite! you'll notice she's more of a bush which makes LST a little more challenging. her arms are short, but she's as strapped down as she can be. you can also see how low she is compared to the nut-crackin' dog.
View attachment 1093486
View attachment 1093488
View attachment 1093490


last but not least, Short and Sweet. like my mother, this lady is way too sensitive. every time i tried LST on her, she drooped so sadly and every time i took off her bindings, she perked right up. i've learned my lesson. she's gonna be who she's gonna be.
View attachment 1093491 View attachment 1093492 View attachment 1093493

SIDE STORY, for those of you still reading this post. i consider you buddies now so i wanted to introduce you to someone pretty special.

my husband came home from work two days ago with a ten-day-old tortoiseshell kitten. he works with animals and this babe was brought in too small and too weak. it didn't look good. so, my husband figured he could leave it at work and probably lose it or bring her home for some extra love. so far she's doing amazingly well, but apparently hubz plans to take this kitten away from me when she's old enough and give her to some other lucky bastard. to him i say, "GOOD LUCK." i named her Jolene. i put the nut crackin' doggy in the pic for scale

Jolene
View attachment 1093494

awwwww, me luv catz! me had a tortoiseshell named Squeaky who went to Rainbow Bridge 3 yrz ago, RIP...she made it to 16 y/o and me 2nd the motion of ur statement to hubby, haha

and hey now, i meself have never harped about the lst...or at least me don't think me have me get stoned & miss a lot, so it may be possible at any rate, ur girlz are lookin great m'lady, and well, that'z just it, they're ur girlz, not anyone else'z...as long as they're happee, ur happee, and well, need i say more-? wink-wink ppp

 

[Illini4life]

DAY 42!!!

another week, another update.

everybody's coming along well. i feel like it's just a waiting game at this point.

and look, my friends, i really really appreciate advice and encouragement, but i need to stress that i HAVE been doing LST on these girls since before day 21. i got pics of it on page 7 of this journal. having said that, i have completely STOPPED strapping down Short and Sweet. she don't like it. and i'd rather have a happy girl than hurt her with my experiments.

@Illini4life 23 days?!? holy shit! i must've stunted my girls early on because mine are just starting to look like yours at day 42. yikes! what strain you got going?

okay, pics. i didn't do side-by-side this week, so there're more pics than usual. CHEERS!!

first i'm showing off Girl Scout Cookies. She has very long side stems that lend well to LST.
View attachment 1093482 View attachment 1093483 View attachment 1093484


next up is Sharkbite! you'll notice she's more of a bush which makes LST a little more challenging. her arms are short, but she's as strapped down as she can be. you can also see how low she is compared to the nut-crackin' dog.
View attachment 1093486
View attachment 1093488
View attachment 1093490


last but not least, Short and Sweet. like my mother, this lady is way too sensitive. every time i tried LST on her, she drooped so sadly and every time i took off her bindings, she perked right up. i've learned my lesson. she's gonna be who she's gonna be.
View attachment 1093491 View attachment 1093492 View attachment 1093493

SIDE STORY, for those of you still reading this post. i consider you buddies now so i wanted to introduce you to someone pretty special.

my husband came home from work two days ago with a ten-day-old tortoiseshell kitten. he works with animals and this babe was brought in too small and too weak. it didn't look good. so, my husband figured he could leave it at work and probably lose it or bring her home for some extra love. so far she's doing amazingly well, but apparently hubz plans to take this kitten away from me when she's old enough and give her to some other lucky bastard. to him i say, "GOOD LUCK." i named her Jolene. i put the nut crackin' doggy in the pic for scale

Jolene
View attachment 1093494

Those all look really good and healthy! Say hello to the new kitty for me. I'm a cat guy myself lol

As for strain I'm running a Seedsman zkittlez auto. Cross of zkittlez and fruit auto. It's just a super stretchy plant haha. I knew this going into it that's why I am running them. Should get a hefty yield fingers crossed