Mephisto Genetics Tyrone Special K.I.S.S grow journal

[HubbaBubba]

Day 14 It is a jungle in there! The Tyrones don't get much space because Hubbabubbasmelloscope is a fat pig filling up the room. The Tyrones are fantastic, they have the toughness and vigor of Sour Crack. They are drilling down through the old rootball in compacted over fertilized soil. They have had only water and are thriving at 29C (84F)

Here is their growing environment:

And here is their glamour shot, the old Sour Crack stump is still visible in the middle:

 

[HubbaBubba]

Is that start of leaf curl, taco, canoe, cupping? Maybe it is from the warm environment (29C) and humidity at 35%. Darn, I want the girls looking their best for their FIM and Mainline treatment next week.

 

[HubbaBubba]

Day 15 Topping time. Mainlining is too gnarly, like chopping off my own finger, I just can't do it. Had to build up courage for topping, like jumping off a high diving board...

before very healthy, almost ready to show sex.

after Topped just above the 4th node

 

[HubbaBubba]

Day 15 (again) Fimming time. I just can't figure the right place to cut for Fimming. I've read stuff 10 times and I am still not sure. I am cutting anyhow, only way I will learn. Lucky I am not a brain surgeon.

After I was hoping for 4 colas, but I think I got 2 colas and 2 berries. Bah Humbug.

 

[HubbaBubba]

FIMing, I finally understand it, and I will always choose FIMing over TOPing for plant health. Thank you, @faded187
https://www.autoflower.org/index.php?threads/faded187-fim-instructional.42169/

FIM is like topping, but higher and less damage to the plant. FIM is removing the smallest part of the inner growing tip, no leaves, no berries, no branches. FIM is not about cutting the stalk, it is about removing a little piece from the center (the growing tip) after spreading open the growth at the very top.
The comedy of errors continues... both Tyrone Specials have been topped, not FIMed
Feeling really stupid for making such a dumb mistake after years of gardening.

 

[HubbaBubba]

Growing two plants close together makes the leaves overlap. The plants are transpiring so much that moisture gets trapped between the leaves even with a breeze and 35% humidity. Wet leaves encourage mold and fungus, yuck.

 

[HubbaBubba]

Day 21 Both Tyrone specials are showing Pistils, excellent! They got their first taste of tomato plant food 4 days ago.

Here is their Glamour shot:

The topping last week made a big difference. The plant on the left was smallest and had less foliage removed during topping, about the size of the tip of your pinky. It recovered faster and now is biggest.

The plant on the right was the biggest last week so it had more foliage above the 4th node to be topped, about the size of a matchbox. That damage stunned it, now it is the smallest because the stem stopped growing. . It is growing in other areas, and is showing pistils. Aggressive Topping does seems to stunt the plant and keep it short, but Tryrone Special can recover to make flowers before day 21. :smoking:

Ooooh, that ultra short spacing between the nodes... wonder how it affects a plant that averages 1 meter tall.
For fun...thinking about about aggressively topping a big plant like Fantasmo Express, is that bad?

 

[Dazed]

Very nice!

 

[mephisto]

Maybe it's the equivalent of someone giving you a hair cut or chopping your head off
I've topped a full tents worth before and it definitely makes for a more manageable canopy and plants.
I put a stake/garden cane in each corner of a square pot and tied the dominant branches to each one.
If I remember correctly I did it later than you, at the 5th node. I didn't do it again as it was one of the last grows before moving out here, and there was more risk with experimentation.
Cheers,

 

[HubbaBubba]

Day 22 Edward Scissorhands

I cut off everything below the 2nd node on both plants (not my fault, officer, I was under the influence of Mephisto THC).
The top is pruned, the bottom is pruned, now there are only 3 nodes.
Can the plants put all their energy into the remaining 3 nodes and give 6 fat colas?

Also, I didn't like the lower bud sites so I sniped 4 off each plant. (the lowest buds from the branches on the 2nd node)

I am dreaming of 6 Tyrone colas and Zero popcorn buds, but can Tyrone tolerate the stress while on a strict diet of Tomato Bloom nutes? Lets find out....