COCO COIR Help with height management

[oilymichael]

Hey y’all! (to get it out of the way, my grow is a tangie photoperiod in a 2x2x6 tent with a 115w led light, in 70/30 coco/perlite using general hydroponics flora trio for nutes)

The advice I got from here last time was excellent and my baby is thriving, a bit too well actually. I am using NugBuckets’ mainlining technique, and after the final top (8 mains now), set up an auto-watering system to leave for a one week Vacation, figuring a week would be enough time to recover and grow enough to be ready to flip.

I came back to a veritable forest, and this plant is enormous. (See below)

So I have a few questions now if anyone has any advice:

1: Can/Should I defoliate some of the giant ass fan leaves? It seems to be getting pretty cramped especially in the middle.

2: Do I need to do any additional topping, or would moving the exhaust to outside the tent and utilizing the full height be sufficient? Being 70/30 Sativa my gut says it would be too tall, but I’m very new to this.

3: If I do need to top, can I top only some of the mains? Some of them have outgrown others, and I can top those to leave them all fairly equal in height. Would that mess up the mainlining technique since some mains would be topped an additional time and some wouldn’t?

and lastly,

4: When using the mainlining technique, should I be removing new growth tips that come up? In the final product pictures I’ve seen I only see 8 flowering colas with no side shoots, but the instructions I’ve read don’t seem to indicate any real removal of growth sites needed after the final topping.

Sorry for the verbosity, and thank you in advance for the help!

[oilymichael]

Also I just noticed and thought I should clarify, the light has not been that far away, the pot was on top of a reservoir to catch the runoff while I was gone.

[Wayzee]

Ay man, I believe this weekends newsletter covered height control...

[ductwizard]

hey wayzee, whats up? i literally wait up for the news letter, read it twice and save it 4 later. when you get old and retire the little things make you happy. yaaaaaa

[Wayzee]

Hey mate, haha I get that! It's either the last thing I look at before or the first thing I look at when I wake up on a Sunday morning.. this place is my Facebook or Instagram haha. I like how more often than not the topics are inline with what everyone been talking about....

[golfnrl]

Hey oilymichael I am in my first mainline grow. I opted for the Nebula version of the Nugbuckets tutorial. I have one plant in a 2x4x8' tent that has completely filled the space.

https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/646809-killer-a5-haze-manifold

1. Yes, keep the middle and lower growth cleaned out. Do a defoliation right before the flip. The Nebula version has some guidance on what to take off the plant. I followed that but didn't take off enough. Air movement will help.

2. One of my notes for the next mainline grow is to top the main buds at the third node. It might add some days to veg but will help control the height. If you can move your exhaust that will be helpful if she gets too tall. I'm growing an 80/20 sativa. My plant vegged for about 45 days. I wasn't sure how she would react during the stretch because of the mainline, but turns out the general rule of thumb still applies.

3. You want a flat canopy, but that is kinda relative. If you have several colas that are taller than others you can top them or use a net to control some of the lateral growth. I waited too long to use a net to control the tallest colas. If you take a look at the thread link you will see that my plant has some colas that are really taller than the others.

4. If I understand the question, new growth down low on the plant should be removed before the flip or about 3 weeks after.

Can you put up some more pics?

I will def be doing this grow method again.

Verbosity is welcome.

[dirtymike]

Fluxing will be next. for you. Takes 4 months of lst. big harvest

[oilymichael]

golfnrl thank you for the input!

I’ll be defoliating before the flip, and using a net will probably help a lot.

Now I’m still wondering whether I can top some of the mains and not others, or do you think that will lead to nutrient distribution issues?

Second and third photos below are potential topping sites, not sure if there would be a reason to pick one over the other.

Fourth photo is one of the non-main new growth tips, it sounds like if I’m not topping I should remove these either before the flip or 3 weeks in?

Thank you!

[oilymichael]

golfnrl thank you for the input!

I’ll be defoliating before the flip, and using a net will probably help a lot.

Now I’m still wondering whether I can top some of the mains and not others, or do you think that will lead to nutrient distribution issues?

Second and third photos below are potential topping sites, not sure if there would be a reason to pick one over the other.

Fourth photo is one of the non-main new growth tips, it sounds like if I’m not topping I should remove these either before the flip or 3 weeks in?

Thank you!

[golfnrl]

I think you can still top the mains. I don't see why why there would be any nutrient issues.

How much taller are your tallest? If you top at the node above your hand, does that get you close to level? Those two growth tips would become two mains.

I think you can take growth down low any time you want, but certainly right before the flip or 3 weeks thereafter. Others may have a different opinion.

[oilymichael]

Gotcha, I just didn’t know if topping some mains but not others would lead to imbalance.

The node I’m holding in the first node picture is about even with the lower mains, where I’d want to top to ideally to make it even.