Plant Training Technique(How to pinch tops etc..)

[Dloberger]

Im on my second grow, and the first time my friends told me to bend the stems and contort them in different ways and work them through the trellis I made. Slow growth at first Then started to grow tremendously well and I was weaving in and out of the scrog trellis.

My first grow results were good (1/2 Lb in 2X4 tent with 600w LED.)


Now I have a 5x5 630W CMH

I got the clones and at first they went into shock when transplanted. They have started to get growth, but here is my question... I posted a few pics of my current clones they are 1.5 weeks old I let a few grow vertical and then I grew a couple tied down.. Now my thinking on tying it down is that it forces all the new growth to grow straight up. Is this correct. Im just trying to understand the proper way to start this process. Thank you


I posted pics from last grow and from when i first got them until now.

 

[curious2garden]

Growth is oriented to the light.

 

[RedWhiteBlueGreen]

Im on my second grow, and the first time my friends told me to bend the stems and contort them in different ways and work them through the trellis I made. Slow growth at first Then started to grow tremendously well and I was weaving in and out of the scrog trellis.

My first grow results were good (1/2 Lb in 2X4 tent with 600w LED.)


Now I have a 5x5 630W CMH

I got the clones and at first they went into shock when transplanted. They have started to get growth, but here is my question... I posted a few pics of my current clones they are 1.5 weeks old I let a few grow vertical and then I grew a couple tied down.. Now my thinking on tying it down is that it forces all the new growth to grow straight up. Is this correct. Im just trying to understand the proper way to start this process. Thank you


I posted pics from last grow and from when i first got them until now.

There's some far better guides on here somewhere worth more than my explanation, though essentially it's a combination of geotropism & phototropism, whereby the plant will always try to orientate the highest tip as the main growing point/cola.

So, if at beginning you tie down the main stem so it is at least equal/or below height to any lower branches off its main stem, then those lower branches will become the highest tips and the plant will redistribute growth auxins to those tips to make them grow upwards quicker (both in terms of gravity - geo, and towards light - photo). The good thing is, the plant doesn't essentially realise it now has more than 1 main highest point, and all new tips will grow up equally, until such time that they get tied down below the height of lower growth and then the next highest tips would take over as quickest new upward growers, etc, etc.

It sounds like you're doing well with the screen already though dude, so seems like the actual knowledge is just needed for the pleasure of it, which is always nice position to be in!

 

[Dloberger]

There's some far better guides on here somewhere worth more than my explanation, though essentially it's a combination of geotropism & phototropism, whereby the plant will always try to orientate the highest tip as the main growing point/cola.

So, if at beginning you tie down the main stem so it is at least equal/or below height to any lower branches off its main stem, then those lower branches will become the highest tips and the plant will redistribute growth auxins to those tips to make them grow upwards quicker (both in terms of gravity - geo, and towards light - photo). The good thing is, the plant doesn't essentially realise it now has more than 1 main highest point, and all new tips will grow up equally, until such time that they get tied down below the height of lower growth and then the next highest tips would take over as quickest new upward growers, etc, etc.

It sounds like you're doing well with the screen already though dude, so seems like the actual knowledge is just needed for the pleasure of it, which is always nice position to be in!

Haha yeah something like that. I just get so confused sometimes when other people question what I'm doing because then I feel like there is some type of "right way to grow" and it just messes with my head more so then anything. I'm naturally interested in gardening becaue I did it My whole life with my grandparents and mom.. I just never really started experimenting with indoor growing until recently.

This is such a fun hobby.. stressful that they don't grow every second.

I come home every day waiting to see tremendous change.. but it just takes patience which is something I slowly have to get better with haha. Thanks man you're explication was solid and totally makes sense and confirms what I'm doing.. thanks

 

[ANC]

The biggest secret is to train whatever part is the highest, level or slightly below the height of the rest of the canopy.
This makes the lower parts play catch up.

 

[RedWhiteBlueGreen]

Haha yeah something like that. I just get so confused sometimes when other people question what I'm doing because then I feel like there is some type of "right way to grow" and it just messes with my head more so then anything. I'm naturally interested in gardening becaue I did it My whole life with my grandparents and mom.. I just never really started experimenting with indoor growing until recently.

This is such a fun hobby.. stressful that they don't grow every second.

I come home every day waiting to see tremendous change.. but it just takes patience which is something I slowly have to get better with haha. Thanks man you're explication was solid and totally makes sense and confirms what I'm doing.. thanks

You're more than welcome dude and glad it made sense hehe! Am pleased that you're loving just the actual growing side, as it well good fun, and very interesting, engaging and therapeutic too. I know what you mean when you say it can be confusing when wading through the mountain of grow info, advice & opinions there is available, though it's same as any subject area whereby you just gotta assess, assimilate, evaluate and judge yourself, and use or discard the info accordingly, and/or based on your own results. (Often times you're usually learning things for next grow rather than current one!)

In a nutshell, my main opinion always is that there is a large & distinct difference between being able to just grow plants well, and being able to maximise yield. Therefore alot of people don't realise when reading grow info which tips/advice is basic stuff everyone should be doing, and which is advanced techniques that should only be attempted when the basics are already nailed down. Its also about learning the basics of growing a plant fullstop, before learning how to pull maximum buddage from a cannabis plant. I will proudly admit that I can grow plants well, though I am in no way successful at maximising yield and still a long way from hitting the 1 GPW benchmark, yet it is easy to be misled by all the info out there that you pull pounds off every day like a piece of piss lol!

Seems like you're doing good so far dude so I'll wish you best of luck with rest of journey!

 

[Underground Scientist]

Im on my second grow, and the first time my friends told me to bend the stems and contort them in different ways and work them through the trellis I made. Slow growth at first Then started to grow tremendously well and I was weaving in and out of the scrog trellis.

My first grow results were good (1/2 Lb in 2X4 tent with 600w LED.)


Now I have a 5x5 630W CMH

I got the clones and at first they went into shock when transplanted. They have started to get growth, but here is my question... I posted a few pics of my current clones they are 1.5 weeks old I let a few grow vertical and then I grew a couple tied down.. Now my thinking on tying it down is that it forces all the new growth to grow straight up. Is this correct. Im just trying to understand the proper way to start this process. Thank you


I posted pics from last grow and from when i first got them until now.

I like to top em, then let the two resulting shoots grow out a bit. Then I like to start tieing it down. I've seen more than 1 post, "shit, I snapped a branch". Go easy. The main tops are the dominant tops that have plant hormones called auxins concentrated in. Tie em down, the plant will send auxins to other sites. The goal is to build a level canopy, so instead of 1 dominant cola, you can get several.

I love green twist ties for LST. Here is a clear pic of a clone in training. Notice the branches in training have some nodes on them. The LST will force those branch sites to grow:



The sideways tops will eventually turn up and you will just keep working to manage your canopy by adjusting your tie downs:



Then:

 

[Dloberger]

I should have waited a little longer before I started training them I just get excited and think they are going to grow so fast. Haha

 

[Underground Scientist]

I should have waited a little longer before I started training them I just get excited and think they are going to grow so fast. Haha

That's just it, it will slow growth, if you LST, you want to let er grow with tight internodes and build those potential branch sites, then LST to force the branches to grow out. See the first pic, you could even top a second time on those 4 main tops and split em again. At some point though, you are going to sacrifice cola size if you branch it out too much or waste too much veg time. IMO

 

[Dloberger]

Yeah last time I had to veg for 6.5 weeks to get where I was at in the led pic

 

[Underground Scientist]

Im on my second grow, and the first time my friends told me to bend the stems and contort them in different ways and work them through the trellis I made. Slow growth at first Then started to grow tremendously well and I was weaving in and out of the scrog trellis.

My first grow results were good (1/2 Lb in 2X4 tent with 600w LED.)


Now I have a 5x5 630W CMH

I got the clones and at first they went into shock when transplanted. They have started to get growth, but here is my question... I posted a few pics of my current clones they are 1.5 weeks old I let a few grow vertical and then I grew a couple tied down.. Now my thinking on tying it down is that it forces all the new growth to grow straight up. Is this correct. Im just trying to understand the proper way to start this process. Thank you


I posted pics from last grow and from when i first got them until now.

That's pretty sweet. 6.5 weeks is not a bad veg time. From seed, it takes up to 6 weeks for preflowers to sex em, so I usually wait that long.