The damn stretch

[Budbreath]

I have a plant in coco and one in dwc. Both Afghan kush early harvest. They are 10 days into flip. The one in coco has stretch reasonably. The one in dwc has stretched 11 in. And I am running out of height to raise my lights. I have 8 in left to raise my lights without modifying the hangers. The coco looks to have started budding but the one in dwc not so much. Do I have enough height? Is it too late to top the dwc?

 

[Boatguy]

I have a plant in coco and one in dwc. Both Afghan kush early harvest. They are 10 days into flip. The one in coco has stretch reasonably. The one in dwc has stretched 11 in. And I am running out of height to raise my lights. I have 8 in left to raise my lights without modifying the hangers. The coco looks to have started budding but the one in dwc not so much. Do I have enough height? Is it too late to top the dwc?

If they are still fairly flexibly you could tie down the tops. Would be less damaging than a topping.

 

[manfredo]

It's not to late to bend them over and tie em down...the plants that is

 

[Locke42]

I had a similar problem, I kept raising my lights, kept expecting this one cola to stop getting taller...I swear, it's still getting taller 4 weeks since flip now almost...I finally couldn't raise the lights anymore, had to tie the plant back so it'd grow around the light and not directly into it, and now it's an inch or two above the light...wish I had topped it now when I was where you are probably...but we'll see how it does growing above the light

 

[Budbreath]

I had a similar problem, I kept raising my lights, kept expecting this one cola to stop getting taller...I swear, it's still getting taller 4 weeks since flip now almost...I finally couldn't raise the lights anymore, had to tie the plant back so it'd grow around the light and not directly into it, and now it's an inch or two above the light...wish I had topped it now when I was where you are probably...but we'll see how it does growing above the light

What strain? From when you were 10 days into flip and now how much taller have they got? I have 10 tops pretty even. I topped an auto pretty late last time an was still happy with the results and it didnt get but a couple inches taller after that.

 

[.Smoke]

If you defoliate the f@ck out of them now, it will focus a lot of its energy on leaf growth and help to stunt the stretch.

Can be done at flip to intentionally keep them short...

 

[Locke42]

What strain? From when you were 10 days into flip and now how much taller have they got? I have 10 tops pretty even. I topped an auto pretty late last time an was still happy with the results and it didnt get but a couple inches taller after that.

Definitely not an auto...chocolope kush supposedly...I put a net at about canopy height when I flipped, it's now 2-3 feet taller than the net...closer to 3 I'd say. Growing it next to a cinderella 99 fast...the cindy was taller pre flip, now a good foot shorter probably.

 

[Budbreath]

I already took half the fan leaves off and was thinking about taking the other half. You might have given me the balls to defoliate some more. I just topped it also. I think either topping or defoliating can be good in certain situations

 

[raggyb]

supercropping is nice too. know the bends tend to straighten some, so try to factor that into where you bend.

 

[Locke42]

I defoliated the cindy quite a bit(not by choice really, to try and slow down some PM). Could explain why it didn't stretch as much...I defoliated them both some, but the cindy definitely had a lot more to defoliate

 

[greg nr]

I am growing a sativa dominant strain (bodhi elfenstone) right now and am having a bitch of time with stretch. I knew it could be an issue, so I started flower with the initial netting a few inches over the plant. I just kept training the canopy until it was full and flipped to flower a week early. I also did a very aggressive leaf strip after week 1 of flower. And I super cropped some of the fastest growing stems.

But they still shot up to within a few inches of the light, causing me to super crop again, and again.

Finally after week 3 they seem to finally have stopped stretching. Hopefully.

 

[Richard Drysift]

Have yet to see one person actually use this advice but if you reduce the hours of darkness more gradually than “flipping” from veg to bloom phase you can significantly reduce the amount of bare space in between bud sites or nodes. The sun doesn’t go from 18/6 to 12/12 overnight; daylight is increased til the solstice and then reduced gradually over the summer into the fall. You almost never see outdoor plants all stretched out with bare spots; colas become long Christmas tree shaped spires of bud. That is due to tight nodal stacking during veg and a gradual transition into full bloom phase.
If you increase the hours of darkness by say an hour or two per week you can closer simulate a natural outdoor light cycle. 18/6 to 17/7 and so on. When your plants get to 14/10 many will begin throwing pistils; they are vegging and blooming at the same time. You can flip right to 12/12 from here or continue reducing daylight gradually. It’s a good way to separate the boys & girls and it’s almost akin to monster cropping in the bud structure this creates. Just putting this out there for those with the patience to try it....

 

[Budbreath]

I am growing a sativa dominant strain (bodhi elfenstone) right now and am having a bitch of time with stretch. I knew it could be an issue, so I started flower with the initial netting a few inches over the plant. I just kept training the canopy until it was full and flipped to flower a week early. I also did a very aggressive leaf strip after week 1 of flower. And I super cropped some of the fastest growing stems.

But they still shot up to within a few inches of the light, causing me to super crop again, and again.

Finally after week 3 they seem to finally have stopped stretching. Hopefully.

 

[Budbreath]

anyone else got any knowledge about defoliation for stretch? If I see another 2 in in 2 days I’m going to try supercropping.

 

[Buddernugs]

I agree with defoliation but I’ll warn you go HEAVY lick everything but the new tips

 

[Budbreath]

supercropping is nice too. know the bends tend to straighten some, so try to factor that into where you bend.

I have never supercropped. I read that 2/3 up from a node you smash the stem till it snaps then bend it. Any tips?

 

[Buddernugs]

Any where you can super crop do a test bend and see where it will lie down make sure it’s right at the even canopy or a little Under it then pinch and roll just as you would if you where to itch your nuts....you will start to feel it give way try bending it over yousing your thumb nail at the wedge point and slowly rock her down to a 90 deg if she’s resisting pinch and roll again

 

[Go go n chill]

I made a really good situation right now to start decreasing my lights on my plants... i’ve got 24 plants I’ll try it

 

[Southside112]

I had bad luck once supercropping. The underside of the colas I bent over got a little bud rot. Never had that problem before or after. Just a heads up.

 

[Budbreath]

So here is where I'm at. Was dealing with terrible stretch. Plant stretched 11 in in 10 days. So I topped all 11 tops and heavy defoliate. So now 2 days later not a bit of increase in height. Happy about that. Not sure if it was done stretching or if what I did stopped the stretch or delayed it. Anyone have any input?