# I want to keep my plants small and bushy



## maineharvest (May 20, 2007)

I am limited on space in my frow closet and wanted to know if I kept my plants in smaller pot would they stay shorter.  I want them to get bushy but not to grow tall.  I know I can top them but I was just wondering if a smaller pot would make a smaller plant.  I think I read that somewhere.  This is my first indoor grow so everybody let me know what you think of the pics.  I think they look pretty good.  Tomorrow I will be seperating the three that are in the same pot.  The pic of the tiny little plant you can barely see is my afghani that i just started.   All the other plants are seeds from random bags of weed.


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## hgih (May 21, 2007)

a smaller pot will just root bound the plant and it will stop growing try using air cooled lights and getting the light as close as possible to keep them bushy also night temps closer to your day temps will keep them from streching too much


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## vburton517 (May 21, 2007)

The best way to keep it small and in a smaller pot would to be, to trim the roots occasionally so that it will not out grow the pot, along with topping & LST. Mostly trimming the roots, from keeping it from becoming root bound. To do that is gently lift the plant out of its pot and see if the roots are getting wrapped around the bottom, if so then cut off about 1/2" or so, so that it'll be able to grow out again, and you won't have to change to pot. It will not stress the plant if you do it quickly and gently....


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## PuffTheMagicDragon (May 21, 2007)

that will work but will slow the growth process the best way is to let it grow naturally and buy a strain that dose not grow verry tall


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## maineharvest (May 21, 2007)

thanks for all the advise.  right now the pots i have them in now I think are two gallons.  Is that big enough?  I could go a little bigger but not much.  Do you think a three gallon conainer would be big enough?


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## Juggalo420 (May 21, 2007)

just top your plant...


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## Object505 (May 21, 2007)

I belive the easiest way to keep your plants short is. 

#1 Use a Metal Halide light if you can. This light in particular keeps plants from streching too much during the veg phase. 

#2 Top your plants (Search for topping in the forum.

#3 Tie down your plants. 

Tie a thred to the top of your plant and then graduly bend the plant over and tie it in an arc shape. Don't do it all at once you may break or stress your plant allot. But done over time what youll get is many colas in a short bushy plant.

Look at this AK 47 under the HPS Its about 12 inches tall but about 2 feet around. With lots of budding sites. This plant is in its first week of budding STAY tuned for more updates about how this plant turns out.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/Gallery/showgallery.php/ppuser/6050/cat/500

Good luck.


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## maineharvest (May 21, 2007)

thanks for all the advise everyone.  I had my plants under a 400 hps but i switched them to floro and put the light right on top of them and they have stopped growing up and are now getting big fat leaves.


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## TheStickyIcky (May 22, 2007)

Top them a couple times.


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## maineharvest (May 22, 2007)

i know i can top them.  the question was, can i keep them in a smaller pot?  My closet is small in hieght and width so i wanted to know if i could keep them in a two gallon pot. thats what i have them in now and i cant go any bigger cause my closet is too small.  Im just trying to work with what I got here.  thanks for the input.


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## cjf2612 (May 22, 2007)

Stick with smaller pots and your denying your plants the required limits set by mother nature for growing mj. This leads to inferior plants and ultimatly bud. 

You can stick with your small pots given space limitations but owing to time,effort etc most people will tell you that if you aint gonna do it properly it aint worth doing at all.

Just my 2 cents worth.


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## maineharvest (May 22, 2007)

good point.  so what size pot do you recomend for an indoor grow?  Im going to bud my first round of plants at an early age and i just started a couple afghanis that i will let grow for the right amount of time.


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## cjf2612 (May 22, 2007)

Once ive germed seeds and their 2.5+ weeks old and going strong I put in 6 in pots and generally go to 10in for flowering. 

About your space issues, my suggestion would be that you may be growing less plants in the space available but 3or4 plants will grow bigger/stronger and more potent then 8or9 less inferior plants in the same space.
(Im sure you knew this-dont meen to talk to you like an idiot)

Afgani's are a short plant,plus has a pretty high THC content to and even better it's easy to grow.

Hope this answered

CJ


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## maineharvest (May 22, 2007)

right now ive got them in ten inch pots and the pots are six inches deep.  I am kinda an idiot when it comes to growing indoors cause ive never done it before.  But i am learning a lot from this site and by trial and error.  I have allways grown outdoors and it was so much easier.  I would just water them and give them neuts and let mother nature do the rest.  These plants ive got going are looking awesome,  i really didnt expect to do this good on my first time.  I wish i could figure out how to post some pics.


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## cjf2612 (May 22, 2007)

Thats cool.  Your on the right track then.  Maybe u could look into LST too.


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## maineharvest (May 22, 2007)

whats LST?


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## cjf2612 (May 22, 2007)

Low Stress Training
You tie your plant down at the tip and as it continues to grow you train it round the edge of the pot tying it down at strategic points. This maximises space. Its grows into a 'bush' and the finished rusults are exactly the same except it just doesnt look as sexy. Ive read it can be done in as little as 2ft high but im not sure about that one!!!!!


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## maineharvest (May 22, 2007)

so you keep tieing it to the edge of the pot so it grows in a perfect circle all the way around the edge?  I think i will experement with that on one of my plants!!  Know where i can find some pictures of this?


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## cjf2612 (May 22, 2007)

*How-To : LST (Low Stress Training)* 
Well here we go, LST (Low Stress Training) the ultimate way to maximize your yield.

Before we begin lets get some knowledge on what you will be looking at.

Light Brown : Pot Outline
Green thick Lines : Main Stem 
Small Thin Lines with Green Balls on top : Fan leafs
Yellow Lines : Side Branches
Red : Tiedown Metal Hooks (or thread whichever item you use, i use Hooks its easier)

The Text in the box : First digit is Step No. and Second Digit is Pot Size, below the numbers is the type of view your looking at (either from the SIDE or from the TOP)


Now that thats out of the way lets get it on..

Please note, you dont have to do it this way, its just the idea of how to do LST, this is the way i did it and you can see the end result of 4 weeks of growth this way in my signature picture where it says FIM/LST. Some may opt to use the eggcrate method where you utilize an eggcrate around the pot and tie it down to that with zipties instead of using string or hooks running from the pot itself... this way you can cover more square footage and maximize your yield even more.

Ok heres the STEPS PICTURE for you to follow along with.






STEP 1 : Grow your plant from Seed or Clone to 3 or 4 leaf sets, some use 5 but i always use 3 because after 3rd leaf set the main stem starts to harden and it will be harder to bend over your plant properly without breaking the main stem.

STEP 2 : Using a metal hook (i cut small sections of cloths hanger and bend a U shape at the end as a hook) bend over your plant with metal hook at the last internode (space between the last set of fanleafs and the next to last) and stick the metal hook into your dirt to hold down the stem.

STEP 3 : This is really not a step, just waiting time... Take note of how the top of the plant that was bent down will bend back upwards towards the light, this could take anywhere from 3 hours to 1 day. Under my 1000 Watt Metal Halide light it does it in under 3 hours.

STEP 4 : Veg and dont tie down until you have a new leaf set. You will notice Side branching has started already because good light is getting to the main stem areas next to each fanleaf stem intersection with the main stem.

STEP 5 : Depending on your starting pot size you may have to transplant. If you started out with a large pot, repeat step 2 over and over again holding the main stem down with hooks until you reach the end of the pot. In this illustration to save time and drawings, i started out with a small pot and it reached the end of the pot after the first tiedown. I repotted it into a 10 inch pot which will be my final pot size for this plant in order for me to continue the LST Bends around the inside edge of the pot.

STEP 6 : Now that your new leaf set has formed you have enough length in growth since the first bend(s) to allow you to start bending the stem horizontally around the inside edge of the pot. Use metal hooks again to keep this bend in place. Side branches should be coming along very nicely.

STEP 7 : Continue repeating steps 4 and 6, allowing the plant to grow and then keep tieing it down along the inside edge of pot using metal hooks (or whatever your using) Side branches should be forming and growing up towards the light.

STEP 8 : Continue to repeat step 7 until you are all the way around the pot... when you reach the point where your plant first met the edge of the plant Top the plant (cut off the very top of the plant ) and hold it down horizontally with a metal hook.... During all this time of repeating step 7 you should also be tieing down horizontally the new branches that have formed from the main stem as much as possible until you use up as much space as possible inside the pot as well , the outter branches growing over the outside edge of the pot you can hold down as well with string to keep those tops even with the inner branches.

STEP 9 : After you have used up all possible space inside the pot (or your eggcrate) its time to just let it flower.. This is a side view of how it will and should look by that time with all the side branches growing upwards towards the light.... these will all become Collas unlike a non LST plant will only have one colla.

During flowering and even before due to lack of light on the main stem fan leafs which is all the way to the bottom almost against the soil those fanleafs will die off anyways, i usually cut these off the main stem right after the branch has grown out in that area, keeps things neat down below where you will need good airflow during flowering.. so go ahead and take off any fanleafs coming off the main stem that is going around the inside edge of the pot.

Set your timer to 12/12 and watch it bloom 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




There is no Step 10 in the picture but we all know what that is 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 HARVEST!!!


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## maineharvest (May 22, 2007)

hey thanks cfj.  im going to try it on one plant and see what happens.  wish me luck


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## cjf2612 (May 22, 2007)

No problem, anytime, we are all on this site for the same thing.  Remember appreciation can be shown by adding to reputations.

Good luck with your grow my friend and remember if you dont ask you dont learn.


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## TheStickyIcky (May 22, 2007)

LST is an something that a lot of people are opting for these days. I'd say its worth a try.


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## entropy82 (Jan 1, 2009)

you can always use "super-cropping" i.e., pinching the apical meristem, to minimize height growth.


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## andy52 (Jan 1, 2009)

thats why i put my plants into flower at an early stage.about 6-8 inches tall.i also like plants that are around 3.5-4 ft tall.


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