How do I make my plants bushier? More dense?

midwest connect

Active Member
Hello all, I'm currently growing four beauties in a beautiful Midwestern state. The climate gets hot here - sometimes reaching peaks of 103 degrees during the day. I'm on an every other time fert schedule right now, and they are looking extremely green and healthy. Although I'm very happy about their color and their height (they are all adequately tall, i am sure...almost too tall), I'm not happy about the density of the leaves and the fullness of the plant. This is an organic grow BTW, and each of the girls has her own 5 gallon bucket.

So, with all that being said, what can be done to make the plants bushier? More dense? I've read some different strategies in a two books I own, and have skimmed over some good reading on this site, but have found no definitive answer to these questions. I am about a month away from the start of flowering, also, if that is important.

All the info you can give me will be MUCH appreciated. Happy gardens :)
 

mariapastor

Well-Known Member
Hello all, I'm currently growing four beauties in a beautiful Midwestern state. The climate gets hot here - sometimes reaching peaks of 103 degrees during the day. I'm on an every other time fert schedule right now, and they are looking extremely green and healthy. Although I'm very happy about their color and their height (they are all adequately tall, i am sure...almost too tall), I'm not happy about the density of the leaves and the fullness of the plant. This is an organic grow BTW, and each of the girls has her own 5 gallon bucket.

So, with all that being said, what can be done to make the plants bushier? More dense? I've read some different strategies in a two books I own, and have skimmed over some good reading on this site, but have found no definitive answer to these questions. I am about a month away from the start of flowering, also, if that is important.

All the info you can give me will be MUCH appreciated. Happy gardens :)
not flowering too early cooler flowering tempsoh and molasses tea guano
 

jcdws602

Well-Known Member
Low stress training, by simply squishing branches enough to make them flexible you bend them, and tie them to something to keep em down ,and or topping.It would of been better to do it from earlier stage in your plants life,but you can still do it and the plant will recover by the time it starts to flower,
 
C

canefan

Guest
Low stress training, by simply squishing branches enough to make them flexible you bend them, and tie them to something to keep em down ,and or topping.It would of been better to do it from earlier stage in your plants life,but you can still do it and the plant will recover by the time it starts to flower,
You can cut back on your nutes and this will slow the growth down and tend to make your girl bushier. The more nutes you feed it the lankier they tend to get. Just my two cents and I am sure lots of people will disagree.:joint:
 

ganjman

New Member
You can cut back on your nutes and this will slow the growth down and tend to make your girl bushier. The more nutes you feed it the lankier they tend to get. Just my two cents and I am sure lots of people will disagree.:joint:

Well i for one do agree.

Also, what strain is it, because sativas for example aint gunne be bushy like indicas.
 

grow space

Well-Known Member
yo man-start to LST them and try topping-dine both with my outdoor plant, and she is real low and super dense.
 

nraged

Well-Known Member
Well i for one do agree.

Also, what strain is it, because sativas for example aint gunne be bushy like indicas.
I dissagree I have a sativa thats bushy as hell. Now I dont know strain genetics so its possible its a cross but all the plants were looking sativa. I lsted my plants when they were young. Only difference in what I did from normal lst is that I bent plant over and kept forming it around the circle pot. After I had about 6 new cola's that were growing I untied the plant. The cola's still grew fighting for light and my result was a bushy plant. With alot of cola's. I also found on the one plant I did top Is now bushy too. The one I left alone is growing like normal sativa's
 

heathaa

Well-Known Member
this late in the season i would just top it and nothing else. give ya two colas too in a month or two. and give it 1tblspn of molaasses or syrup per gallon. it makes a big difference especially in flowering mode
 

midwest connect

Active Member
this late in the season i would just top it and nothing else. give ya two colas too in a month or two. and give it 1tblspn of molaasses or syrup per gallon. it makes a big difference especially in flowering mode
I have not grown a ton of times (this is only my second outdoor grow), so when I hear the word molasses, all i think about is the honey-type stuff. Is that the stuff I should use, or is there a marijuana-specific (or simply plant-specific) type of molasses I should use?

Thanks for all the replies, you are all helping me out a lot.
 

ganjman

New Member
I dissagree I have a sativa thats bushy as hell. Now I dont know strain genetics so its possible its a cross but all the plants were looking sativa. I lsted my plants when they were young. Only difference in what I did from normal lst is that I bent plant over and kept forming it around the circle pot. After I had about 6 new cola's that were growing I untied the plant. The cola's still grew fighting for light and my result was a bushy plant. With alot of cola's. I also found on the one plant I did top Is now bushy too. The one I left alone is growing like normal sativa's
Yeah... you LST'd? So? I didnt say anything about that, did i? No. If you read what i said, you'll see i agreed that using nutes will make it grow taller, and that naturally almost all sativas will never be as bushy as an indica.

Of course if you LST it'll be bushy... but i wasnt talking about LSTing... so your post was pointless.
 
Pruning the top right off, then when 2 tops come up another 8 inches pinch them too. this will encourage inner growth as well. Super cropping is good for max yeild and a stem to support it. By doing that u pinch and bend over branches but dont break.
 

zen10

Member
sativas will never be as bushy as indica, so you may be outa luck. but nutes will make it lanky as fuck determined by the amount your giving it, and lst is prolly your best bet
 

nraged

Well-Known Member
Yeah... you LST'd? So? I didnt say anything about that, did i? No. If you read what i said, you'll see i agreed that using nutes will make it grow taller, and that naturally almost all sativas will never be as bushy as an indica.

Of course if you LST it'll be bushy... but i wasnt talking about LSTing... so your post was pointless.
Lol quite a attitude you have there. None the less im not trying to argue especially over the forum. The op asked how to make his plant bushy and didnt ask for a comparrison between indica and sativa. Maybe I mis read the post you made but your attitude is not needed. What he wanted to do is make his plant bushier. I explained that by lsting a sativa you can make much more bushier so although i dissagreed with you, comming back to talk shit that was pointless cause regardless what you think my answer was another alternative to making it bushy vs taking away its nutes. But out of generosity im going to give you + rep for being a dick.
 

ganjman

New Member
Lol quite a attitude you have there. None the less im not trying to argue especially over the forum. The op asked how to make his plant bushy and didnt ask for a comparrison between indica and sativa. Maybe I mis read the post you made but your attitude is not needed. What he wanted to do is make his plant bushier. I explained that by lsting a sativa you can make much more bushier so although i dissagreed with you, comming back to talk shit that was pointless cause regardless what you think my answer was another alternative to making it bushy vs taking away its nutes. But out of generosity im going to give you + rep for being a dick.

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Green Cross

Well-Known Member
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Bushiness, as in tighter lusher growth?

1. More blue light. HPS is fine to grow from start to finish, but too much red causes stretch). Use CFL or MH in veg.

2. More light in general (keep the lights as close as possible). use reflective materials around the grow.

3. lower temperatures (78 degrees is optimal during daylight hours).
 

Badmf

Well-Known Member
Green Cross its an outdoor grow, lol, anywas errors can happen. But I was just pictured this guy haulin out indoor equipmnet into the woods, I'm baked so its phunny.
As mentioned LST is the best way, keep feeding them or they'll just stop growing. Topping isn't as productive as LST but it would give you a slightly bushier plant. LST allows the growth to be channeled to the "new" top area and lets side shoots get more Sun therefore getting bushier w/o losing any growth. What nute and what strength are you using?
 
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