Running out of room - now what!?

[NorthStar1440]

I have a DWC grow with 2 lovely ladies that I started from seed. This is a "stealth" grow in a cabinet.

I switched over to flower (11.5/12.5 light/dark) 16 days ago. The ladies started at ~5" and are now ~15". I'm using a 250w CFL for light. I have maybe 1" on one side and 3" on the other... at which point the light fixture will be mounted as high as it can go.

These ladies are Ice. Got the seed from http://www.marijuana-seeds.nl/

Images are available here: http://imgur.com/a/9Ujby.

1. Once the light is fixed to the bottom of the cabinet top, how can I control the plant height?
2. Would the addition of a 125w CFL (mounted to the back wall) help?
3. I'm a newbie... when should I take clones... or is it too late?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stinky33]

You are well into the change from veg to flower, so cloning at this stage would be hard, if it worked at all.

Actually after looking at your pictures, I'm guessing you are further into flower than you mentioned and doubt you would have much success cloning without going back into veg for a month "re-vegging". You can go through harvest and save some of the lower plant to reveg at the end, but know that it will be about a month before the plant will be back into normal vegetative growth and ready to clone from and there is always the chance that the plant will not make it.

To control the height you could try gently bending and tying down the tallest branches. You should probably avoid LST (low stress training), as it will stall your flowers while it heals, but use it as a last resort to lower the overall height. By LST, I mean gently crunching the stem and bending it. This causes a "wound" that needs time to heal versus gently bending and tying down. Youtube LST and you will find a ton of videos from no stress to high stress.

Hope that helps. Most of my knowledge was gleaned from others here.

 

[Sam the Caveman]

You can take clones pretty far along into flower, I usually take clones from the lower parts of the plant when I remove it 2 weeks into flower.

How to keep you plants the right size, topping them will help (cutting off the leading shoot to slightly below the other shoots), lst ing them either under a screen or just tying down each branch. Probably the most important thing is to know you strain and how much it stretches and starting the flowering cycle at the appropriate time. There is also a product called bushmaster that can keep you plants nice and bushy.

Another thing, dwc will produce the most stretch, well right behind aero, of any growing media. If your in a small cab, use soil or a soiless mix and that will help.

 

[Sam the Caveman]

LST = Low Stress Training which would be either using a screen/netting to train them under or a little each day bending each branch over and tying it off.

topping and "supercropping"(pinching the stems and bending them over 90 deg), I would consider high stress training because the plants take several days before they resume normal growth.

 

[FreezerBoy]

To control the height you could try gently bending and tying down the tallest branches. You should probably avoid LST (low stress training), as it will stall your flowers while it heals, but use it as a last resort to lower the overall height. By LST, I mean gently crunching the stem and bending it.

Gently bending and tying down the branches is LST. Squeezing and folding is "super cropping". Both work great but many strains will ignore super crop and straighten up in a matter of hours as though never folded. Be prepared to tie them down as you would LST.

Some Indicas hate to bend and will split open. If the split is vertical, no worries, wrap a twist tie around the wound and plant will heal in a few days. If horizontal, no worries, wrap a twist tie around the wound and plant will heal in a few days. Fold again higher up.

Here's a split large enough to stick a finger through. Plant didn't care. (Lighter for scale only)

 

[stinky33]

thanks freezerboy for the corrections in terminology. i'll get the lingo down soon enough.

 

[NorthStar1440]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I've been reading, researching, etc., but sometimes ya just gotta ask.

Hi stinky33, I switched over on 2/4... ~17 days ago. The babies were about 4-5" tall and very bushy when I switched over.

Hi Sam, I'm nearly 3 weeks in... too late for clones. Oh, well. Live and learn (and keep some seed just in case).

Hi FreezerBoy, I started bending this evening...

I'm sure this probably not the correct way to reply but, I'm a long-time lurker; haven't done much posting.

Cheers!

 

[stinky33]

perfect way to reply. nice and concise. let us know the outcome, especially if you re-veg after harvest. good luck!

 

[Sam the Caveman]

Hey northstar, its not too late to clone. I've read of people successfully taking clones 6 weeks into flower. Just take some cuttings from the lower part of the plant and they should clone just fine, however they might take a little longer than if the plant were still in veg.

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

I have a clone taken at week 5 of flower under my screen right now.
It took forever to revert back to veg, but dont underestimate the power of a flowering clone. Alternatining nodes from the start, pistils after 2 weeks, and the branching is incredible.
You have to bend those 2 girls now. Dont let 'em grow into the lights.
I find it's easier to bend when the soil is drier because there's less water in the stem.
Maybe try a scrog screen to keep 'em low.

 

[mosstrooper]

Not having a lot of room to grow in, i have found myself taking cuttings from plants well into flower many times, it almost always works, but as many people have pointed out it takes ages to get them back into veg. What nobody has mentioned though is once they go back into veg they explode into growth and generate way more stems than you could possibly use or need on one plant and it can be a pain getting them manageable again.

This post will tell you pretty much everything you need to know, its where i got this picture of a re vegetated bud showing how many stems you get. Also lots of info on super cropping and low stress training.https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=115377

 

[NorthStar1440]

Last night, starting a couple of inches from the top, I pulled the three tallest offenders over so that they were horizontal and level with the majority of the buds in the center mass. This evening, they're vertical again. Wow! Granted, they're lower but, wow. Here's another look-see. http://i.imgur.com/jQr3L.jpg

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

Keep bending. I'd try a little lower next time. Think bonsai.

 

[mosstrooper]

Sometimes, when your plant is going really strong, you need to "super crop " it, meaning, bend the stem, then where you want it to stay bent, pinch it hard till you actually crush the cambium layer a little bit. Not too much, but doing this will slightly damage the plant (it will recover). This way, when you bend and crush (slightly) it heals where the bend is and stays bent, and according to the theory, the extra tissue allows a greater flow of nutrients up the stem (yeah, im not sure either).

Again that link to that plant training post will explain it better.

 

[NorthStar1440]

I want to thank all who provided advice... I've change a few things around and followed a lot of the advice. Below are some updated pics.

1st cabinet grow - updated 20110308 p1: http://imgur.com/a/gPHRL
1st cabinet grow - updated 20110308 p2: http://imgur.com/a/1tg4i

 

[krest]

Hey northstar, its not too late to clone. I've read of people successfully taking clones 6 weeks into flower. Just take some cuttings from the lower part of the plant and they should clone just fine, however they might take a little longer than if the plant were still in veg.

^^^ Listen to Sam here. 3 weeks is a good time to take clones and you might even find them to root faster than normal (strain dependent). My AKs root super fast when I take clones during the first few weeks of bloom. Also, you can take clones ANY TIME throughout the bloom cycle, even when you are harvesting... just takes allot longer to get the plant to do anything.

don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something!

 

[thinkin]

no room at the inn!

no room at the inn!

Micros..

Running out of room sucks.
For remaining time, high maintenance is required.
Encountered same problem with twist.
Girls are running out of light too. (yellow tops!)

If you dont have a cooltube.
I would suggest installing one.
Definitely look at the defloration thread.
Scrog it! (almost a necessity at this point.)
Or some have just layed a window screen on top of canopy to keep tops away from the light.

At some point, the plant is simply too big.
Cutting off excess (branches) may save you yield and qualitity in the end.
Sooner you trim, (i think) better the plant will flower in the position you want.

 

[NorthStar1440]

I took four cuttings, two from each lady, five days ago. The first two days, they were under 125w CLF in a small cabinet. Major heat build-up. Some damage. Swapped out for a 15w (25w?) tube. The babies have perked up nicely considering the damage I caused.

I've removed some large fan leaves as they yellow. The ladies seemed to have topped out about 15" high with some buds reaching 17, 18 inches. They are growing up near the tube, hanging out at just under an inch away. Some of the buds are growing up around the tube. I'll provide some more images tomorrow.

The last time I made images (see last post or so), I could see some crystals in the images. Today, I could see a large amount of crystals forming on the small leaves surrounding the buds using my Mk1 eyeballs.

I'm at 28 days into flower. The calendar suggests that I can expect to harvest between 4/2 and 4/9.

 

[NorthStar1440]

The rum is evident in my last post.