LST pictures....

Hawk · Jun 16, 2008

Just wanted to share some pictures of my plants. Mostly, I'm showing my LST efforts.

First grow. Bagseed. Vegged for about 40 days under 250w MH. Started LST'ing somewhere early in the third week of veg. Currently at day 7 of 12/12 under 250w HPS. They're in 3 gallon pots. Females = 3 for 3. :headbange

Any and all comments/suggestions are welcomed.

I found the best way for me to capture what the stalks are doing is to silhouette them with a backlight.

Here's a shot from earlier--day 28 of veg.

On one of them I accidentally snapped the stalk NEARLY IN TWO PIECES. I splinted it for about a week and it recovered fully. This pic is right after I removed the splint.

I was surprised it recovered so well. It's the one on the far left in the first picture. You can kinda see how it's not as even as the others (and it's a bit taller) since I suspended LST activity while it healed. I also left that one out of the solo shots.

I realize no one can really say for sure. But I can't help but wonder what kind of yield I might expect. If anyone has had plants that looked similar at their age I'd be curious as to your guess. I went into this thinking that if I could get 1 oz of dried bud I'd be happy. Now I'm hoping for a bit more but I don't know what's realistic.

Here's an animated .gif that kinda shows their progression (edit: thru 8-08-08, day 62 flower) .

thanks for looking

MPL · Jun 16, 2008

Very nice work mate. That is similar to how I LST'd my last grow except yours came out about 50x better than mine did.

Those plants are looking really good too.

You get those 3 gallon pots from Home Depot? I got a bunch of the exact same ones myself.

MPL · Jun 16, 2008

Oh, forgot:

I had plants much smaller and less healthy than yours and I got about 90 grams dry.

You might actually want to consider thinning them just a little, so that light gets to more of the nodes.

Hawk · Jun 16, 2008

MPL said:
...You get those 3 gallon pots from Home Depot?...

You betcha I did. I wanted square 3 galloners but think I'll need to order them. Makes no difference for these plants since they're overhanging the pots but in the future I think squares might fit better my space better [shrug].

I have been thinning little by little but maybe I should be more aggressive. I'm just afraid of taking out too much. But if it looks like I've got more than enough foliage I'd like to get some out of there.

And thanks for the kind words!

MPL · Jun 16, 2008

Those pots at Home Depot are really solid, especially for the price. I like and use them for a lot of my house plants as well as my cannabis. However, if you're going to stay with soil or container grows I'd get some Smart Pots. Since I'll be keeping my moms in containers I'm going to order a few when I get some extra money. I'd do it now but I just dropped $100 on a new pH meter. :joint:

I'm also going to order a bunch for my houseplants as well.

I would remove anything that looks like it won't get much light. Look at it from the top view and chop any branch or node that isn't directly lit. You can chop a lot without seriously stressing the plant. You're only at 7 days in 12/12 so I'd go ahead and do it now before the plant is completely settled into the flowering phase (if it isn't already). Some people chop the fan leaves too but based on my research I wouldn't do that until the last couple of weeks of flowering, if at all.

Hawk said:
You betcha I did. I wanted square 3 galloners but think I'll need to order them. Makes no difference for these plants since they're overhanging the pots but in the future I think squares might fit better my space better [shrug].

I have been thinning little by little but maybe I should be more aggressive. I'm just afraid of taking out too much. But if it looks like I've got more than enough foliage I'd like to get some out of there.

And thanks for the kind words!

DigiWeed · Jun 17, 2008

I like the use of those folder clips for LST.
Our office supply cupboard is now one box lighter!

bluebottle · Jun 17, 2008

Thanks for posting your pics because LST is what I'm doing for my next grow. Do you have any suggestions for a LST nooby? Great pics btw, I like that you put the light behind the plant so you can see the stems. Good luck. Those girls are looking mighty healthy.

Bush Grower · Jun 17, 2008

DigiWeed said:
I like the use of those folder clips for LST.
Our office supply cupboard is now one box lighter!

That's a great idea.. I usually use twist ties, and thin aluminum wire, but I think the addition of folder clips would make it easier to move them after they've grown enough to tie them down further. Thanks for the idea. Karma+

MynameStitch · Jun 17, 2008

damn, some very healthy greenage man! Top notice LST job ya did!

Glad to see they are very healthy and green

Great job ya did on them m8! How old are they now?

spyvsspy · Jun 17, 2008

DigiWeed said:
I like the use of those folder clips for LST.
Our office supply cupboard is now one box lighter!

I'll second that, good call using those folder clips. I've used everything from rubber bands to weights to duct tape, but those folder clips look a WHOLE lot easier. For some reason I've never thought of that. Healthy looking ladies you got there

Hawk · Jun 17, 2008

bluebottle said:
Thanks for posting your pics because LST is what I'm doing for my next grow. Do you have any suggestions for a LST nooby? Great pics btw, I like that you put the light behind the plant so you can see the stems. Good luck. Those girls are looking mighty healthy.

Not much advice to give on the LST, really. I just kinda did what seemed right and it worked out. Once you get the main stalk bent over pretty well the plant does most of it. When one shoot started getting higher than the rest I'd just tie it down into an open area (generally outward). Eventually they were about as wide as my space allowed so I've been just letting them grow up since then. To get the main stalk on the right path I'd just tie-off low and high but in opposite directions--pulling the bottom of the plant one way and the upper part the other way. I'm sure I read/saw about doing it like that on ICMAG somewhere.

The pictures are a fun challenge. I like doing it.

MynameStitch said:
damn, some very healthy greenage man! Top notice LST job ya did!

Glad to see they are very healthy and green

Great job ya did on them m8! How old are they now?

The oldest of the three is 48 days from breaking ground. They're a few days apart in age. 8 days since 12/12.

Thanks all!

Hawk · Jun 17, 2008

Yeah, the folder clips work great.

Here's some more pics I just took.

48 days total, 8 days 12/12

Paddi · Jun 18, 2008

Beautiful work Hawk

I do a kind of LST outdoor this year. Results are great so far.

Peace
Paddi

Merfolk · Jun 18, 2008

Nice ones!

MDT · Jun 18, 2008

Can't wait to see how they flower, be sure to post the followup pics!

Gratephul4THC · Jun 18, 2008

Hawk next time you do a grow like this I would recommend throwing a screen over the plants and ScrOG. It will increase your yield for sure. beautiful looking plants man!

Hawk · Jun 18, 2008

Thanks everyone!

I'd like to try ScrOG at some point. Trying to keep it simple for now. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

I did do some trimming after I took this pic. It's hard because I don't know which spots are gonna develop productive flowers. So I never know how much to take out.

Is the only purpose of trimming to help the light penetrate? Or does removing some larger fan leaves and some smaller shoots help concentrate "energy to grow" for the bud producing parts? Hope that question made sense.

I love taking pictures of these things...I can't stop!

MPL · Jun 19, 2008

It serves every purpose you have mentioned. From the looks of your pics, depending on how much they are going to stretch (which there is no way of you knowing), I'd chop everything 8" from the tallest node and lower.

Hawk said:
Is the only purpose of trimming to help the light penetrate? Or does removing some larger fan leaves and some smaller shoots help concentrate "energy to grow" for the bud producing parts? Hope that question made sense.

Hawk · Jun 19, 2008

MPL said:
It serves every purpose you have mentioned. From the looks of your pics, depending on how much they are going to stretch (which there is no way of you knowing), I'd chop everything 8" from the tallest node and lower.

Thanks for that advice.

Being my first grow I have zero reference points beyond what I can learn online. I should have measured how tall they were when I switched to 12/12. Pretty sure they've just about doubled in height though.

When the lights come on later I'll take a look at where 8" would actually fall. They'll need water too. Last time I watered they were definitely ready for it and seemed to shoot up pretty fast for the next few days. I'll see if that happens again.

I've had them 7-10 inches from the glass of my SS2. Around 6" seems as close as I can get without too much light loss to the edges of my plants. Actually, one side in particular but I think centering the lamp will even it out. Or a second lamp....hmmmmmmmm. :chin:

But for now, there's a compromise between close to the bulb and evenly spread light. I don't know if I should lean towards one or the other so I've just been trying to split the difference.

MPL · Jun 19, 2008

Another way of doing this is determining how far from the light you want to allow your plant to grow buds. With 400w I would say chop anything that will be farther than 12" - 18" from the bulb.

Hawk said:
Thanks for that advice.

Being my first grow I have zero reference points beyond what I can learn online. I should have measured how tall they were when I switched to 12/12. Pretty sure they've just about doubled in height though.

When the lights come on later I'll take a look at where 8" would actually fall. They'll need water too. Last time I watered they were definitely ready for it and seemed to shoot up pretty fast for the next few days. I'll see if that happens again.

I've had them 7-10 inches from the glass of my SS2. Around 6" seems as close as I can get without too much light loss to the edges of my plants. Actually, one side in particular but I think centering the lamp will even it out. Or a second lamp....hmmmmmmmm. But for now, there's a compromise between close to the bulb and evenly spread light. I don't know if I should lean towards one or the other so I've just been trying to split the difference.

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