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How to keep plants short with big buds

N

nukklehead

Active member
Sorry if this post is long winded..

Been growing for quite a few years. Understand SCOG, SOG, etc.

Have had to downsize growing capabilities...

I have seen where some growers have somehow been able to wind up with a plant with 4-6 "spears" on a plant if you know what I mean. I understand the concept of Bonsai, etc. and Vegging for long periods and cutting back stems in flower to produce the above.

I have the capability to do that. But it seems no matter how much I want to cut the nodes before/after the 12/12 switch I still wind up with more plant then what I need and wind up tying down/scrogging net etc . to keep the height at a minimum.

Im assuming what I am asking is this. Do you flower for a short time say 1-3 weeks then cut the plant down to 1st or 2nd node to create this "spearing" I have been too scared to do this for fear of interrupting the flowering stage/production. Especially when it comes to flowering longer varieties i.e 8-10 weekers... Just trying to dial in a new tent that I have that I have to downsize from a former 8x10 room..

I can keep a plant for a long time in veg under fluoros and Bonsai as above.. Just want some advice from peeps who know how to do this..

thanks

Nukklehead
 
S

Speed of green

Active member
I start topping early as soon as the clones have 3 nodes. then again at 5 nodes.

also this has a lot to do with strain selection, not all strains will stay short. they will grow tall with several colas.

most of these have 4-5 colas, my blue dreams finished around 6' My og's finished at about 3' 6"
 
W

w3rds

Member
look into manifolding.

its basically just topping a few times and cutting off any branches that wont become main colas. There are really good guides online already
 
W

Wagonweed

New member
Distance of light source is also key, I know it's basic but it makes a big difference.

Led lights kept close tend to keep internode spacing closer. Strains matter too, same with training. Combine them all to max out yield.

I have to keep my plants small as i have just less than 4' height to grow in. Here's the two best ones I've grown so far. Only been growing 1.5years. I didn't do nearly enough trimming of all the side branches. I could of ended up with some much bigger colas.
 

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N

nukklehead

Active member
Wagonweed said:
Distance of light source is also key, I know it's basic but it makes a big difference.

Led lights kept close tend to keep internode spacing closer. Strains matter too, same with training. Combine them all to max out yield.

I have to keep my plants small as i have just less than 4' height to grow in. Here's the two best ones I've grown so far. Only been growing 1.5years. I didn't do nearly enough trimming of all the side branches. I could of ended up with some much bigger colas.
Click to expand...


Now THATS how I want to do it wagon... Do you strictly use LED throughout your entire grow?.. Do you use mostly indica dominant strains. Can you use a hybrid sat/indy with proper training.. ? Looks like you are in soil media? What size containers and nutes? Veg time?

Thanks!
 
W

Wagonweed

New member
nukklehead said:
Now THATS how I want to do it wagon... Do you strictly use LED throughout your entire grow?.. Do you use mostly indica dominant strains. Can you use a hybrid sat/indy with proper training.. ? Looks like you are in soil media? What size containers and nutes? Veg time?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes LED only. Recently moved to the COB style leds. I'm in coco with perlite about 70/30. They are in wide 5 gal pots 14.5"w x 9"h. Needed them for my height restriction.
Those are Pink Cadillac, sativa dom strain. To get the shape it took just lst. Any strain can end up like that. I'll give you a more detailed explanation shortly. With some pics of them in various stages.
 
Phaeton

Phaeton

Speed of Dark
Veteran
Wagonweed said:
Yes LED only. Recently moved to the COB style leds. I'm in coco with perlite about 70/30. They are in wide 5 gal pots 14.5"w x 9"h. Needed them for my height restriction.
Those are Pink Cadillac, sativa dom strain. To get the shape it took just lst. Any strain can end up like that. I'll give you a more detailed explanation shortly. With some pics of them in various stages.
Click to expand...

The pot size caught my eye. I have been growing for a few years and have been using 9" deep containers for many of those years.
Large or multiple plants get 17" by 9" (7 gallons), shorter plants get 12" by 9" (3.5 gallons), small get 8" by 9" (two gallons).
The side by sides leading to this decision used containers as deep as 30" and as shallow as 3" in an effort to most efficiently use the rockwool crouton media.

Not enough root room will adversely affect buds, how big a gain from extra container size is really difficult to pin down, but it does have an effect.
 
Douglas.Curtis

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Veg with bloom nutes, because you'll get shorter, stockier plants. Keep VPD lower than maximum recommended (in a healthy way, of course), also good for reducing the amount of plant under your trichomes. ;)
 
W

Wagonweed

New member
Phaeton said:
The pot size caught my eye. I have been growing for a few years and have been using 9" deep containers for many of those years.
Large or multiple plants get 17" by 9" (7 gallons), shorter plants get 12" by 9" (3.5 gallons), small get 8" by 9" (two gallons).
The side by sides leading to this decision used containers as deep as 30" and as shallow as 3" in an effort to most efficiently use the rockwool crouton media.

Not enough root room will adversely affect buds, how big a gain from extra container size is really difficult to pin down, but it does have an effect.
Click to expand...

Ya right now I'm going down to 3gal from 5gal. I can fit more in my space and I think I can achieve similar results.

These two were grown in 3gal, total was 1oz & 1.5oz. C99. It got much less veg time also than the two above. Yield would of went up if they got a few weeks more.

So not a lot of difference between yield and pot size. But that's just what I've noticed in my handful of grows.
 
P

PdxFarms

Member
Top early. Strain plays a big part though.
I use a general rule of thumb for size and how many tops you have. You just won't get monsters if you have too many tops in a smaller plant. I'd say, 1 gallon pot..10-12 inch veg plant you want about 4-6 tops. 3 gallon, 12-16 inch plant 6-8 tops, 5 gallon 10-12tops...etc. I flower in 10g pots and shoot for 15-20 tops.
The root mass will dictate a majority of what that plant can do overall regardless. If you have 20 tops on a 12" tall plant... It most likely will not put out big colas. Not impossible but unlikely.
 
P

PdxFarms

Member
At the same time, as far as genetics go, some strains do better naturally without much topping. But I still watch the top numbers to try and keep it in the sweet spot
 
P

PdxFarms

Member
You want really strong, healthy side branching too. So when she's young let the main to grow about 6+" taller than the side branches. Then top it down a little below the side branch height. That will focus her energy to the side branches while she's recovering from the topping. That's always worked well for me on the shorter plants with bigger colas. I always try and make sir all the branches feeding the tops are as equal in length and size as they can be. If you have a heavy branch feeding the top and all the side branching is thin, you will probably get smaller uneven colas on those.
 
W

Wagonweed

New member
Emperortaima said:
Is that plant bros grimm direct or is it the f4s by either Green man Organics seeds or Kingdom organic seeds?
Click to expand...

It's Female seeds version. They said it's a cross of the grapefruit and pineapple pheno i think. I'm really enjoying it. It's a wicked day time strain. Very motivating high and last long n strong.
Id like to get some originally genetics because this stuff doesn't have the trippyness it's known for. But still nice.
 
W

Wagonweed

New member
Ya number of tops for sure matters. That's the one thing I need to work on. I can get the shape i want with nice even canopy but I'm getting too many tops and too much lower growth that I'm not removing. Buds would be much bigger. Ah well, all in time.
 
Emperortaima

Emperortaima

Namekian resident/farmer
The only thing I can legitimately contribute to this thread is to suggest "mainlining" as coined by nugbuckets he figured out how to keep his plants smaller while getting donkey dick colas there's even pics somewhere online to show step by step anyways! Bless up bredren
 
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