Help please, 2 weeks into flowering

Any suggestions, it’s been 2 weeks of flowering. I trimmed the bottoms out some. Any suggestions, this is my first grow so any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m worried:
1. I didn’t trim the girls up enough yet?
2. I have an 7 ft tall tent, should I raise the lights a few inches? Should I let them strench more or try to tie down some of them? Take a look and tell me what you think. Thanks for all the help.

You're doing fine.
You may want to raise the lights a little to get more coverage on the outer edges.

Looking good overall! Maybe should have only grown 2 under the lights and scrog it, probably end up with same yield. Not much you can do anymore other than maybe some side lighting to help lower growth.

Looks like a nice grow to me. I don't see any issues really. As far as lowering the lights go, download LuxMeter on your phone. I use it to get a rough idea of how many lux's are at the plant canopy. I try to aim for 40-50,000 lux as best I can, but I'm working with a 1000watt HPS. I'm at 2 weeks too. Your girls look a lot like my grow (link in signature below). From what I understand, and of course there are two camps on this, it's good to give them a good strip at week 3. Almost all of the fan leaves. Here's a video that explains it a lot better, dude knows his stuff so I thought I'd give it a try. I don't have any production goals so I don't have a lot to lose, though.

Thank you so much, just download the app. And I wish I would have done 2, I started with 4 and truthfully I expect to only have 2, I figured 1 or 2 either wouldn’t sprout or I’d kill them or screw them up somehow. And thank you for the video after watching it I think it’s worth a try, I also don’t have any producation goals, if I get anything from them I’ll be happy. I just wanted to try my hand at it and have some fun, I fully expected something to go wrong on the first grow. Thank you all again, you’ve helped me more then you know

jdp55 said:

Thank you so much, just download the app. And I wish I would have done 2, I started with 4 and truthfully I expect to only have 2, I figured 1 or 2 either wouldn’t sprout or I’d kill them or screw them up somehow. And thank you for the video after watching it I think it’s worth a try, I also don’t have any producation goals, if I get anything from them I’ll be happy. I just wanted to try my hand at it and have some fun, I fully expected something to go wrong on the first grow. Thank you all again, you’ve helped me more then you know

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We are here to help, don't mention it. One thing about the LuxMeter to keep in mind, phones are obviously not going to give the same measurements as an actual lux meter is going to give. But that's okay, because what you want to do is go around the perimeter of your canopy, testing different heights, and try and locate where it gives the highest readings on the edge of your plants. Technically, everything within that perimeter should be fine. Figure if the outsides are at their highest, then the closer you get to the center it will just rise further.

Also, it's good that you have more plants than you want. Think about doing an experiment here. Maybe trim and thin 2 plants and leave the other two as is. Just observe them, make a mental note of any positives or negatives (or write them down). Maybe do a heavy trim and thin on two, only lollipop another, and leave another one completely as is. Try and wait until week 3 for the plants you decide to strip. Any smaller buds below the canopy, that are struggling, cut 'em out on one, leave 'em in another. You get the idea. That's the best way to learn and really, it gives you 3-4 grows worth of experience in the time it takes to do one.

To answer your original post. Always keep the lights as close as you can get away with (no bleaching/burning, neglecting outer canopy). after your plants are a couple weeks old.That's a good rule of thumb that you will only deviate from in special circumstances, such as intentionally inducing stretching. Generally, stretching is not desired, and it's almost always preferred that it's minimized.What's the make and model of your LEDs? From the pic, it looks like you could spread them out 3-4 inches more horizontally and move them the same distance down vertically.

2 VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 600W, and 1 Lkled 300W (was a cheap free light) now that you say that I think I could spread them more to get better coverage (which I didn’t even think about)
Love the ideal of trying a few different styles, and I’m going to try and see how it goes. There’s so much info out there it’s really overwhelming for a new grower, this forum has helped me so much, THANK YOU ALL!
I have another question I’ve heard splitting the main stalk with a pen/pencil will cause the plant to stress and produce more resins and THC, is that true or just a myth. (I’m not going to try it, I’ve just seen a few growers that swear by it.

jdp55 said:

2 VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 600W, and 1 Lkled 300W (was a cheap free light) now that you say that I think I could spread them more to get better coverage (which I didn’t even think about)
Love the ideal of trying a few different styles, and I’m going to try and see how it goes. There’s so much info out there it’s really overwhelming for a new grower, this forum has helped me so much, THANK YOU ALL!
I have another question I’ve heard splitting the main stalk with a pen/pencil will cause the plant to stress and produce more resins and THC, is that true or just a myth. (I’m not going to try it, I’ve just seen a few growers that swear by it.

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For those lights, from what I found, which you've probably already considered, it's advised to keep both switches on during flowering. Do you have both switches on? What is the distance from your lights to your canopy now? I'm reading 14-18 inches is good for those lights, but it seems like that's where they're at already. If you're already around 14 inches, I'd keep them there. They don't seem to be wanting for anything, Its easy to look at them now after seeing so many other grows further along and think to yourself you're doing something wrong, but if you give them the same amount of time, and TLC, you'll be pulling some nice nuggets for sure.

Splitting the stalk, that's beyond my experience level. I haven't heard much in the way of using a pencil or other object to do it, but I have heard of "breaking the trunk" where growers intentionally lossen the fibers of the trunk of the plant, and let it heal. I can't speak much about that either. Maybe one day I'll get bored and have an extra plant to practice on, but there are so many techniques already that's I feel it's best to not get distracted with technques like that I'm already reading hours of research daily, lol. Don't get me started on stalk splitting. You said you've seen a few growers that swear by it, and that is the case most of the time. One thing about cannabis growing, and forums in general, is there is a lot of bad advice that you gotta learn to filter through. If it is something that "some growers swear by" then it usually means it's not really an accepted or understood methodology yet.

I find myself reading about tomato and pepper cultivation a lot of the time cause you just don't see the anywhere near the misinformation and most, if not all of that knowledge translates directly to cannabis growing. Little tip for ya.

Wow thanks, I was at 11inchs, so I raised them to 15inchs. And no I was only using the bloom switch, but I just cut on both switches. Makes sense, there’s just so much info it’s overwhelming. I’ll stick to easy and try not to over think it. Thanks

jdp55 said:

Wow thanks, I was at 11inchs, so I raised them to 15inchs. And no I was only using the bloom switch, but I just cut on both switches. Makes sense, there’s just so much info it’s overwhelming. I’ll stick to easy and try not to over think it. Thanks

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A good way to look at it, is it can be as involved and intense as you choose for it to be. The basic knowledge required to grow any plant is not that difficult to master. If you are of the personality type that is happy with just the basics, growing is the perfect hobby. If you are of the personality type that is more curious, growing is the perfect hobby. Just remember to have fun. If you aren't haven't fun then you are paying too much attention to your plants while forgetting to think about yourself
Happy growing!

Looks great well done. Not much else you can do, keep an eye on stretch. Iv done a lot of messing about with plants, monster cropping, supercrop ing etc and I definitely don't suggest damaging your plants in flower as it puts more time on your flowering as the plant diverts energy to heal itself, as for the pencil stem splitting to achieve more thc I don't see the point, when your experienced you'll be able to push thc to its limits anyway

Thank you, I have had fun, and am looking forward to the next grow. I’m really looking forward to tryingbro clone this one, I was going to wait until about two weeks before harvest and take 7 or 8 clones and try my hand at it. Any thoughts or suggestions?

jdp55 said:

Thank you, I have had fun, and am looking forward to the next grow. I’m really looking forward to tryingbro clone this one, I was going to wait until about two weeks before harvest and take 7 or 8 clones and try my hand at it. Any thoughts or suggestions?

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Are you referring to monster cropping? That's what taking flowering clones and re-vegging them is called. I say go for it, what do you have to lose? Others would advise against taking clones from a flowering plant, but if you start some seeds along with your clones, and keep an eye out for hermies, the only thing you stand to lose is a little bud if it goes south.

Normally, growers take clones from plants that have yet to leave the vegetative cycle, and they veg those clones for however long they want and then induce flowering. Some growers take a bunch of rooted clones and immediately induce flowering, AkA Sea of Green (SoG).

Unless you're monster cropping though, taking clones from flowering plants is not something that is practiced. A lot of growers choose to keep some "mother plants" in their own chambers nd also have a veg chamber and flowering chamber, and practice what's called perpetual growing/harvest. While your plants are in flower, there are plants in the veg chamber waiting to be moved into the flower chamber once you harvest your flowering plants. At the same time, rooted clones are placed into the empty veg chamber and the cycle continues. This increases the amount of times one can harvest/year dramatically...pretty cool

Yes monster cropping. I didn’t know the name of it. I wish I had the space to do 2 chambers but I don’t. Maybe one day. Any suggestions on where to take the clones from? And how long should they be? And should I use a rootering solution.

jdp55 said:

Yes monster cropping. I didn’t know the name of it. I wish I had the space to do 2 chambers but I don’t. Maybe one day. Any suggestions on where to take the clones from? And how long should they be? And should I use a rootering solution.

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I don't have any experience with it but I'm sure someone who does will chime in I'd follow this https://howtogrowmarijuana.com/monster-cropping/ for starters and if I had any questions along the way, try my best to google an answer or, you can always submit a thread. You have several weeks left though. If you're prepared to dive in and read everything you can, start now, or, learn as you guy and do one thing at a time.

Thanks for the link, that’s a good starting point forsure

Here’s my hand at monster cropping, not too pretty but gives you an idea of what can happen, I have shitty lighting and the clone was very small. So it could only turn out better.

Monster cropping is great, plants are monsters , hence the name, but a lot if strains don't like it.

For me, more important than defoliating is keeping an eye on small and new branches.
Remove anything that doesn't have a thick stem and all smaller shit more than about 6 inches away from branch tips.
Grow only large colas, I know the bush full of small flowers lower down is pretty, but it is a pain in the arse to deal with.

Very nice, I’m really excited about trying. I just posted a therd about my new issues, one of the girls I did not defoliate is in rough shape, in the last few hours she started turning light sickly green