Don't give up
How to Prepare for the Flowering Stretch
by Sirius Fourside
Right around the time when kids start hitting middle schools, short awkward teenagers go through puberty and turn into taller awkward teenagers...or was that just me? I’m sure you knew of at least one kid who grew so much, they looked almost as if someone grabbed them by their head and feet and just stretched them out.
When cannabis plants start to mature, they also go through a brief transitional period; a sort of cannabis-puberty if you will. And just as humans undergo a burst of rapid growth, cannabis plants will also create a large portion of their final height in a very short period of time. This explosion of vertical grow this commonly called the cannabis ‘Flowering Stretch’.
What is the Flowering Stretch?
The best way to give you an idea is with pictures.
http://www.growweedeasy.com/flowering-stretch Here’s a cool animated .gif Nebula made showing the flowering stretch in action.
Watch as one strain out-races the other!
This makes for a great example of how small or large a stretch can be. Notice that the plant on the left (818 Headband) gains only a few inches while the plant on the right almost doubles in size! And even this picture is misleading once you realize that by the end of the .gif, the plant on the left is actually raised an extra foot higher off the ground! Note: This was done to keep the plants somewhat equidistant from the lights.
In short, the flowering stretch is potential burst of rapid growth that happens shortly after switching to the flowering phase. It can be massive, or it can be next to nothing. The important thing is to expect that it might happen and have a plan ready in case it does. Luckily, most strains you buy from a seedbank are stabilized, so it’s known if the plant will stretch a lot or a little. This allows us to not only plan for a stretch, but take advantage of it when it happens!
What to Expect
A seedling stretching its heart out!Depending on the strain you’re growing, you can expect a pretty wide range of stretching. Some strains can double their height or more, while some do almost nothing. However, if you know the name of the strain you’re growing, you can look up the breeder recommendations to get a good idea of what might happen. Additionally, there are other factors that can give you insight:
Sativas - Sativas tend to grow taller, lanky stems even when trained; inch-for-inch they tend to stretch much more than indicas.
Strain height - Many breeders and seedbanks have the average height of their strains listed. Sometimes it’s as vague as “short - medium - tallâ€, but even that is enough to give you an idea of its growth characteristics. Expect "tall" strains to stretch!
Light type - Certain light types are more conducive to stretching than others. You can use the right light color spectrum to help control growth characteristics. More on that later...
Light distance - Plants also stretch when they're trying to get more light (like this plant to the right). As a result of this type of stretching, plants grow taller, but with fewer bud sites. Note that this is not the same thing as the flowering stretch, rather it's a symptom of too-little light. Most growers want to avoid stretching caused by not enough light as fewer bud sites means less bud.
One of the main reasons it’s so important to know about stretching is that it can rapidly reduce the amount of space you have in your grow tent/area. If you’re growing in a space with limited height, a good stretch can make it so you no longer have room to raise your lights. This leads to light/heat stress and lost buds.
I personally had a stretch where there was no longer any room to raise the lights. I used a CFL/LED combination at the time, and the LEDs absolutely cooked the buds underneath it until I got desperate and cut the stuff that was too close. I would handle that situation differently now, but it shows that no one is immune if they’re unaware.
Planning For the Stretch
Planning for a stretch is easy to do when you know it’s a possibility. There are two things growers can do that will give a lot of control over planning for a potential stretching situation:
Research your strain
If you know what strain you’re going to grow, you can usually find its growth characteristics online. Seedfinder.eu is a pretty good resource for reviews on strains submitted by other growers. While it isn’t necessarily 100% accurate (what is?), it should give you a good range of what to expect. Knowing the strain you’re growing gives you the power to decide how much stretch you’ll deal with. Since stretching is often accompanied by a ‘tall’ final height, you can reduce stretch by getting plants that are characterized as being ‘medium’ or ‘short’.
Plan for a tall plant
In my opinion, the best way to be prepared for any stretch is to simply plan out the space as if you know that your plant will double in height by the end of flowering. Don't worry, it's much easier than it sounds! Here's how you do it:
Take the total amount of vertical (height) growing space you have in inches/cm.
Take the total from #1, and subtract the height of your lights when it's at its highest point.
Next, subtract the height of the pot/container your plant will be in.
Finally, subtract the amount of space you'll need between your light and your plants.
This varies depending on the lights; CFLs only need about 4", HIDs need 12+".
When your plants height reaches half of the number you're left with, initiate flowering!
Not too bad right? It'll seem even easier with an example! Here's how it would work for my tent (math is below the picture):
This is a visual example of how space gets split up in my tent!
I have a 7 foot tall tent which comes out to 84 inches. Total: 84 inches
My lights and the stuff to hold them take up 21 inches. Total: 63 inches
My container is 13 inches tall. Total: 50 inches
I'm planning to keep 16 inches between my plants and the light. Total: 34 inches
I flower my plants when they are about 17 inches tall.
You don't always need the space when you plan like this, but it allows you to easily deal with the times when your sweet little babies turn into monsters like this:
Pre-Stretch
Plants before a stretch...
Post-Stretch
The same plants after stretching...
Reducing the Stretch
Since we know the factors that can lead to more stretching, reducing how much a plant stretches is just a matter of acting on those factors.
Genes - Indica plants tend to be shorter, so if you prefer Indicas and would like a short plant, you’re in luck. If you like Sativas and have limited height, there are many strains available that have a shorter finishing height. Again, you can usually find the heights of strains at the websites of breeders and seedbanks.
Light type - Did you know that HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lights encourage stretching? If you use HID lighting, you can combat this extra stretching by leaving your MH (Metal Halide) bulb in for the first 2-3 weeks of flowering before switching to a HPS bulb.
This also goes for CFL growers who are utilizing vegetative (6500K) and flowering (2700K) colored bulbs. You can leave the vegetative (6500K) colored bulbs in for the first 2-3 weeks of flowering before switching to your flowering bulbs.
This kitty knows what I'm talking about!Light Distance - Keeping your lights the right distance away will ensure that your plants don’t have to stretch to get more light. Use the ‘hand test’ to make sure your lights are as close as they can be without harming your cannabis.
Hand test: Place one of your hands right over your plant with your palms facing downward. If the heat from your CFL or HPS lights is uncomfortably hot or painful to your hand, move the lights away an inch and try again. This test does NOT work for LED lights.
Some General Rules About Light Distance:
CFL and fluorescent grow lights should be kept a few inches from your plants.
For MH/HPS lights it depends on the size of your light.
For LEDs it's different for each model so you should always check with the manufacturer, but it's generally recommended to keep most LEDs 12-18" away, though some of the most powerful LED grow lights need to be kept even further away.
Plant Training - Although training itself does nothing to slow down stretching, it does give growers a good way to manage it. For example, if branches are set to grow vertically by low-stress training, a stretch can actually be beneficial since so much of the plant will be receiving light. Plant training can come in the forms of low-stress training, manifolding, topping, fimming, and more. These techniques are used in the vegetative stage to get your plant to grow the way you want in the flowering stage.
http://www.growweedeasy.com/flowering-stretch
