SOIL To top or Not to top that is one of the questions.

[buds73]

Hi all, as some may know i started a grow in a cupboard that just wasn't suitable due to temps and airflow. Last week on the 23rd i got my grow tent and so i set it up with just the light and a couple of fans and then went out. While i was out my light fell off the adjustable lanyard that i had and fell on my plants (it was off at the time). How long my light was on top of my plants i dont know but could have been up to 6hrs, only noticed when i went to turn the light on. All my plants were pressed into the soil when i removed the light with one having a broken stem and some leaf damage but all had some leaf damage. Since then the white widow i had never recovered and was lost.

The Fat banana that had the broken stem i fixed with the nearest thing to hand which was duct tape and seems to have done the job and has started to show new growth in last few days but my question for that is, should i remove the tape and redo it with a splint attached? I know that because i have it on quite tight it will restrict the growth of the stem and not allow it to thicken.

My second question is regarding my Critical crack. It got damaged at the top of the plant and although its recovered somewhat and has got new growth just below top, the top is looking somewhat messy so should i just top it? i will attach pics below.

Last question. All the plants show signs of damage to leaves where they were pressed into soil these are appearing as little holes with brown edges some worse than others. Should i take these off?
The first pic is my fat banana that was doing the best before my incident but seemed to have got away without too much damage but is missing a lea,. second pic is the one with broken stem and 3rd and 4th pics are the Critical crack.

I should add that i'm growing in multi compost with perlite that i've added myself and has no nutrients in and i've just started to use bio bizz grow.

[buds73]

*bumped* to get more views. My apologies if this is not allowed.

[SoOrbudgal]

Heck if i know what " bumped" means, i just a dirt farmer no techie talk LOL What i see are decent looking green growth. I always tell folks auto or photo cause i don't know what yours are? Regardless......yes to topping. Leave the leaf alone for now they look healthy abit ragged but not bad at all. Some time down the line those lower ones will get removed but for now i would leave them. Go easy with the ferts i say that cause your plants look green and healthy.

[buds73]

Thanks for your reply and advice.
Bumped just means I made a comment just to get it to first page. Helps get some views lol.
They are all photos and are 25 days old. The less ragged fat banana seems to have taken off last couple days. The one with the broken stem is starting to grow a little better and the stem has thickened up a bit so I guess the duct tape worked. As for the critical I not sure what's happening with that one, it's growing but the top looks a little odd. Not sure if it got partially topped (if that's possible) when it got damaged. I will look at topping the good one tomorrow and possibly the other fat banana the critical ill leave for a day or two untill I work out what the top is actually doing.

[golfnrl]

buds73 sorry to hear about the light falling. Duct tape works. I had a branch on the outdoor plant break off used duct tape and then replaced that with plant tape that stretches as the plant grows. So far so good. Those are some good looking plants. The leaf damage will take care of itself. I wouldn't worry about it. Have you looked at the the GWE guidance on topping? If not, it would be worth a look.

[buds73]

Thanks, it was a newbie mistake. I assumed the clip at the end if the lanyard would be secure when it came never thought to check it. Lesson learned lol.
Yes I've looked at gwe site for topping plus a few videos I just have to psyche myself up to take the plunge. Will take another look in a bit before I go for it.

[MeEasy]

They're lookin damn good for being smashed. I have had to repair plants a few times and in my experience I learned not to mess with the repair for at least 3 or 4 weeks because trying to untape it you risk rebreaking it then not be able to save it. Where I grew most of the time I had to hike a little to visit them when I hike I carry my first aid kit and accidentally found a great way to repair a broken branch..... use that stretchy tape that only sticks to itself, easy tear self adhesive bandages... it works great and stretches while your plant grows then easily comes off

[buds73]

Thank you. Its been about 9 days since I used the duct tape and it feels like there's a knot underneath it. Do you think it would be safe to remove it now and replace with the florist tape that you and Golfnrl suggested?

[SoOrbudgal]

Well if you can remove it with out riping the tissue skin go ahead other wise leave it. When we super crop by bending it develops a knuckle but you don't want to crush through the stems or leave an opening for bacteria. Great recovery job with the plants

[buds73]

Thank you SoOrbudgal.
I got some florist tape and ive now removed the duct tape which came off easily due to the stem thickening and i dont think i need to re-tape it. It feels strong and when i put a little pressure on it to push to one side there is no bend and the whole stem moves with it, but should i tape it anyway as a precaution?. Pic FB 2a shows where its been repaired and pic FB 2b is the pic of the plant. Going to let this grow just a little more before i top it.

My stronger fat banana i had a look at it to try and see where to top it but i noticed that where the leaf is missing it is growing what appears to be another top as shown in pic FB 1b. Pic FB 1a is a pic of the plant.

The critical crack also has what looks to be another top coming on it, again where there was a leaf lost. I have posted pics of that too all though it is hard to distinguish with the density of the leaf that's growing on the one side.
All 3 plants have a fair bit of small but dense growth lower down on the plants and around the stems should i remove this?
Thanks for any help and advice given it is much appreciated. I've done a lot of reading on this site last couple of weeks both in forums and on tutorials but there are still some things i'm unsure of, which i'm sure i'll ask about as time goes by lol.

[MeEasy]

That's why we top it's to allow them two under the top tw become two tops and you can top those two to make four, and if you let the branches under those two come up and top them you now have eight tops. Then with a little LST low stress training and by keeping everything the same height you get what we all are going for every time. It's alot easier said than done especially the first time... Here's a link that will explain it better with illustration... open it and click LST and you can check out the other techniques while you are there...

https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-plant-training

[buds73]

Well I'm sure I'll learn as it goes along lol. Way things have gone so far, this grow going to be one big learning curve.

[MeEasy]

Don't get down these plants are very tough and will grow on their own without your help. The reason that everyone is pushing nutrients, ph water, training, and whatever else that we stress about is to push the plant to it's very edge to get every damn gram we can out of them. They are not special plants they are weeds hence their name weed. So sit back and trim this plant and top the other one watch what happens have some fun, hell when I walk into my room I always say something stupid like what's up bitches anyone sick today. You can always cut more off tomorrow sometimes less is more

[buds73]

I'm not to down about it. The way I see it now this is my learning grow and each problem I may come across and manage to put right is a little extra knowledge gained and can only benefit me in any future grows but thanks for your words of encouragement they are much appreciated.

[buds73]

Another quick question. My plants are currently in 5 ltr pots which is just over a gallon. If I'm going to top my plants and do some lst would I be better off transplanting them first? Down side is earliest I can get some fabric pots delivered is Wed 9th - Fri 11th.

P. S on one of the fabric pots I looked at (root nurse) it said it was made from recycled plastic bottles and was bio-degradable are all made like that and Is that good for plants?

[MeEasy]

If you top it now it will have recovered by the time you get the other pots. I don't know what root nurse is but the recycled bottle pots should be fine.

[buds73]

Thank you, i will do that then.