Help my plants are getting too tall.

blustarr57

Active Member
I need some good ideas to help tie my plants down. They are going to be very tall and thought if I was to start bending them a little and put yarn or something on it and stake it to the ground. It might help them grow sideways. Anyone do this before?:mrgreen: I am too afraid of force flexing them. I know I would break them.
 

Dizz1e

Active Member
I need some good ideas to help tie my plants down. They are going to be very tall and thought if I was to start bending them a little and put yarn or something on it and stake it to the ground. It might help them grow sideways. Anyone do this before?:mrgreen: I am too afraid of force flexing them. I know I would break them.
you basically described a simplified version of LST. Just start with a little bend and then slowly bend them a little more each time. You should be able to tell how much the stalk can take, just don't really force it....

The sun will start to hit new parts of the plant directly and create more bud sites giving you multiple colas.:eyesmoke:
 

SCARHOLE

Well-Known Member
Im doing lots of supercroping this season. Pinching the stem with your nail an folding it over dosent seem to stress my babies.

I guerilla grow outdoors an dont want my plants getting tall.

I supercrop mine over when about a foot tall. I have to wire em down or they will straighten up again.
Then i Fim the tops an super crop an tie down the new vertical growth.

It will all grow in a circle, bout 2 foot high.
 

greenr

Member
here´s a tought from a newbie (untested theory), if you put the lights as near as possible (to the top of the plant) the plants will grow, but they will not become too tall. while doing this, try and add lateral lights (a little bit stronger that the top one). Plants strech themselves in search of light...according to my crappy untested theory, they will get bushy sideways, and not too tall.
 

tommyfergie1

Well-Known Member
Ok if its outdoor .. there never is too tall my friend ;) but seriously, go with Lsting .. works well at creating more of a bush than i tree.. if its inside just start flowering asap and it will slow on growth upwards and concentrate on getting buddier :)

Keep it green.
 

oneinthechamber

Active Member
Supercropping, SCROG, Sea Of Green, LST, there are many methods to control your plants growth. If height if the issue, I suggest evening your canopy out as even as possible, this makes sure all bud sites get a more even amount of light, rather than taller bud sites getting all the light and the lower bud sites getting all the left overs, this leads to poorly developed buds near the lower region of the plant, when it is time to harvest, only take 1/3 of the plants buds at a time, start with the main top colas, these will be ready and matured first. Then allow a few more weeks of 12/12 light cycles, 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness, complete darkness during the dark period is very important for the plant, but after the 2nd half of the buds look ready harvest them, then finally allow the lowest region of buds to finish developing, I refer to this as the three harvesting waves, this ensures you are getting the most out of your plant. When harvesting your buds keep as many fan leaves, branches, etc. on the main stem. You can put your plant back under the 18/6 or 20/4 lighting schedules and force it to go back into the vegative state, when your plant looks bushy again, start the flowering period again, you will be able to get a second harvest, and skipping a lot of time since you aren't starting from seed. Sometimes you can even do this a total of four times, it all depends on the strain of marijuana, google it, lol. Also take as many clones as possible from all females, this will also allow you to skip starting all over from seed again and it speeds up your time you wait for until harvest. If you Keep taking clones from mother plants you choose and keep some mother plants for reveg and some for taking clones at all times, you will greatly decrease the time you have to wait between harvests. It all depends on if you are still in the vegative growth stage (usually first 4 weeks if growing indoors) or the flowering stage (when you decide that you "think" your plant is ready to start the 12/12 light cycle. If your plants are tall though, I am sure you are past the veg. stage, if the plants being too tall is an issue, so keep that in mind not to use techniques that you are supposed to start when the plant is still a few weeks old.

FIM Technique
There is a topping method known as the FIM technique. If you push the leaves apart at the very top of the plant you should see a small bud (not flowering bud but an actually leaf bud). Use a pair of nail clippers to pinch off about 3/4 of the bud. This should result in more than two top colas being developed. In a single FIM clipping you can produce up to eight new top colas.
The origins of this technique are humorous. As the story goes, FIM was discovered accidentally when a grower messed up a topping exercise. FIM stands for: "Fuck I Missed".

Super Cropping Technique
Another method of topping is called xSuper Cropping'. By taking a branch between your forefinger and thumb you can gently crush the branch, causing it to develop multiple branches above the crushed area. You must crush it on the correct side or risk breaking the branch. Just squeeze lightly until you feel the branch give, then let go. If it gives easily then you have crushed it on the correct side. If it is hard to crush and the branch splits then you have chosen the wrong side. Practice makes perfect with Super Cropping.

Super Cropping should be carried out during the second or third week of vegetative growth and does stunt the plant. You should also note that plants that are Super Cropped can remain in the vegetative growth stage for twice as long as normal but the end result is a very bushy plant with multiple node regions that should all produce bud. Many growers have thrown Super Cropped plants away because they believed that the plants were not flowering in time. If you Super Crop your plants make sure that you have the patience to wait until the process is finished which — usually about four to six more weeks of vegetative growth.

HOW TO MAKE CANNABIS BUSHES
Some people prefer their plants small and wide. Fortunately for them, making cannabis bushes is a simple process. During the third week of vegetative growth prune half the plant's branches. Cannabis plants need at least 50 percent of their leaves in order to continue growing without experiencing fatal stunting problems. If you prune off more than 50 percent of their leaves, you may end up killing your plants.* Do not prune only one side of the plant; prune both sides to achieve the 50 percent. You may also prune the main top cola if you want to split it into two or more parts.

If the prune cuts you previously made grow new branches and leaves, you may wait until the fourth or fifth week of vegetative growth and prune again, leaving 50 percent growth.

During the seventh week of vegetative growth you'll notice that your plant has started to grow outward more than upward. Let's say you have a plant with eight shoots. That means it is four nodes high. You prune the plant and end up with 16 shoots, but the plant is still only four nodes high. Now this does not mean that you can keep doubling shoots forever. Pruning merely pushes the plant to grow all of its shoots early. If you keep pruning a plant that is four nodes high until the eighth week of vegetative growth, the greatest number of shoots you will get will be about 32. Most marijuana plants will not grow much beyond this factor, but again this is strain-dependent.

Now each new shoot has a junction point or a node that it grew from and each node should produce bud during the flowering stages. It is possible to create a marijuana plant that droops over the sides, completely concealing its own pot. With the right strain, it is also possible to have a single plant spread over an entire 6x6 foot space using this method. Creating cannabis bushes usually requires a few additional weeks of vegetative growth.
 

blustarr57

Active Member
well I have tied loosely with yarn and staked to the ground. In the evening after a hot day they bend real easy. I Have lots of smiles for what it is doing for my plant!
 

veggiegardener

Well-Known Member
All the techniques mentioned above work well in shaping a Cannabis plant.

A couple comments regarding LST.

If a plant is to be transplanted into the ground, don't attempt to LST the plant until time to go into its final location.

LST can be expedited by planting each plant at a 45 degree angle from vertical, preferably leaning toward the North.

Think ahead about what you wish to accomplish, and keep in mind that many strains stretch as much as two feet during flowering.
 
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