how do you leave your moms for a couple weeks without them getting burned from bulb?

[TREE KING]

if i have to go outta town for like a week and a half is there a way i can stop the plants from hitting the light bulb and getting burned? ive never heard anyone talk about doing this before. im using a bell lighting Washington LR1000W reflector in my my mother room. thanks guys

 

[killa_cam]

tie them down
they should be good till you get back...depending on how far you tie them

 

[TREE KING]

tie them down
they should be good till you get back...depending on how far you tie them

hmm i dont really know how to do that and it sounds like a bitch to do too. the other thing im thinking of is that the plants will end up growing sideways and then i might have to worry about them tipping over. its definitely an option though thanks killa cam. by the way you know thats my favorite rapper right

i was actually thinking along the lines of attaching something to the reflector where it blocks the plants from coming anywhere near the bulb and then worse case scenario the plants would grow around the reflector for a very short period of time. tell you the truth this probably wont be a problem cause i would also trim the plants before i leave but its also good to be safe just incase

 

[rives]

I go through this on a monthly basis. I LST the shit out of my mom's, it makes more cuts available, and I prune them pretty heavily before I leave. I drop them away from the light for a little more clearance (in my case, my light is fixed and I lower the mom's away from it a few inches more than I would normally run them). When I get home the plant has stretched a bit, helping out with getting more space between the internodes. Blumats take care of the watering, it's a pretty good system.

How do you like your Bell Lighting reflector? I am setting up a new area and they are one of the candidates that I am considering.

 

[TREE KING]

I go through this on a monthly basis. I LST the shit out of my mom's, it makes more cuts available, and I prune them pretty heavily before I leave. I drop them away from the light for a little more clearance (in my case, my light is fixed and I lower the mom's away from it a few inches more than I would normally run them). When I get home the plant has stretched a bit, helping out with getting more space between the internodes. Blumats take care of the watering, it's a pretty good system.

How do you like your Bell Lighting reflector? I am setting up a new area and they are one of the candidates that I am considering.

i love the reflector alot and it gives an even canopy for a 4 x 4 space which is perfect for me. the good thing too is you can keep it 18" from the plants and its very light. the thing is i havent really used any other good reflectors to compare them too so i might not be a good person to rate how good it really is.

so when you say LST your pretty much talking about tieing them down like killa cam said right?

 

[rives]

Yes, tying them down is LST (low stress training). I do bonsai moms, and you can train the main stem to go in a complete circle around the pot. I do the same thing for the plants that I flower out - normally I grow in a scrog and use this method to train them prior to putting the screen in place. It works well even when not using the screen and growing bushes.

 

[TREE KING]

Yes, tying them down is LST (low stress training). I do bonsai moms, and you can train the main stem to go in a complete circle around the pot. I do the same thing for the plants that I flower out - normally I grow in a scrog and use this method to train them prior to putting the screen in place. It works well even when not using the screen and growing bushes.

thanks. do i have any other options at all that you guys can think of? nothing i can attach to the reflector?

 

[McGuyver'sDick]

What's your lighting schedule? Maybe 13/11 will slow them down a little.

 

[rives]

What's your lighting schedule? Maybe 13/11 will slow them down a little.

Good idea. You might check out the 12/1 lighting thread below.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=219764

 

[smog]

to be safe i would top them down sum

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

I take cuttings for clones just before I go away for a week or two (cuttings go into an aerocloner which can run unattended for two weeks). I really make a point to cut the mothers down short. You can also tie them down or raise the light as described above. You could also suspend a screen above the plants to keep them from touching the light. I keep my moms under fluorescents so it's not such a crisis if they get too close. Keeping moms in shallow containers helps with this problem.

 

[palmero]

What's your lighting schedule? Maybe 13/11 will slow them down a little.

This is the way, search for "Low Maintenance Mothering"
(don´t know if links to other sites are permitted)

Where i live some growers keep their mothers with 2 hours of light
a day (5 minutes every hour) as long as no production is needed.
That way the plants do not start flowering and stay alive.

HTH

 

[palmero]

search for "Low Maintenance Mothering"

search for "Low Maintenance Mothering"

P.s. 5 minutes are recommended with CFL or LED, with ballast (HPS..) you will need some modification (min 30 minutes every 6 hours ).

 

[TREE KING]

I take cuttings for clones just before I go away for a week or two (cuttings go into an aerocloner which can run unattended for two weeks). I really make a point to cut the mothers down short. You can also tie them down or raise the light as described above. You could also suspend a screen above the plants to keep them from touching the light. I keep my moms under fluorescents so it's not such a crisis if they get too close. Keeping moms in shallow containers helps with this problem.

wow lots of responses thanks guys. i usually switch back and forth from 18/6 to 24 depending on how fast i need the clones but i never knew it was possible to do 13/11 without flowering the plants so that makes things easier.

im also curious about this type of screen your talking about? the only thing i can picture in my head is the square screen you put in a house window. what is the name of the type of screen your talking about and where can i buy this at?

 

[TREE KING]

P.s. 5 minutes are recommended with CFL or LED, with ballast (HPS..) you will need some modification (min 30 minutes every 6 hours ).

great thanks. now the only thing i need to figure out is the watering schedule if i do this. if i water once a day it would probably cause overwatering problems so i need to make sure i have a timer with an every 2-3 day setting to flood the tray

palmero thanks for the advice im also gonna see what i can find under "Low Maintenance Mothering".

 

[orange juice]

13/11 will make a lot of plants go into flower. 13/11 is really misleading, because what actually happens is like 12/6/1/5, that way they won't go into flower. Plants go off the dark period, basically you don't want an extended dark period, 11 hours is def pushing it and will flower most indoor strains.

Also why not just leave the light like 3 feet above the plants if you can. They will survive fine. They won't grow that much in a week.

 

[TREE KING]

13/11 will make a lot of plants go into flower. 13/11 is really misleading, because what actually happens is like 12/6/1/5, that way they won't go into flower. Plants go off the dark period, basically you don't want an extended dark period, 11 hours is def pushing it and will flower most indoor strains.

Also why not just leave the light like 3 feet above the plants if you can. They will survive fine. They won't grow that much in a week.

i dont know what 12/6/1/5 means but what is the shortest light cycle i can give where im positive they wont flower? 16/8? of coarse im gonna keep the light as high as possible but id rather do every option combined just incase which means shortest light cycle, raising the lights, and possibly finding something to attach to the reflector

 

[orange juice]

12 hours on, 6 hours off, 1 hour on, 5 hours off.

That works fine.

 

[TREE KING]

12 hours on, 6 hours off, 1 hour on, 5 hours off.

That works fine.

for real lol? i gotta admit that type of light cycle has me a little scared but if you say it works i believe you. what kind of timer is gonna do that?

 

[orange juice]

Any timer can do that I'm pretty sure. I never saw one that couldn't. I use the mechanical brinks timer that cost like $6 and it can do that no problem. Here's an article about a similar light cycle. This one actually works out to 12/12 but still prevents flower. I used that method before and it works for sure.