Too late to LST??

[Lowkeygardener]

Come Monday she’ll be exactly a month from germinating. She growing like... a WEED lol. The stalk is getting super thick and I would’ve loved to begin LST about a week or so ago but life happens. Topped her a week ago, going to do so again in another week to allow 2 weeks between topping. Is it too late to start LST’ing ? Should I just stick with topping her ?

 

[Bose]

No

 

[Ukulele Haze]

If anything, I think it might be a little early. There was a time when I made the mistake of trying to tie down fan leaves instead of branches. Since the stems were thicker, I assumed those were the target. I don't mean to imply you would do the same thing. But, when I look at your plant's branches, they seem a little on the short side yet. you might be able to tie them down. But, I think it would be easier if they were allowed to grow a little longer and thicker first.

Here is a modified version of the photo showing the only places I think a person could LST (the bottom half). The top half appears to have four new branches on the way. But, they aren't ready for LST yet.

Red arrow: Branch for LST
Green star: Future branch for LST
Everything else: Fan leaf (avoid)

 

[Lowkeygardener]

If anything, I think it might be a little early. There was a time when I made the mistake of trying to tie down fan leaves instead of branches. Since the stems were thicker, I assumed those were the target. I don't mean to imply you would do the same thing. But, when I look at your plant's branches, they seem a little on the short side yet. you might be able to tie them down. But, I think it would be easier if they were allowed to grow a little longer and thicker first.

Here is a modified version of the photo showing the only places I think a person could LST (the bottom half). The top half appears to have four new branches on the way. But, they aren't ready for LST yet.

Red arrow: Branch for LST
Green star: Future branch for LST
Everything else: Fan leaf (avoid)

View attachment 4869059

Thanks for your time! Appreciate the in depth breakdown and diagram. Think I might move over some fan leaves to allow those eventual budsites more light to speed up growth on those lowers.

 

[Ukulele Haze]

Thanks for your time! Appreciate the in depth breakdown and diagram. Think I might move over some fan leaves to allow those eventual bud sites more light to speed up growth on those lowers.

You're welcome. If your intent is to tuck the fan leaves, I think that would be a very gentle option. I am have been doing that with my Pineapple Express plant for now because I don't think it's ready for LST.

Attached is a photograph from my previous grow. The strain was Wonka Bars. The Bulldog Clips are visible on the 10-14-2020 picture. The reason is because I tried LST but it didn't go well. After about 10 days I tried it again and was successful. Having more established branches to work with made a huge difference.

 

[Lowkeygardener]

You're welcome. If your intent is to tuck the fan leaves, I think that would be a very gentle option. I am have been doing that with my Pineapple Express plant for now because I don't think it's ready for LST.

Attached is a photograph from my previous grow. The strain was Wonka Bars. The Bulldog Clips are visible on the 10-14-2020 picture. The reason is because I tried LST but it didn't go well. After about 10 days I tried it again and was successful. Having more established branches to work with made a huge difference.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Just get them outta the way so those lower shoots get more light and stretch up a bit, hopefully to make it easier to LST. I was planning to start flowering in about 15-17 days from today.. I’ve currently got 8 potential colas.. you think anymore will pop up if I don’t top it again ? I’ve got about 2- 2.5 more feet of comfortable space before light distance would maybe be a factor. Considering it’s will double or triple in height during flower, I’d say 2 weeks more of veg is my max

 

[Ukulele Haze]

This is exactly what I was thinking. Just get them outta the way so those lower shoots get more light and stretch up a bit, hopefully to make it easier to LST. I was planning to start flowering in about 15-17 days from today.. I’ve currently got 8 potential colas.. you think anymore will pop up if I don’t top it again ? I’ve got about 2- 2.5 more feet of comfortable space before light distance would maybe be a factor. Considering it’s will double or triple in height during flower, I’d say 2 weeks more of veg is my max

My understanding is you're growing a Photoperiod cannabis strain. You can top those plants as many times as you want. The plant will always split off into two new branches. A couple of things I have read is to make sure you do it only when the plant is growing vigorously. And, I if you are going to top before flipping, it's best to allow the plant a few days to recover first.

I topped my Wonka Bars plant twice. And, I pruned off two lower branches before flipping. I ended up with 10 tops exactly the same size. Maybe if I only topped once, I could have had a couple of big main colas (I'm not sure). One thing I can tell you though is that the topping really helped me achieve that flat, wide canopy; that's what you're really striving for with these techniques.

 

[Old_fart_stoner]

SCROG it...and veg 4 or 5 more weeks...Just Sayin`

 

[Lowkeygardener]

My understanding is you're growing a Photoperiod cannabis strain. You can top those plants as many times as you want. The plant will always split off into two new branches. A couple of things I have read is to make sure you do it only when the plant is growing vigorously. And, I if you are going to top before flipping, it's best to allow the plant a few days to recover first.

I topped my Wonka Bars plant twice. And, I pruned off two lower branches before flipping. I ended up with 10 tops exactly the same size. Maybe if I only topped once, I could have had a couple of big main colas (I'm not sure). One thing I can tell you though is that the topping really helped me achieve that flat, wide canopy; that's what you're really striving for with these techniques.

I’ve had some explosive growth from the nodes and now those future bud sites are pretty long. Thinking they are long enough to begin loss stress training. Should I remove those large fan leaves or just tie them so they aren’t dipping into the soil?

 

[Ukulele Haze]

I’ve had some explosive growth from the nodes and now those future bud sites are pretty long. Thinking they are long enough to begin loss stress training. Should I remove those large fan leaves or just tie them so they aren’t dipping into the soil?

When you LST, you are tying down branches only. Remember that Wonka Bars plant I showed you earlier? In that photo, it was actually missing many of the fan leaves the plant started with. The reason is because on my first LST attempt, I tried to tie down leaves. They simply ripped off after a while under the pressure.

As for the trimming, I believe you when you say your plant is larger. But, two days ago it looked to me like it needed every single leaf it had. I doubt today it has that much more vegetation to where it would call for something drastic like defoliation.

 

[Johiem]

I'd consider topping those 2 upper stars, but I like to push things.

 

[CannaR05!]

You're welcome. If your intent is to tuck the fan leaves, I think that would be a very gentle option. I am have been doing that with my Pineapple Express plant for now because I don't think it's ready for LST.

Attached is a photograph from my previous grow. The strain was Wonka Bars. The Bulldog Clips are visible on the 10-14-2020 picture. The reason is because I tried LST but it didn't go well. After about 10 days I tried it again and was successful. Having more established branches to work with made a huge difference.

Here is the first LST on my Pineapple Express and the 2nd pic is week 1 in flower after applying LST every 3 days since week 2 of Veg. It may have been sooner.