Plant too tall; growing sideways?

B

BlazingGlory

Member
In a small veg space I have a 3 foot mother which has just become too tall for the space its in. I want to keep this mother for a while so i can continually take clones from it... I just didn't have to foresight to LST this plant before it became so woody and tall.

I was wondering what the best method to keep it small from this point on would be? Could I top the 3 foot plant, or would cutting off that much plant stress it too much?
I also had another interesting thought: what if I turn it sideways and support it with strings, and allow it to grow laterally, and eventually back up? Here is a picture to represent that:

plant.jpg

Or is that just a stupid idea? Anyone got any better ideas/ techniques? Somehow make it a bonsai mom, however you do that?

Also im in a similiar situation with a flowering plant who has a couple weeks to go, its also too tall for its space. What should i do with it?

I know the basic techniques for keeping a plant small, just not how well they apply to a bigger more aged plants with woody stems

Thanks
 
Mother's Finest

Mother's Finest

Well-Known Member
Once a plant is allowed to become large, it's very hard to make it small again. No mother plant will last forever and once in awhile you need to take a clone and replace her with it. Start over with her and keep the new clone in small containers and trimmed regularly to keep it small. Keep the temps and ferts on the low side to slow growth. You may even want to take two clones so you'll have one to try out new techniques for keeping them small on and then use the techs on the main mother once they're proven safe & effective.
 
Wolverine97

Wolverine97

Well-Known Member
BlazingGlory said:
In a small veg space I have a 3 foot mother which has just become too tall for the space its in. I want to keep this mother for a while so i can continually take clones from it... I just didn't have to foresight to LST this plant before it became so woody and tall.

I was wondering what the best method to keep it small from this point on would be? Could I top the 3 foot plant, or would cutting off that much plant stress it too much?
I also had another interesting thought: what if I turn it sideways and support it with strings, and allow it to grow laterally, and eventually back up? Here is a picture to represent that:

View attachment 1444311

Or is that just a stupid idea? Anyone got any better ideas/ techniques? Somehow make it a bonsai mom, however you do that?

Also im in a similiar situation with a flowering plant who has a couple weeks to go, its also too tall for its space. What should i do with it?

I know the basic techniques for keeping a plant small, just not how well they apply to a bigger more aged plants with woody stems

Thanks
Click to expand...
You can definitely chop off a good chunk from the top, the plant will do just fine. Growth will slow to a crawl for a week or so, but it will recover and then bush out a bit and you can work on pruning and shaping that growth. You might want to root prune it and transplant into a slightly larger container if you intend to keep it for a while.:mrgreen:
 
B

BlazingGlory

Member
Thanks Wolverine, that's now what I intend to do. How much cutting off would you recommend?

Just curious, how much would this stress the plant? My mothers already survived a symphalid invasion, and it would suck if this topping pushed it over the edge to hermie.
 
bushybush

bushybush

New Member
Just keep chopping away at her. Clone your cuttings if that's what you do. Make it grow short and bushy like a 1970's style muff. If your environment is optimal, you can cut whatever you need off and it should not go hermie. But I do what wolverine said and periodically start a new mother. When you flower the bushy mother, there are tons of stalks and budsights that will eventually be nice colas! :)
 
Wolverine97

Wolverine97

Well-Known Member
BlazingGlory said:
Thanks Wolverine, that's now what I intend to do. How much cutting off would you recommend?

Just curious, how much would this stress the plant? My mothers already survived a symphalid invasion, and it would suck if this topping pushed it over the edge to hermie.
Click to expand...
Without seeing the plant it's tough to say just how much is ok to cut, but generally you can remove around 20% of the plants growth without causing serious harm. Anything more than that, and you risk stressing the plant more than is advisable. Hope that helps.
 
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