First time lst

geart jan · Aug 23, 2023

Im growing a Tropicana cookies auto from "Fastbuds". Decided to try my first lst, everything went perfectly fine until i accidentally topped her at 3 nodes. The stem broke off and probably wil reduce yields significantly. At this moment it has been 30 days since she broke through the soil.

Though the topping was a disaster she has not shown any signs of stunted growth or at least has not stopped growing and seems to be fine apart from only having 3 nodes.

Now my problem is that i have no experience with lst nor have i grown more than two plants before and the topping accident has made me rather insecure about my actions.

Now that she has entered preflower im wondering when i should stop bending her stems while being certain to get the best out of a bad situation, any thoughts or advice?

Heres some pics from where i bent her first to today.

Fangthane · Aug 23, 2023

Kinda hard to do much with a plant that stunted, but in general I don't think you really stop bending them over. It's not just a one time thing where you tie a few branches off and call it a day. It's a process that you do over time, making adjustments as the plant grows. The idea is to get multiple tops, hopefully all at roughly the same height, and then keep training them to where each have enough room to get massive. You're basically trying to spread the plant out laterally. I'm typically moving branches around until at least the end of post-flip stretch.

geart jan · Aug 23, 2023

Fangthane said:
Kinda hard to do much with a plant that stunted, but in general I don't think you really stop bending them over. It's not just a one time thing where you tie a few branches off and call it a day. It's a process that you do over time, making adjustments as the plant grows. The idea is to get multiple tops, hopefully all at roughly the same height, and then keep training them to where each have enough room to get massive. You're basically trying to spread the plant out laterally. I'm typically moving branches around until at least the end of post-flip stretch.

Thanks for your quick reply, any thoughts on how much time there should be in between bends and how to get them a little thicker to support a bit bigger buds? I feel like pointing a fan at a tied branch doesnt cause as much natural thickening as it otherwise would have done.

Fangthane · Aug 23, 2023

Autos can be touchy pricks and probably not the best plants to learn LST on. You make adjustments based on overall growth of the various limbs. You're trying to spread them out while keeping them level, so it's all based on what they actually look like at any given time. If they're growing nicely, I probably adjust branches every few days. Bend the higher tops over more to give the lower ones time to catch up. It's an active process.

A steady breeze can make them stronger, but I think more wind tends to lead to shorter plants, which I don't really prefer. However, having too strong of a breeze can bite you in the ass when it comes time to flower. I've had plants herm badly just in the areas my fan constantly blew on, so that's something to be aware of. You could also give a silica supplement like Dyna-Gro's Pro-Tekt to make branches stronger.

****I noticed on your plant, the ties are lower down toward the middle of the plant. As the branches grow, you move the ties outward, toward the ends of the branches. As the plant expands, you'll probably find it easier and more effective to use the rim of your pot to tie onto.

geart jan · Aug 23, 2023

Fangthane said:
Autos can be touchy pricks and probably not the best plants to learn LST on. You make adjustments based on overall growth of the various limbs. You're trying to spread them out while keeping them level, so it's all based on what they actually look like at any given time. If they're growing nicely, I probably adjust branches every few days. Bend the higher tops over more to give the lower ones time to catch up. It's an active process.

A steady breeze can make them stronger, but I think more wind tends to lead to shorter plants, which I don't really prefer. However, having too strong of a breeze can bite you in the ass when it comes time to flower. I've had plants herm badly just in the areas my fan constantly blew on, so that's something to be aware of. You could also give a silica supplement like Dyna-Gro's Pro-Tekt to make branches stronger.

****I noticed on your plant, the ties are lower down toward the middle of the plant. As the branches grow, you move the ties outward, toward the ends of the branches. As the plant expands, you'll probably find it easier and more effective to use the rim of your pot to tie onto.

Thanks for the great advise,

Unfortunately growing cannabis here is kind of prohibited so im trying to grow as few plants as fast as possible so photos arent really my way to go. And i wasnt really trying to increase yields or anything i just wanted a bit of experience irregardless of any screwups with my lst techniques. Fortunately the plant responds great to training so i got lucky aside from the topping.

The pot is upside down so it doesnt have the convenient holes it should have on top and i'm trying to cover up the holes to keep fungus gnats from being able to fly into the sides/bottom of the pot, maybe i will consider drilling some extra holes on top.

Good to know about the wind!
I was wondering what caused my northern lights to start herming a little but i grew that one outside.

Its probably hard for you to say but i'm aiming to get 10g off the tropicana cookies do you think it is possible after my topping accident?

Btw if you were wondering, the plant next to my tropicana cookies is a strawberry gorilla auto in mid flower.

Fangthane · Aug 23, 2023

I'm horrible at guessing weight, but aside from being small, the plant looks healthy enough. It's still got to go through stretch so it could easily end up a good big larger by the time it starts producing buds. Should probably do a decent bit better than 10 grams if the rest of the grow goes well.

geart jan · Aug 23, 2023

Fangthane said:
I'm horrible at guessing weight, but aside from being small, the plant looks healthy enough. It's still got to go through stretch so it could easily end up a good big larger by the time it starts producing buds. Should probably do a decent bit better than 10 grams if the rest of the grow goes well.

Thanks, that's incredibly reassuring.

Fangthane · Aug 23, 2023

You obviously don't wanna be breaking stalks off, but don't be afraid to manhandle the plants a bit. Not only can they take a bit of a beating, they actually kinda seem to like it. Your fun is just beginning; I'm slowly trying to get better with a trellis net and not doing a great job of it. Here's my flower tent right now. I've got about 5 years of growing and I still kinda suck at training. Just a matter of trial and error.

geart jan · Aug 23, 2023

Fangthane said:
You obviously don't wanna be breaking stalks off, but don't be afraid to manhandle the plants a bit. Not only can they take a bit of a beating, they actually kinda seem to like it. Your fun is just beginning; I'm slowly trying to get better with a trellis net and not doing a great job of it. Here's my flower tent right now. I've got about 5 years of growing and I still kinda suck at training. Just a matter of trial and error.

View attachment 5320536 View attachment 5320537 View attachment 5320539 View attachment 5320540 View attachment 5320541

Wether you suck or not you wil have a lot more to smoke than i will, overall the plants look great.
Im pretty jealous of your setup there, i could have a lot more fun there than in my bedroom.

Wich strain are you growing?

Fangthane · Aug 23, 2023

I always grow multiple strains at once. I'm a broke-ass so my setup is pretty low-end. Nothing to be admired at all.

1- Gelat OG (Seedsman) 5 weeks past flip.
2- Amnesia Lemon Pie (Garden of Green) 5 weeks past flip.
3- Purple Aliens (Greenpoint) 2 weeks
4- Purple Bubba Kush (Greenpoint) 1 week
5- Sticky Icky (Greenpoint) 3 weeks
6- Purple Aliens 3 weeks
7- Sticky Icky 2 weeks

geart jan · Aug 23, 2023

Fangthane said:
I always grow multiple strains at once. I'm a broke-ass so my setup is pretty low-end. Nothing to be admired at all.

1- Gelat OG (Seedsman) 5 weeks past flip.
2- Amnesia Lemon Pie (Garden of Green) 5 weeks past flip.
3- Purple Aliens (Greenpoint) 2 weeks
4- Purple Bubba Kush (Greenpoint) 1 week
5- Sticky Icky (Greenpoint) 3 weeks
6- Purple Aliens 3 weeks
7- Sticky Icky 2 weeks
View attachment 5320550

Those strains sound incredibly interresting, havent heard of any.
I wish you the best of luck growing them.
Never shake off unnecessary compliments, opinions are relative to the observer.

calvin.m16 · Aug 25, 2023

I have plants that love bending around and or supercropping then I have a couple cuts where if you even dare to bend a branch it will snap violently in half regardless of technique.

Nice canopy, when it comes to nets remember to adjust in layers, always considering where the branch starts, so you don't have branches criss crossing and interfering with one another. Peel that sucker open like a blooming onion all through stretch opening it as wide as possible without leaving dead space in the middle.

The goal of any grow, nets or not, LST or not is to have the entire light footprint filled with buds squared.

First time lst

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