Cali med garden. Any input grately appreciated.

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
you didnt have to bend that pklant over yet, as she isnt blocking any light from her neighbors, you can wait till you have a nice flat canopy and cant see the pots anymore
 

saltesp

Member

[email protected]

Well-Known Member
How-To : LST (Low Stress Training)
Well here we go, LST (Low Stress Training) the ultimate way to maximize your yield.

Before we begin lets get some knowledge on what you will be looking at.

Light Brown : Pot Outline
Green thick Lines : Main Stem
Small Thin Lines with Green Balls on top : Fan leafs
Yellow Lines : Side Branches
Red : Tiedown Metal Hooks (or thread whichever item you use, i use Hooks its easier)

The Text in the box : First digit is Step No. and Second Digit is Pot Size, below the numbers is the type of view your looking at (either from the SIDE or from the TOP)


Now that thats out of the way lets get it on..

Please note, you dont have to do it this way, its just the idea of how to do LST, this is the way i did it and you can see the end result of 4 weeks of growth this way in my signature picture where it says FIM/LST. Some may opt to use the eggcrate method where you utilize an eggcrate around the pot and tie it down to that with zipties instead of using string or hooks running from the pot itself... this way you can cover more square footage and maximize your yield even more.

Ok heres the STEPS PICTURE for you to follow along with.



STEP 1 : Grow your plant from Seed or Clone to 3 or 4 leaf sets, some use 5 but i always use 3 because after 3rd leaf set the main stem starts to harden and it will be harder to bend over your plant properly without breaking the main stem.

STEP 2 : Using a metal hook (i cut small sections of cloths hanger and bend a U shape at the end as a hook) bend over your plant with metal hook at the last internode (space between the last set of fanleafs and the next to last) and stick the metal hook into your dirt to hold down the stem.

STEP 3 : This is really not a step, just waiting time... Take note of how the top of the plant that was bent down will bend back upwards towards the light, this could take anywhere from 3 hours to 1 day. Under my 1000 Watt Metal Halide light it does it in under 3 hours.

STEP 4 : Veg and dont tie down until you have a new leaf set. You will notice Side branching has started already because good light is getting to the main stem areas next to each fanleaf stem intersection with the main stem.

STEP 5 : Depending on your starting pot size you may have to transplant. If you started out with a large pot, repeat step 2 over and over again holding the main stem down with hooks until you reach the end of the pot. In this illustration to save time and drawings, i started out with a small pot and it reached the end of the pot after the first tiedown. I repotted it into a 10 inch pot which will be my final pot size for this plant in order for me to continue the LST Bends around the inside edge of the pot.

STEP 6 : Now that your new leaf set has formed you have enough length in growth since the first bend(s) to allow you to start bending the stem horizontally around the inside edge of the pot. Use metal hooks again to keep this bend in place. Side branches should be coming along very nicely.

STEP 7 : Continue repeating steps 4 and 6, allowing the plant to grow and then keep tieing it down along the inside edge of pot using metal hooks (or whatever your using) Side branches should be forming and growing up towards the light.

STEP 8 : Continue to repeat step 7 until you are all the way around the pot... when you reach the point where your plant first met the edge of the plant Top the plant (cut off the very top of the plant ) and hold it down horizontally with a metal hook.... During all this time of repeating step 7 you should also be tieing down horizontally the new branches that have formed from the main stem as much as possible until you use up as much space as possible inside the pot as well , the outter branches growing over the outside edge of the pot you can hold down as well with string to keep those tops even with the inner branches.

STEP 9 : After you have used up all possible space inside the pot (or your eggcrate) its time to just let it flower.. This is a side view of how it will and should look by that time with all the side branches growing upwards towards the light.... these will all become Collas unlike a non LST plant will only have one colla.

During flowering and even before due to lack of light on the main stem fan leafs which is all the way to the bottom almost against the soil those fanleafs will die off anyways, i usually cut these off the main stem right after the branch has grown out in that area, keeps things neat down below where you will need good airflow during flowering.. so go ahead and take off any fanleafs coming off the main stem that is going around the inside edge of the pot.

Set your timer to 12/12 and watch it bloom


There is no Step 10 in the picture but we all know what that is
HARVEST!!!
this is a good example, check mine out. in my grow log.
 

saltesp

Member
For bloom food im running koolbloom, but at very low levels. Just letting the soil do its work like everyone told me too.

Any nutes in specific i need to be adding/ considering?

ANd should I be concerned about airflow towards soil level? its getting to be a jungle in there and know airflow in general is important, will stagnant air be an issue?
 

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
liquid kool bloom or powdered? the liquid i have and i know for fact thats not enough, theres no micros in it, the thing is about your soil, i would advise anyone using fox farms soil that after 6 weeks of use they should be good to recieve a feeding program, Fox farms is loaded, that kool bloom is perfect for mixing with an already balanced "base" nutrient program, since you didnt veg long at all, you dont have any deficiencies, which is great, if you want to continue using the kool bloom, maybe pick up a bottle of fox farms Tiger Bloom, or another product that has nitrogen,potassium,phosphorus,calcium,magnesium, iron, mangenese,molybendum, borron copper, theres a couple other micronutes im missing but you get the idea, the koolbloom is only a phosphorous and potasium additive used to add fruit and flower swelling and oil production
 

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
as for the LST post, i cant take credit for that,. i got that from some dude on another foum a while back, its basically the LST bible....salt, dont forget if you start feeding do it gradually, 1/4 strength, you probably have 4-6 more feeds before you harvest
 

saltesp

Member

Not sure if this is a humidity issue, and the local hydro store are a pain in the ass, so im without a thermometer/ humidity gauge for another day. Temp has been consistent not sure about humidity.

possibly a ph issue? although PH has been consistent and where it should be. Unless there's something special about molasses and balancing ph I needed to know and didn't.



Ran the last water, just balanced ph . no nutes or nothin.

The other buds are looking good, 5 weeks into flowering.
 

jbo

Active Member
everything morrisgreenburg is tellin you is on the level. definatley no nutes and less water. i use a big trash can for my water with a small air pump for circulation. tap water will off gas in around 24 hours and be safe to use. Now in the winter i use a rain catchment system (to much green tv lol). I try to stay simple, dont over comlicate things. a good method for checking moisture in your soil is to simply put your finger in the dirt. if its dry an inch down then its time to water. Also are your lights ducted in with your filter? Its best to run your filter and lights by themselves that way you can vent the lights while they're on and not be constantly sucking out your A/C. I run my filter for 15 min every hour during veg then switch when i flower to 15 every 3 hrs because of C02. Oh dont forget to use foil tape (any hardware store) and tape up all the gaps around the glass on your lights, another source for smell leaks as well as a/c leaks. Ive tried supercropping, lst, topping, so on and so on and lst has by far been the best for big yeilds. lil more work at first and a lil more time but well worth it. Fortunatly in cali theres grow stores everywhere id check em all out and start figuring out who you think is knowledgable then start soakin up knowledge. remember theres more than 1 way to skin a cat and what works for someone else might not be right for your situation. and just because they work at a store doesnt make them a expert! as far as mites go i use foggers and azatrol. the azatrol is pricey but works well. good luck, looks like you got a pretty good start.
 

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
hey salty, peep the PM i sent you, i left out one tidbit, a clear sign of the major 3 NPK deficiencies usually start dying off at the bottom leaves, when you get funky looking leaves at the middle, top or newest growth, its usually a hard to get micro deficiencie, but i can almost bet the house its PH and you do for a good flushing, as of right now, your plants would love you if you picked up a bottle of tiger bloom and big bloom and used them togeter at 1/4 strenght each....i think i need to help you biuld a nice aero system for your next op
 
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