Too soon (short) for LST?

[olegren]

I'm on week 3 (Day 18) since sprout. I think I'm a little stunted from early on - messing with lights and overwatering a bit after my transfer to 3gal pot. She's slowly coming back and perking up though, and I am confident she will finish strong.

I had been focusing so much on new growth up top that I failed to realize some new nodes had cropped up along the bottoms. I only noticed today when inspecting the now-wilting cotyledons & first true leaves. (Not worried about that)

So, with that said -- Is it too early to LST? I have some of those soft plant ties & clips. The plant is still pretty short overall though. She's probably had more light than needed for a while, as she's still only about 3" tall despite fairly ample (bushy) growth. From what I have seen and read, it seems like most people are doing this with substantially taller plants, but now that I can see new growth I want to give them an opportunity to thrive if it's reasonable and safe for the plant. If I were to go down this road, I think I would start by exposing the nodes growing above the first set of true leaves.

Thanks in advance for your guidance!

 

[Geordiejesus]

Yeah bro I would suggest leave her to itt for a week or so give her time to find her roots so to speak. Don't want to be adding more stress to a stunted lady

 

[OttoCBD]

Actually, now would be a good time to top her. Give her five or six days to recover and she'll be ready for LST regardless of her height. Look at the CBD Crack grow in my sig. I topped and started LST when she was under four inches tall.

 

[olegren]

Actually, now would be a good time to top her. Give her five or six days to recover and she'll be ready for LST regardless of her height. Look at the CBD Crack grow in my sig. I topped and started LST when she was under four inches tall.

Intimidated by the prospect, but I'm gonna read up and give it a shot. Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[OttoCBD]

Intimidated by the prospect, but I'm gonna read up and give it a shot. Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes!

I'm not sure if you've seen this link before but it's chock full of good info and examples.

Auto topping thread,pushing the auto limits;)

Good day growers im a master photo and auto grower.but my passion is with autoflower seeds.i been on a mission for 5 years growing now trying diffrent methods of training on autos to see what they truly behold.truth is autos aint no diffrent to a normal plant other than they flower on there...

www.autoflower.org

 

[olegren]

I'm not sure if you've seen this link before but it's chock full of good info and examples.

Auto topping thread,pushing the auto limits;)

Good day growers im a master photo and auto grower.but my passion is with autoflower seeds.i been on a mission for 5 years growing now trying diffrent methods of training on autos to see what they truly behold.truth is autos aint no diffrent to a normal plant other than they flower on there...

www.autoflower.org

Thanks. I was reading through your thread -- and another -- but hadn't seen this one. Watched a couple videos to learn about the process too. It seems a little less intimidating now; and tough to argue with the results so many (including you) are sharing!

I'm looking really hard at my plant, and I think she needs another day or two before I can attempt. (I noticed you did your CBD on day 21) Right now, my 4th node is just starting to develop; and it's difficult to get in there without risking damaging those. I did see that you mentioned wishing you had gone in and snipped after the 3rd node though.

To make sure I'm counting this right - even the first set of true (serrated - single-fingered) leaves count as a node, right? I'm counting those as node 1; and then each pair of 90 degree offshoots on up the main stem for 2, 3 and the very top which is 4.

If I proceeded at node 3, I'd basically just lop the main stem off where this new growth for node 4 currently is?

 

[olegren]

Yeah bro I would suggest leave her to itt for a week or so give her time to find her roots so to speak. Don't want to be adding more stress to a stunted lady

And thanks! I think you were absolutely right. Roots are probably not nearly strong enough for LST at this point.

 

[OttoCBD]

Thanks. I was reading through your thread -- and another -- but hadn't seen this one. Watched a couple videos to learn about the process too. It seems a little less intimidating now; and tough to argue with the results so many (including you) are sharing!

I'm looking really hard at my plant, and I think she needs another day or two before I can attempt. (I noticed you did your CBD on day 21) Right now, my 4th node is just starting to develop; and it's difficult to get in there without risking damaging those. I did see that you mentioned wishing you had gone in and snipped after the 3rd node though.

To make sure I'm counting this right - even the first set of true (serrated - single-fingered) leaves count as a node, right? I'm counting those as node 1; and then each pair of 90 degree offshoots on up the main stem for 2, 3 and the very top which is 4.

If I proceeded at node 3, I'd basically just lop the main stem off where this new growth for node 4 currently is?

I'm in a very small cabinet which is why I wished I'd snipped at the third. Things are kind of crowded but I'm managing. There's always next time.

These images might make it a little clearer. What gets snipped is the very top of the new growth. I look at it like I'm cutting the wrists of a pair of praying hands. Cutting at the 3rd node will give you 6 primary growth points, cutting at 4 will give you 8, 5/10 etc.

 

[olegren]

I'm in a very small cabinet which is why I wished I'd snipped at the third. Things are kind of crowded but I'm managing. There's always next time.

These images might make it a little clearer. What gets snipped is the very top of the new growth. I look at it like I'm cutting the wrists of a pair of praying hands. Cutting at the 3rd node will give you 6 primary growth points, cutting at 4 will give you 8, 5/10 etc.

Your cabinet is super tight. It has a super futuristic vibe going on too which I love!

Both those graphics are incredibly helpful. Thanks so much. I'm going to keep an eye on her through tomorrow and see how much that top node develops. Seems feasible to top after #4 if she proceeds as she has been this week. I worry that having already stunted her a bit on top of a HST method might cause an overall drop, but it's difficult to pass up the opportunity to learn - and tough to tell how stunted she is. For some reason, all the grow journals I see of this strain portray plants that look so much different. Much more spread out and leggy; whereas I have this fat little shrub.

 

[OttoCBD]

Your cabinet is super tight. It has a super futuristic vibe going on too which I love!

Both those graphics are incredibly helpful. Thanks so much. I'm going to keep an eye on her through tomorrow and see how much that top node develops. Seems feasible to top after #4 if she proceeds as she has been this week. I worry that having already stunted her a bit on top of a HST method might cause an overall drop, but it's difficult to pass up the opportunity to learn - and tough to tell how stunted she is. For some reason, all the grow journals I see of this strain portray plants that look so much different. Much more spread out and leggy; whereas I have this fat little shrub.

I'm glad you like the cabinet! It is kind of futuristic.

Being new to autos myself, I thought that this CBD Crack was stunted for for first three weeks or so. As it turns out, it was fine. I learned that the first few weeks are when a root system begins to develop so there isn't a lot to see on the top side but by the fourth week or so things really start picking up. What I do from time to time is go to growdiaries.com and find other people that are growing what I'm growing and I can kind of use their grows as a kind of barometer of where I'm at and what to possibly expect. The spread out and legginess that you see on other peoples grows can be from their own training / growing methods. Yours will look like unrecognizable from what it is now in three weeks.

Edit: I edited the above text a few times since first hitting send. My apologies.