can you slow down vertical plant growth?

i was wondering if there was any way to slow down plant growth vertically. This was my 1st grow and the plants are growing so fast i had to put them into flower immediately and i hear that when switching to flower they grow even more. Im afraid half way through flowering im not going to be able to raise my light any more and the plants will grow right up to it and just burn/bleach.

Top or fim her, that will slow her down.

Learn about topping plants to keep them short and bushy here:



https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=category&id=34

Uncle bens guide is very good, it's a sticky on here somehwhere.

https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=article&id=685

start here...rob

What type of light are you using?

Depending on your lighting, if your plant isn't getting what it needs, it will stretch up
to get what it needs from the light you've got.

Sense you have just put your plant into flowering, I would also suggest topping it
if you haven't the vertical space.

you could try LST (low stress training) as well

you can also go get humbolt's own bushmaster, it a nutrient that halts vertical growth, never tried it but have heard it stops 'em like right now

if its to late for topping or the branches are to thick for lsting .. i would jus super cropp them dun this to my friends grow and it worked a treat. from a 5ft plant it ended up back down 2 and a half ft .. and if you dont wanna do that put it into darkness for like 3 4 days this will force to flower and shud slow down vertical growth .

Just bend the top branches when they get to high, wont harm the yeild

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get.html

Follow this guide, very easy to do with great effect.

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"i was wondering if there was any way to slow down plant growth vertically."

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I have Bushmaster that mrduke suggested, works as advertised but unless it's carried in a hydro shop near you it'll be too late by the time it comes in the mail. You can low stress train in flower. I've read about some people topping just before flower, I've never done it though - I would think it would reduce yield but haven't read anything on it.

And as Justin is leading too (I assume, sorry if I'm typing words with your fingers Justin), if you are using a low K light during veg you will get stretch (long internode distance) and if you use a high K light at the first of veg it will slow the transition into flower and your plants will be taller. An HPS is 2100K, promotes transition into flower. A 4000K - 10,000K light will keep the internode distance short during veg. I was using a 10,000K, 125W VHO florescent during flower and started using a 2100K 150W HPS last week when I built a new veg cabinet - my plants are stetching already, the older nodes are close and the newer nodes are spread.

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As the other guys suggested, topping and low stress training will help. I've grown 6'6" of stem 6" above the bucket rim. I use to lst when I transplanted into flower without a problem, you could bend them and leave them in flower or take them out and put them back in veg. Careful with LST, the stems will crease and snap by times.

I do CCOB, like an inefficient scrog without the screen. I top my plants once; veg each side of the stem to 22" in a 6" pot; transplant to a 5 gallon pot on an angle; bend the stems around the bucket rim. The branches grow up and the stem acts like a hydro tube feeding each small cola.

The stems virtually stop growing when they're bent horizontal, so I have to veg the plants so they will bend all the way around the 38" bucket rim. A single 38" stem is thicker and harder to train; two 22" stems crossed at the bottom and following the natural curve of a topped plant will train much quicker and easier.

This is a 1 stem Kali Mist at 35" and a 2 stem Flo (18" & 19"). The stem is much thicker and more difficult to bend and train. We need to get the stem around the 38" of the bucket rim to get as many branches as possible, so two thinner, shorter stems are much easier. The stems virtually stop growth and stretch when bent horizontal, many more branches than a vertical plant of the same stem length. The Flo trained in about 15 minutes and the Kali Mist took days.

Flo - Kali Mist


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This Bubblegum's stems weren't crossed and took over a week to train. If crossed I could have done it in a few hours.





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Flo



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Kali Mist


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A Flo (left) and a Bubblegum. The Flo has another week or three, the Bubblegum should harvest in the next week. The Flo is a knarly plant, twisty leaves, small hard buds. This is my second time around for the Flo, the last hermied and I burnt it with Dutch Passion Penetrator. The smoke was so beautiful I had to run it again, this time just a few pre flower pods and bananas on the lower nodes. I picked them off and the plant has been perfect since.



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The Bubblegum (right) is going to be my best producer ever, of Bubblegum. I should get 12+ cups of cured bud.



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The single stem Kali Mist from above on the left; on the right a Kali Mist grown with 4" of height above the bucket rim.




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I've got some more pics of how I lst in this thread if you're interested.

Pics of my garden: SSD, KM, BG, BL, T, Flo, RD

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yeh i did top the plants. there about a month and a week old now from germ. I went away for a week and left my roomie in charge of the situation. When i returned the plats grew REALLY FCKING FAST. And only one looks liek it streched if any. The rest are bushy big ass plants.

i was using 400w MH for veg. Now im on HPS.

Should i top it again?

Duke - very interesting... will it affect flowering in any way or only stunt growth.

Rusty - wouldnt that induce hermies? these are fem seeds. oh and whats "super cropping"


thnx for the replies

start slowley bending the stem at the top from one side to the other then around in a circle work the top of the stem till its cracked on its inside and the middle turns soft and flexable. youll be able to bend it completely over on itself by working it gently. then just leave it hanging bent over. the top that is. then that will stop groth upwards and the energy will go into the lower brranches. its really cool because you can get the lower branches to catch up with the tops and youll have like 8 main shoots all even at the top. all will be in full light and develop nice thick colas....good luck. i swear every time i grow from seed. i get nervouse like i dont want to jack up the plant. then i do it to one or 2 and a week later i wish to high hell i did it to em all. you can also cut the very top . chop the little bit of stem off leaving the 2 new growth spots which will turn into a y shape. which will become 2 main colas...you can top as many times you like. but dont forget the more you top at some point youll get smaller buds.......unless you wanna veg a little longer to compensate.

wooow hobbes... thats insane haha im not sure if i can pull something like that off with my setup tho. i got a closet grow at the moment.... take a look at the last pics on this journal.

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/268827-closet-ebb-n-flow-setup.html

It hasnt been updated with pictures in a while so that plants are alot taller than shown. But you can get an idea of the amount of room im working with. Its a closet grow. i definately do have more vertical space than horizontal so LST might not be possible even though the results are amazing. I have alot of mixed emotions about my grow right now... im happy as hell that my first hydro setup was a total sucess and the plants are booming... but im bummed that theyre growing so fast that i might need to interviene in some way. I think im going to buy some of those screws with the loop on the top and drill them into the board the pots are sitting in so i can 1. bend the plants if they get too high and 2. try out LST next grow. My local hydro shop most likely dosent have bushmaster. it isnt that big.

PS. CCOB is refrence to the style of grow your doing? whats it stand for? and grats on that grow it looks amazing. id love to see more pics of what your doing

RecUseOnly said:

i was wondering if there was any way to slow down plant growth vertically. This was my 1st grow and the plants are growing so fast i had to put them into flower immediately and i hear that when switching to flower they grow even more. Im afraid half way through flowering im not going to be able to raise my light any more and the plants will grow right up to it and just burn/bleach.

Click to expand...

yep i just stop feeding them and i give mine un-phed water. this really slows them down. they get really bad nutes def. but i start feeding them again they perk right back up and get there nice green leaves and shes a happy little plant again.

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" CCOB is refrence to the style of grow your doing? whats it stand for?"

Crop Circle Of Bud. Just a simple LST technique, the only thing important is patience.

RecUseOnly give me a bit to think this through, there is a way we just haven't come up with it yet. I'm going to go through your other thread again to get an idea of what to do.

My first thought (best not to act on it yet) is to bend the stems in an upward spiral rather than a flat circle. You just need to reduce height to allow for the rest of the stretch but don't have any more horizontal space. Each plant has a footprint larger than it's basket, you can spiral the stem to the basket width without needing more space. Shouldn't be a problem. I use tomato cages in my 5 gallon buckets when I grow verticle, I've spiraled the stem around those and halved my height, just to see how it would work. With your hydro setup we just have to think of a way to spiral your stem - either with a structure like the tomato cage or free standing.

With the spiral you'll want the widest part on the bottom, skinny at the top. The tomato cages trained the opposite and I found the lower buds were in the shade.

I would suggest trying this before topping.

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Jordan do you crease or crack your stems when bending? This is something I work to avoid, though I've never lost a plant when I did crack a stem.

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I want to dredge this back up as its the only one I found on RIU of the type. (Point me in the right direction if i'm wrong)

Curious as to any new feedback, methods or additives that can halt or slow the vertical growth. (preferably organic)

Something to do after you've topped and trained her and now have 30 heads and two more months before the next tent is available.