It's day 14 for my autos, should I think about LST soon?

[SleepyTibbs]

Okay so armed with the info you kind people have offered me and a visit to my local nursery to show some pictures and get a little more advice I have come up with my plan. I am going to let them grow out until somwhere around the start of week 3 then prune below the 4th node and begin LST as quirk has shown. Before I try to bend it I will water to help keep the plant in place and avoid excess stress as SoOrbudgal mentioned, and I plan on adding 1/4 of the recommended schedule of FF's grow big in that watering.

That said I have 2 more questions if anyone can answer them and then I'll shut up for awhile.

1. The sad plant is looking even more sad today and I noticed the tips of its leaves are bright green and an orange spot is forming as shown in the picture. Should I just cull this poor little thing? I dont mind trying to let it recover if its not going to hurt the others but I was thinking maybe it is root rot and i dont want the others to catch any disease or fungus.
2. I have also attached pictures of the healthy ones. When i took the pictures I just finished watering and the lights came on about 3 hours before that. Was wondering if they are showing early signs of heat stress? Although i think they are just unfurling as they grow.

Again I truly appreciate this community, I feel have learned a lot from people here in a short time. 😁

[quirk]

In the green bar at the top of the page, click on the three horizontal lines to the left, then click on plant problems, then on wilting leaves. I'm horrible at diagnosing and while the converse is possible, it looks like the medium is too dry. Here's a watering tip. When the bag feels light, thoroughly moisten entire pot to a SLIGHT runoff. Make a note of how much water was required and get a feel for that weight. Next time the bag feels light, probably 3-4 days at that age, add water using slightly less. Better moist than wet. Roots gotta breathe. If possible elevate pots, and provide air circulation. Your plants look fine and droopy doesn't have a communicable disease. Sorry to be long winded and good luck.

[SleepyTibbs]

quirk I watered them about 14 hours ago with just a SOLO cup of water. Should I wait to water the whole pot until next watering or just get the whole pot wet a little after the lights come back on in the morning? I would assume that they should be okay on water until probably the 29th with that SOLO cup they had, but you know what they say about assumptions. I haven't pulled the sad one yet but she is even more sad than before lol Think im just gonna let her go and focus on the healthy ones.

[quirk]

Puglover1, I use an 18/6 schedule from day 1. Typically turn them off 1368 hours later.

[Puglover1]

quirk - I have blurple lights. Using veg now, when would you suggest I switch to both veg & bloom? I have my double timer set one side for 12/12, one for 18/6 and an open outlet for 24/7. Makes it easier than laying on the floor reprogramming timers. Thnx.

[quirk]

SleepyTibbs, Yes sir. Using your solo cup slowly moisten entire medium to a SLIGHT run-off. Water in a circular pattern, radiating out from center of pot. You want the entire pot moist so you get plenty of lateral root development. One inch under the soil lateral roots are trying to reach the outside of your pot. They can't do it if medium is dry or if it's saturated from watering too often, which means they can't transport water and nutrients to the stem, hence the droop. Pic is of a root check.

[SleepyTibbs]

When I checked on my plants this morning. It was looking like the biggest of them was ready. Fairly developed 5th node, with a 6th node starting to grow out. So I pruned everything below the 4th node and decided to give it a shot. I gave the plants water with 1/4 recommended amount of FFs Grow Big and Big Bloom last night a few hours before lights out and the training was done about 12 hours after watering, pictures taken right after care. I've never grown anything before so this process felt a bit sketchy. Wouldnt mind an honest opinion on how I did? SoOrbudgal and quirk

[SleepyTibbs]

Its only been about an hour since I took those pictures and she is already re-orienting her leaves toward the light and they seem healthy

[SoOrbudgal]

I been out side working in my garden beds boy has it been great weather here 80f slight breeze. Anyway......Yep that LST looks great.

[SleepyTibbs]

Its been beautiful weather here too SoOrbudgal sounds like your in a similar region. Do you grow yours outdoors or were you tending to some veggies and flowers? I attached some pictures of how she is looking now. She re-oriented really well but I was wondering if I should bend her back down just a bit further and hook the wire on a little tighter or leave her as is until the next part is ready for tie-down. Not really sure what my next step is lol need to do more reading.

[SleepyTibbs]

Bent it back down to where it was before but made the wire a bit more taught so it wont give as much. I feel real bad for her though. I accidentally clipped the tip of a leaf from one of the smaller branches sprouting from the nodes

[Ellisk]

You will save a lot of money if you can buy ro water from those water machines you might see at the wal mart or grocery store. I was paying 0.20 cents USD a gallon before I bought my own ro filtering system. Is there a problem with your tap water? A lot of growers get lucky and have good water at their tap. I have to use ro water because my tds is over 500 ppm. Good luck to you.

[SleepyTibbs]

Was thinking I am going to just start filling up a gallon at the tap and letting it sit open for a day to air out then checking PH to see if I could use that for watering. A buddy of mine who lives in the area should have the same tap water and they have success with that method

[SleepyTibbs]

Bent it back down to where it was before but made the wire a bit more taught so it wont give as much. I feel real bad for her though. I accidentally clipped the tip of a leaf from one of the smaller branches sprouting from the nodes

Lol was so worried that I was a little too rough, but I think she did just fine. Took that picture peeking through the zipper up top about 40 minutes ago. The main stem stayed bent at the angle I was going for and the branches seem to have started turning up nicely and getting a bit thicker. Leaves seem to have fanned out more too. Now im excited to start on the other plant in a few days when she is ready. Sadly though the 3rd plant that used to be in there didnt make it. For some reason she grew almost no roots out from the tap root and never got enough nutrients to keep going. On the brightside for the other 2 they each get to be centered under their own light now.

[quirk]

Nice job! Those are happy healthy plants.

[SleepyTibbs]

Nice job! Those are happy healthy plants.

Thank you quirk your pictures and info and that of SoOrbudgal have quite a bit to do with it. I was completely uncomfortable doing that to the plants and now I feel like I was foolish for being so worried. Here are some pictures of how they are doing now. I was able to bend the one I started on closer to 90 this morning and it responded really well throughout the day. Tomorrow I will start training on the one that hasn't been pruned yet. For subsequent training on the one I already started on I was thinking of starting with that branch growing off toward the top right of the picture, that would be part of the 4th node, and then the one more in the center, that would be part of the 5th node, but also thought I should let them grow a little more first. Supposedly their flowering time should be 60-70 days and tomorrow will be day 18 for them so I am not sure how much time I have to shape them before flowering begins and I will need to stop stressing them.

[quirk]

Don't sweat the time frame. Let them grow out, then open up around the pot as required. Repeat as they grow out and up. No hurries no worries. This was done around Day 30.

[SleepyTibbs]

I started shaping her a little bit earlier today. Pulled the branches of the 4th node back a bit and tied down the new growth between the 4th and 5th nodes to promote it growing out a bit before it comes up. It doesn't seem like it bothered her at all.

[SleepyTibbs]

quirk Hope everything has been going well for you. Also been wondering if your tag is quirk because of MHA? lol but anyway yesterday I ended up removing the tie downs I had on the plants other than the ones maintaining the bend in their stems and decided to just let them grow the way they want to for a bit. I attached some pictures of the bigger one. Seems like things are a little crowded in there though. Would you recommend continuing to let her stretch out on her own a little, or tying down some branches to help them spread out a bit? Was also kind of wondering about removing a fan leaf or 2? One of the branches growing out from the 4th node has been trying to push the fan leaf above it aside for the past day and a half so it can grow through and it has been making progress but I thought maybe I could help it out by removing what is in its way but I don't want to stunt the plant overall lol

[SleepyTibbs]

So last night I think I finally figured out what I am supposed to be tying down for LST. I had been tying down the fan leaves instead of the branches coming from the nodes, but I switched it to tying down those branches growing up from the nodes like I am showing in the pictures. When I came in this morning the plants had grown near a half inch overnight and the branches seem to be growing out a little. I have tied down any of those branches that are at least a half inch or so long. The smaller plant was done this morning right before the pictures were taken so one of her leaves needs to bounce back a little from being pushed around on accident. Am I on the right track now? lol