Isolated Foliar Feeding to Stimulate Growth in Specific Part of Plant

OK, this has now become as much a theoretical question as it is a practical one. Short version is, I have a plant almost 7 weeks into flower that I would like to clone, but the branches all have more bud on them than I would like to waste by cutting one of them. I'll do it if I have to, but would prefer to find a different method.

Now... the plant does have 4 small sucker shoots growing from the base of the main stem - and I have cloned from sucker shoots many times, with 100% success. Trouble is, these sucker shoots are all 1 inch or less in length. That gives me very little stem to clone with; I know it's possible to clone these, but I've never cloned anything that small before. I'd like to give myself a little more stem to work with.

Keeping in mind that the plant is almost 7 full weeks into bloom phase, if I were to apply a vegetative nutrient mix high in nitrogen to these shoots with foliar feeding only on the sucker shoots, is it possible that I could stimulate them to grow just a little bit more? Anyone have any thoughts on this? I would really like to save the genetics of this plant; it's turned into a very pleasant surprise over the last week or so.

Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to offer.

Look into reflowering. When you harvest, take only the top 3/4 off of the plant and leave some of the bottom crap. Put it onto 24 hours of light and back off 15 minutes a day until you're at your favorite veg period and you'll be back into an acceptable cloning phase.

I think that's a really good suggestion, and that's probably what I'll wind up having to do. When I chop it, I'll just put it in my cloning closet. I think I'll take one of those four sucker shoots first and try to clone it just to see if I can learn how to clone something so small, and leave the other three on the plant to veg back out. I don't necessarily need this one in my next grow; I'm thinking longterm and just wanting to keep the genetics.

This has been a really interesting, and occasionally frustrating, pheno hunt. I've got 26 females, with 5 distinct phenos - so distinct that for all practical purposes, some of them may as well be completely separate strains. 3 of them are sativa-dom, and 2 are indica. I have a sativa-dominant pheno that looks like it's going to finish in about a week, and an indica pheno that is still growing new bud, with almost all white pistils and 100% clear trichomes. There are only two of that pheno, and one of them is the one I'm trying to clone now. I already have 6 good clones of her sister, but this one is putting on much more bud mass than the one I have the clones from, so I'd like to be able to do a true side-by-side with her sister.

The only problem is that neither of those two are showing much trichome development, but I'm hoping they're just late frosters. In every other respect, they're exactly what I'm looking for in a SOG grow, but if the crystals aren't there it doesn't matter. The pistils are just beginning to recede on that pheno, so in a week or so I should see some calyx development, and then we'll see if the diamond dust appears. Every plant from the other indica pheno is at least a week (maybe two weeks) further along than this one, and is very nicely frosted, but there's an enormous dropoff in bud size between those indicas and the two that I'm rooting for. The 2 that I like have beer-bottle colas, and I know I can get 'em even bigger in a second grow if I work them right.

I'm disappointed that 2 of the 3 sativa phenos are (at this point) looking very much better than any of the indicas; I prefer indica-dominant plants in a SOG, but some of these sativas are just bud monsters. If I were doing an outdoor grow, I'd be pulling a pound off of some of these sativas. I may have some unexpectedly tough decisions to make in a few weeks when it's time to pick mothers.

Cloning is way to late

so is hormone manipulation

re-veg is a likely method here

the more twig you leave at harvest

the more should grow from likely spots

good luck

Actually, the cloning went pretty well. I took 15 cuts of various plants, and about half of them are hanging in there. Every one of them looks as though they'd really rather I'd just left 'em the fuck alone in the first place, but some of them are starting to show new, dark green growth. Not much - just small leaves - but they're probably going to make it.

The hell of it is that if I hadn't outsmarted myself, I think they'd all be doing well. But like a moron, I decided they probably needed special treatment, so I put a humidity dome over them. I normally never dome clones, but thought it might be prudent with these, and sure enough, 8 hours under the dome turned about half of them into soggy lettuce. Even the ones that didn't completely wilt took a bad beating, but almost all of them are slowly recovering now. If I'd just gone with my gut and done it the way I normally do, I'd be willing to bet I'd have kept them all, but no, I had to overthink it.

So even though it ain't pretty, it looks as though I'll be able to save the genetics of every one that I wanted to save, which was the point. They just won't be good for anything for quite a while.To be on the safe side, I will reveg all the ones I wanted to save, just in case. On one of the two that I really wanted badly, I left one of the little sucker shoots at the base of the stem, so that should be easier to revert to veg. The other one, all I have are branches with big buds, and that's the one with the 18-inch top bud. With buds that size, I'm really not inclined to sacrifice one for a clone. But I can leave some node sites on the plant when I chop her, and I'm sure I'll get some cuts from her. I really want that one badly; I lie awake dreaming of a SOG with 25 plants just like her under a 1000-watt, all with 18-inch lollipop colas. 5 pounds from a single light, I tell ya! 5 pounds, you puny mortals!! Bwahahahaha....

OK, seriously.... At this rate, though, by the time I harvest, all the clones that are going to make it may actually be fairly far along. We're almost at the end of Week 8, and almost all of the buds are still packing on weight every day, and most of them are still sprouting brand new white pistils all over the place. One of them has grown over an inch in diameter in just over a week. I spent an hour in there tonight propping up plants that are falling over because they can't hold the buds up any more, and completely ran out of 4-foot poplar dowels. I need to hit Lowes as soon as they open, because some more plants are leaning badly. Trichomes are about 20-30% cloudy on most of the plants, with only a few buds showing any amber at all. I was expecting to be cutting this weekend, but they just don't want to call it quits yet.

I've got a feeling that this will be one of those strains that when they go, they go quickly, so things can change in just a few days, but with this much new bud growth at almost 9 weeks, I'm really not sure just what to expect anymore. I just keep checking 'em a couple of times a day, and I told my wife, "I'm not making any more predictions. The fuckers will be ready when they're ready, and that's it."

Oh, and by the way - isolated foliar feeding of high-N nute solution on the sucker shoots did, indeed, seem to cause them to grow significantly. Could have been simple coincidence, but those sucker shoots approximately doubled in size.

Ghost Post said:

Rodelization... Let SOME buds stay on the plant...
a late harvest produces SEEDS.... a sort of Feminized seed
This turn from the strain can be planted for a Harvest.
But shouldn't be cloned.
You can use this method with Auto Flowers too
( So they say.... I don't do autos )
But I DO have seeds...
( I was waiting for more Amber ... Oooops )

Click to expand...

Ia all your ghost posts invisible

Ghost Post said:

Rodelization... Let SOME buds stay on the plant...
a late harvest produces SEEDS.... a sort of Feminized seed
This turn from the strain can be planted for a Harvest.
But shouldn't be cloned.
You can use this method with Auto Flowers too
( So they say.... I don't do autos )
But I DO have seeds...
( I was waiting for more Amber ... Oooops )

Click to expand...

Don't do that if you don't have too. Any plant that makes pollen early enough to pollinate itself is too much of a hermie, imo. I say that because I wouldn't be surprised if almost all, if not all strains will eventually put out a few "bananas" here and there if left ridiculously long, but I don't think they should be put out in time to hit fresh pistils on the same plant. That means they are starting to be produced way too close to bud growth/harvest time.Only use pollen created by a pure female that was treated with C.S. or another chemical to induce pollen sacs. Natural pollen sacs aren't the best idea.

budman111 said:

Ia all your ghost posts invisible

Click to expand...

His post is just white. Highlight it.

Kevin the Great said:

Look into reflowering. When you harvest, take only the top 3/4 off of the plant and leave some of the bottom crap. Put it onto 24 hours of light and back off 15 minutes a day until you're at your favorite veg period and you'll be back into an acceptable cloning phase.

Click to expand...

Since he already has sucker shoots growing from the bottom, this is probably the best bet, and should be even easier for him than revegging flowering branches (if these shoots aren't flowering).

EverythingsHazy said:

His post is just white. Highlight it.

Click to expand...

Sort of like the 80's invisible ink every kid played with.