Manifolding - Can I top to the 4th node

[Organic357]

I have 6 girls going now. All different varieties. They started the 6th week of their life yesterday and all already have 5 nodes. I had some problems with my Wonder Woman and she is pretty bare from the 3rd mode down. I am planning on Manifolding using Nebula Haze's method. She said that one should top down to the 3rd node. My issue is that I removed so much growth from the 3rd node down that I really couldn't top it above it. So I plan to top above the 4th node. I don't think this will be a major problem but thought I would check with those of you who are manifolding just in case.

[dphipps1020]

It doesn't really matter where you top it honestly. Only time it would really make a difference is when the plants are too small, it will stunt the growth. That's why they recommend topping after node 3.

[gbauto]

Yes, you can strip lower nodes with zero issues aside from a tall stalk.

[johnb1963]

hello organic, something sounds off. your girls are 6 weeks old, and only have 5 nodes? are they autos or photos? autos by six weeks should be flowering, and photos should be fairly large by then. i flipped the light on my current grow and 6 weeks. can you share some pictures of the ladies? mine are 8 weeks now.

[Organic357]

Hi John,

I am growing photos. I started germinating them on Nov 30. I have been growing for 9 years. Two years ago I purchased two Electric Sky 300's and some living soil in part to avoid mixing multiple nutes, I stared with Fox Farm's Dirty Dozen. My goal was to grow excellent organic bud, be able to re-use my soil and avoid the pain of mixing up nutrients each feeding period. I work 60+ hours a week and have familial and fraternal responsibilities so the time savings was very attractive. My understanding is that water only soil grows with LED lights tend to be slower and have lower yields. Also I believe that my grow method tends to mitigate the paranoia and anxiety that some experience with mineral salt grows. I have never grown photoperiods but might try them in the future. I suspect that the soil and seeds I purchased two years ago and on sale were like things frequently purchased on sale at your local grocery store about to hit their expiration date. I say that in part because of the results I had in the seven years prior to making these changes.

This will be my second time manifolding. The first time I used a variation of Nebula Haze's manifolding technique where I cut above the 4th node and stripped off the 1st and 2nd modes. The idea is to get 4 'branches/colas' from the remaining 3rd and 4th nodes. From left to right and back to front: Big Bud, Critical CBD, Girl Scout Cookies, Nebula CBD, Northern Light and Wonder Woman. They were only moved from 3.5" square pots in my 3' x 3' under T-5's to into 1 gallon pots in my 5' x 5' under two Electric Sky 300's less than one week ago so may be experiencing some transplant and light source shock.

[johnb1963]

Hi Organic357,
Thanks for sharing. I have been thinking about living soil, but haven't tried it yet. I read that there can be bugs in the soil, and that scares me. I did a true mainline on my last two outdoor plants, meaning i cut them above the 3rd node, and removed the lower two, and repeated until i had 16 tops on each, looked so cool. going to try it on my next indoor, but with 8 tops.
good luck on your current grow, and keep me updated, love to see how your girls turn out.

[Organic357]

You are very welcome John. As for bugs I would not worry too much about that. I know a couple of people who own grow shops. Last year there was an outbreak of fungus gnats I think he said. They live in the soil and are more of a nuisance, as opposed to something like spider mites. Some bugs are attracted to organic soils because they are rich in good things. I should have mentioned that I decided to try Roots Organics soil with this grow based on Nebula Haze's recommendation of it and am supplementing it with Earth Juice Rainbow Mix Pro for Grow. This is a dry amendment that is either mixed into the soil and top dressed.

I think that living soils hold a lot of potential but they are a new frontier for a nation and people that were sold on chemical fertilizers after WWI. There is an interesting history here of arms manufacturers needing to get rid of stockpiles of left over chemicals. Thinking about things logically consider plants growing wild in India or Afghanistan. There is no one there who is feeding one group of nutrients for week 1 and another group of nutrients for week 2, etc. Yet I have heard that wild plants produce not just some of the best genetics but some of the best bud. It is similar to comparing a vegetable grown organically in healthy soil to a commercial grown vegetable grown in dead soil and fertilized with mineral salt fertilizers. You can easily taste the difference and experience the health benefits of the former.

Chemical fertilizers are appealing because they are relatively easy and generally have higher yields initially. I think this has more to do with our failure to understand the principles of organic growing and soil biology. There are numerous examples of organically grown produce out producing chemical fertilized produce in both quality and quantity. Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms is a great one. He put in a lot of work up front but now his farm is very much more easily run with less work. You also have to understand that there are two separate things dirt which is lifeless, think Oklahoma Dust Bowl, and soil think of going into a verdant forest and digging down into black, rich, loamy soil full of biological life and nutrients. I can pretty guarantee that if you had some bud well grown in this kind of soil you would be a 'convert'. The issue is that there is so much money to be made in pushing chemical crops but who is going to spend money to show us how to grow organically? No one. I figure that this journey is like learning something like martial arts. You put in more work up front but then you have a valuable life skill that is easy to maintain.

One more thing, I was recently told that plants grown under LED's need more Cal-Mag. I cannot vouch for the veracity of this statement but plan to test this if I start having issues with this grow. Also I understand that one does not need to flush with an organic grow. I haven't. Again I don't think that plants growing in the wild are flushed yet they produce excellent food and bud.

Feel free to keep in touch though the private message feature of this forum. I almost posted a picture of my girls yesterday because they were looking great. They are looking good this morning but slightly droopy probably because today is my day to water.

Lastly I wanted to say that your manifolding looks great. I am jealous of your abilities.