I’m growing purple Thai weed outdoors in fabric pots. Since this strain can grow up to 15’, I’m using LST to control the height. I bent the plants 90 degrees which is working well except the main cola is growing upwards. Won’t this result in apical dominance? Do I secure the main cola repeatably or leave it alone?
-
-
Best way to not have a main cola is not to have a main cola. Unless you top the plant then yes you will have to repeatedly secure it as the plant will always grow its main cola towards the light. Topping tells the plant, no more main cola, need to fill out secondary colas. Outdoors this is not so much a problem as the sun is able to penetrate to the lower branches, though having an apex cola keeps the plant from fully supporting the secondary colas. Taken from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apical_dominance
Typically, the end of a shoot contains an apical bud, which is the location where shoot growth occurs. The apical bud produces a hormone, auxin, (IAA) that inhibits growth of the lateral buds further down on the stem towards the axillary bud. It was first discovered in 1934 that the plant hormone auxin likely regulates apical dominance.[2] Auxin is predominantly produced in the growing shoot apex and is transported throughout the plant via the phloem and diffuses into lateral buds which prevents elongation.[3]
And...
More simply stated, lateral bud formation is inhibited by the shoot apical meristem (SAM). The lateral bud primordium (from which the lateral bud develops) is located below SAM. The shoot tip rising from the SAM inhibits the growth of the lateral bud by repressing auxin. When the shoot is cut off, the lateral bud begins to lengthen which is mediated by a release of cytokinin. Once the apical dominance has been lifted from the plant, elongation and lateral growth is promoted and the lateral buds grow into new branches. When lateral bud formation prevents the plant from growing upward, it is undergoing lateral dominance. Often, lateral dominance can be triggered by decapitating the SAM or artificially decreasing the concentration of auxin in plant tissues.
TL DR
Yes, thats how plants grow. -
After reading Tersky’s informative explanation, I would top 3-4 inches off the main cola and allow the lateral side colas to develop.If you bend you will be less likely to break.Comment
Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter!
Comment