LST in real time

[90Gizmo]

Day 15 - I'm starting to train this Bourbon Berry Auto. It's my first grow of BBA but it's parent is Whiskey Zulu which I've grown twice before. The way I trained the last WZ netted me more than a dozen colas so I'm trying to do the same thing here before I forgot what I did. This picture is two weeks (15 days) since I dropped the seed in water. I begin the LST by pushing the plant over in a direction half way between the "x" of the leaf pattern.

 

[90Gizmo]

Day 18 - the leaves are spread to either side but it is the secondary growth at the nodes that's interesting. Each bit of secondary growth at the nodes will turn into a stalk with a cola on top.

 

[90Gizmo]

Day 19 - I'm being careful with the tiny growth making sure that my j-hooks are on the bottom of the nodes so that they don't interfere with the new growth. You can see how the nodes and internodes receive direct lighting. I continue to turn the leaves so that every node will have one stalk on each side and none of the will cross. When large enough I will start to pull the secondary stalks to out from the center so that the main stalk continues to get direct light.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

They are hard to work with these tiny little plants LOL i do the same with mine also. It's hard to separate the main stalk from the node growths there so friggin tiny. My 2 autos are about 1wk behind yours. I used large paper clips cause my bigger wire was thicker than the stalk till they were about a month old LOL

 

[AGH]

I'll be running Northern Storm Auto at the end of this year...it'll be my first auto and I'll be copying your technique! Thanks for the 'grow along'!

 

[90Gizmo]

I won't drag on the little stuff until it get's bigger. For now I'm making tiny bends and twists on the main stalk by pulling on the fan leaves to keep everything on the proper sides. I miss stealing paperclips from work. I have a small roll of stainless steel wire that I cut up. Next size up will be kabob sticks.

 

[90Gizmo]

I wish you luck. I had really good yield last time. Really through I'm hoping to get new ideas from the group too.

 

[90Gizmo]

A couple months ago - I wasn't trying to keep it "neat" last time but then I saw Nebula and other's manifolding looking so pretty I decided to try harder this time. I picture the end result looking like the keel and ribs of a boat. The main stalk is the keel going mostly horizontal until it curves up at the end and the stalks growing at the nodes will go perpendicular to either side and then curve up like the ribs. The result should be a flat top.

 

[AGH]

I've done some manifolds and they're awesome! Just remember to keep training the branches to be nice and wide, especially if you have a taller strain. One of my Blue Dream runs I stopped the training too soon and those girls get really tall so I ended up having to keep my light a little dimmer than I wanted because I ran out of room to raise the height of the lights.

Below you can see how great they filled out the tent but the side shot shows how I could have kept them trained out and wide a little bit more so that they weren't so tall. Always learning!

 

[90Gizmo]

That's a beautiful grow.

 

[90Gizmo]

Day 20 - I did a little twist on the second node this morning mostly just fidgeting. I can see the fourth node spacing out from the third. It should be ready for a tug downward tomorrow. I read a recent post asking if 5 nodes was too soon to start LST. Definitely not! Might be there's no point starting as soon as I did but I think it helps to get as much light as possible to the lower nodes as soon as possible.

 

[Blowdout2269]

Loving the LST pics 90Gizmo! I got some sweet training images to share on my thread soon.
Check it out. 😉
Beautiful grow AGH. 👍

 

[changeofpace2014]

your on the way now...;;looks good

 

[90Gizmo]

Day 22 - I think this one is going to be a stinky one. There are five nodes and it's starting to grow quickly. I continue to tuck fan leaves away from the center. Lighting is around 30 DIL ... about 60% for 18 hours.

If it were topped at this point there would be an eight stem manifold but I will let the top continue to grow and the plant will have as many nodes as it wants to grow. I think I'll be able to start spreading stalks at the first node RSN.

 

[AGH]

Nice tight node spacing! Looks like a happy healthy plant!

With it being trained so close to the soil, are you concerned that the leaves will stay too moist after watering or that you'll run into any issues with condensation/moisture?

 

[90Gizmo]

I'm concerned. Am wondering if that section of stalk will root on the bottom side. I'll prune fan leaves 1-3 once there's enough other green. But now that you mention it I think I'll prop the them up a little bit until then. Node 5 and beyond will angle up in the air to keep them on an even height with the older growth.

 

[90Gizmo]

Day 24 - Main stalk is getting too thick for wire hooks so I have switched to kabob skewers. I am also starting to spread the secondary stalks. Now at 450 par for 30 dli.

 

[90Gizmo]

Day 26 (since dropped in water, 22 since sprout) - secondary stalks are getting leafy but are still tender and I'd like them to get taller before I spread them too much. I've added a thicker stick to support the main stalk as it goes up and over the edge of the container.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

You and Farmbuck with them sticks LOL she doesn't seem to mind it so far.

 

[changeofpace2014]

you could raise the light a bit and help them stretch to your ideal..then lower the lights back down...I think my lst was helped by the strong light being really close...