When to top

[Bigpapa]

Yea. It's a hobby alright. I don't even smoke.

[insomniaczzz]

I notice that in the DWC, the plants seem really compact with nodes close together and dense leaf growth. Do either of you thin out some of that growth?

[Bigpapa]

It's my first grow. But in my limited space I'm going to have to do some thinning out. But again, since its my first grow I'm reluctant to just jump right in. I'm going to have to do some reading first.

[insomniaczzz]

It's my first grow. But in my limited space I'm going to have to do some thinning out. But again, since its my first grow I'm reluctant to just jump right in. I'm going to have to do some reading first.

I think that would be a great idea. While you plants look healthy and lush, compare them to the pic kingfish posted. As the plant gets older too much foliage can be a nuisance and take away from the real stars, the buds.

[Nartak]

Hey Papa,i haven't seen you around i think so i will also welcome you here!The ladies look wonderful!!Good luck on your grow first of all!!

I see all the good recommendations made here buy the family so i will just add that since you are going stealth and you have just two plants,first of all you should space them better and find a way to hook on the outer edges of your tank for LST because they will start chocking each other not only at root level but the branches as well!

I also topped my girls,cut them on 14th Day from seeds,they were just starting their 4th node and i topped down to the 2nd! Personally i didn't see any shock on them and now 5 days later (Day 19) i have 1" new tops starting from each of them!


Keep them pictures and updates coming mate

[Bigpapa]

If you can believe, the tank lid that came with the box I bought actually has 9 holes in it. Although I will never utilize all 9 spots, they do make for convenient access to the tank for things like monitoring ph, water temp and changing the nutrient mixture. To facilitate LST, I placed a small hook in each plug in all of the unused spaces. See the pic below.

[Nartak]

If you can believe, the tank lid that came with the box I bought actually has 9 holes in it. Although I will never utilize all 9 spots, they do make for convenient access to the tank for things like monitoring ph, water temp and changing the nutrient mixture. To facilitate LST, I placed a small hook in each plug in all of the unused spaces. See the pic below.

Haha ok i get it now,SoG /cloning/seedling tank!!If u lollipop autos you could do 4 or 6 ,still having trouble!!Thing is i have the Wilma Small v2 (30lt tank 11lt pots) and though they say full cannabis crop able,my 20 day old fan leaves are licking the edge of the pots!I went in the room to get my zippo and overheard my girls saying the "M" word......manifold....manifold....manifold.....

Could you not hook them up to the side of the net pots? Provides closer distance,a more vertical tie so less material used and you control more of the bending without pulling

May i ask,have you secured your stem with a tie to protect roots from being pulled and pushed while you tie the branches?

I'm not suggesting you are doing something wrong,by all means,your plants look wonderful and you seem to know what you're doing!!!

Keep playing and keep us posted matie!!

[Bigpapa]

I haven't secured the stems yet. I'm waiting for my plants to get taller and fan out more. I don't anticipate doing any unbalanced LST. Meaning that I will be sure to be equal or balanced in my training technique to avoid pulling in any one direction.

[Bigpapa]

Ok fellow growers. Hold on to your clippers. I've defoliated and finally got to LST. The first pic was taken on 1/4. Its hard to believe, but since that shot was taken my little girls have really gotten more foliage. So much so that today I did the deal. I took all of the largest fan leaves 🍃 and pulled my branches down. It's been at least 3 weeks since I could really get down to see the net pots. I have what looks to me like mold on the surface of the growing media. It's not a lot but it is there. Could this be from high humidity? My water level is well below the bottom of the net pots. I'm looking to do maybe 3 more weeks in veg. Then it's into flower photoperiod. ( Will switch to 12/12 ). Let's keep our fingers crossed 🤞 for the next couple of days. I hope my technique pays off.

[Nartak]

Before reading further down after ur "mold" saying there,go get Hydroguard asap,i don't know how/when/how much to use it but i have seen it in Nebulas guides somewhere for the DWC and im sure Karlee and other people use it often to prevent root rot!!If no hydroguard is close get some hydrogen peroxide in there but please read in GWE guides the dosage as it will strip the bad bacteria but ALSO all the good bacteria in your res!!!

Ok now i checked the photos!!Duuuuuuude looking fab !!Do not hesitate to remove fan leaves,i got a stunned plant growing back to almost normal rate after removing every single fan leaf she had!!Im mainlining though and that is appropriate!!If you lst to a flat plant i would recommend letting all smaller budsite get light so the big ones dont outgrow them and then you will through them away as popcorn bud....

Come a long way and a vigorously looking plant is the best feedback papa!!

[Bigpapa]

Ok. Great input. But I have been using Hydroguard for my last 3 water changes. My roots look good. What I had was a little white fuzz on the surface of the grow media. I simply wiped it off. But now I have something else to watch for.

I can't believe how quickly these plants have reacted. Since pulling the stems down, it only took a couple of hours for the end growth to turn upwards. This is a very cool process. We all gather around the box at least once or twice a day just to see how quickly these plants change. We can't wait to get to the flower stage!!!👏

Thanks for the feedback. It's good to be able to bounce things off of experienced growers.

Keep the faith 👍😎🤞

[Nartak]

Hahahaha thats exactly what im doing man twice a day in the room measuring the curve of the tops (i have mainlined) with my pinky finger,at one point when they wake up i bend them down in a T form and then when i go to sleep 9-10 hours later they are Y shaped!!! Yesterday i kinda "supercropped" one of the hard vertical tops because it wasn't bending,i am mad to see her reaction when she wakes up!!

P.S i am not a grower,the plants are growing yes,im watching

[Bigpapa]

Check out these pics. The first is just after defoliating and at the start of LST. I can't believe how quickly they have recovered. These shots were taken 24 hours apart. I'm just short of 6 weeks. I'm going to do another defoliation before the switch to flower stage. I'm on 18/6 light schedule now. Will go to 12/12 at the 8 week mark.

[Nartak]

Hahah thats the magic right there man!!It will be good to take a picture a day from the same exact spot and make a small klik on it

I am planning that for the flower stage if i get my mates camera on time coz he's touring india...

[St.buds]

I would top after you have six sets of leafs

[Nartak]

You mean grow 6 and top lower or grow more and top @ 6th?

[St.buds]

I've read to grow 6 sets then top down to the third set but when I've toped I grow to 6 sets then top down 2 to the fourth set of leafs

[Nartak]

I grew 3 fully developed nodes and topped the 4th coming out..Maybe ill try it differently next time..I wont top anything else besides the two main colas on each side of the main line/manifold...I was thinking it is either the early topping that made my plants look small,the low feed or that they don't look small but im debating!I turned the feed up and will see in a weeks time,if they grow rapidly (which they are) i will keep the early topping way!

[NA420]

When the leaves reach the outside rim of my 3 gallon smart pot which usually ends up being the 4th node and i always fingernail FIM for a faster recovery!

[St.buds]

I'm a big fan of fiming also but when doing lst topping makes it easier to keep them flat and even

[Bigpapa]

I topped at 3 weeks, defoliated and started LST at 5 weeks. I have limited space so my intent is to keep my plants as flat as possible. In just over two weeks I will switch to flower.

[Nartak]

My plants are a little short of 3" without the new tops shooting vertically now!With the tops id say 4" lol! 34th day or w/e it is lol

[Bigpapa]

Round 2 of defoliating.

Since my plants responded so well well to the first round of defoliating, I decided to do another. I did it yesterday evening around 6:00 pm local pst time. I took a quick look this morning before leaving for work which was 12 hours later. They had already recovered nicely. I will follow up with pics tonight when I get home. I think I'm pretty much done defoliating these plants since I'm only about 2 weeks from the switch to flowering. This is what they looked like before this round.

[Nartak]

Papa allow me to note,if you are 2 weejs away from flowering(10 days when im writting this) you have about another 25 days maximum to defoliate and "damage" the plants!You should have finished forming the plant at two weeks into flowring roughly 3! Make sure you save up as much veg energy for them buds as possible!!Ditch leaves that block light,ditch popcorn stems if you wish!Anything to push forward now!!Good luck flipping bruv!