Short Plant Encouragement

[OldManGrower]

So my current grow is turning out to be very short, bushy plants. It's the first time I have only planted one strain, Critical Plus 2.0 Auto Flower, as opposed to my usual mix. I was curious to find out if anyone has attempted to encourage plants to grow taller by raising your lights to so they stretch. If you have done so, I would like to hear your results and if it's worth it to try next time.

Gratzi

[Gingerbeard]

With no experience, wouldn't that make for lesser of the plant? That is, bud size and quality? Lanky?

[OldManGrower]

Don't know, that's why I'm asking.

[Gingerbeard]

Me too. That's why the question marks. You got me thinking about my S. Galaxy.

[Smallgrow]

Hard with autos cause your under the gun time wise before flower, to grow as much as possible.
Less/further light will defiantly stretch them, but someone more knowledgeable than me will have to chime in on if that would be a good trade off as less light = less plant, generally.
Defiantly bring the light back after they get into flower a bit.

I have a short bushy photo. I’m hoping to train the other 3 down while she catches up, but it’s all fun and games with photos …

[Bluey]

I'm on my 2nd indoor grow and my plants through veg are super squat..even extra low with the topping and LST.
I'm conservative with light in veg but still hit them with about as much light as they can take once flipped to flower but I supplement with far red (660 & 730nm) to encourage stretch. These mostly have sativa traits to look at and stretch massively under the reds...they've gone 3 fold in height since flipping and that was 15 days ago. They're photos not autos though and you need a very different strategy on autos is my understanding re light intensity and duration. Estimating when the stretch will start in an auto may be tough unless you can do something to bring it on...the reds may help with that too...trial and error.

[SoOrbudgal]

Only way that i have found was not doing much LST on autos if you want them taller. But the strain may be the deciding factor. I've had them close to 4ft. outdoor and over 25" indoor from soil to top of it's canopy. Right now with my light i've got my newer 2wk old plants at 35" full power only seeing 4 nodes so far and there sitting with those 4 autos near finishing. It's hard to judge but they do stretch.

[3Berries]

Less light when they are small is better but once the stretch is on it's everything you got. When they are seedlings I encourage stretch to get 2-3" of stem.

[changeofpace2014]

Yes - I raised my lights during some of the initial LST.. It is much eaiser to perform LST when one has enough length to work with. Once they stretched enough the lights were lowered back. In my case the plants had a very limited ceiling so the LST started really early.. you can have a look a my planning a new grow thread to see some of the LST. 19 1/2 " total height including 10" pot, under 300w...No I do not think raising the lights for a week or so to help speed up training effected anything.

[Gavin]

You shouldn't encourage plants to grow taller by raising your lights, its never a good idea(unless your giving the plants too much light)
it will speed the plant growth up but the stems become thinner resulting in wider node spacing, thicker stems with tight node spacing is always best, heather plants and they can hold more bud.

[SoOrbudgal]

That can be remedied by air movement in the form of a fan, that simulates outdoor enviornment using wind. Think of it like the forest but your growing indoors replecating outdoor enviornment but controlable Gavin my 2cents