Lst thoughts

[marthajeep]

Hey MP folks! It’s been over a decade since I’ve grown last and times have changed to say the least. So it’s time to grow! So I have two plants growing both around 3 weeks from germ. My setup is a 1,000w led 30” above with dimmers, my temp stays around 77 and humidity right about 50. No nutes. I’m growing RQS gorilla auto and Autoseeds dreamberry (trifoliate) both of which are just bellow 3.5 inches currently at day 20. Last night I started lst with no problems, but this is my question, I understand the point behind lst is to provide more light to the under sites, but my plants are so short and bushy that even after tying down I’m not really getting much more light to lower nodes. So is the fact that the top is being held down going to allow for the lower nodes to grow through the leaves even though they aren’t really getting much more light? I’ll include a pic of each (gorilla, gorilla side, dreamberry), post lst. Advice is much appreciated!

 

[Locked]

Hey MP folks! It’s been over a decade since I’ve grown last and times have changed to say the least. So it’s time to grow! So I have two plants growing both around 3 weeks from germ. My setup is a 1,000w led 30” above with dimmers, my temp stays around 77 and humidity right about 50. No nutes. I’m growing RQS gorilla auto and Autoseeds dreamberry (trifoliate) both of which are just bellow 3.5 inches currently at day 20. Last night I started lst with no problems, but this is my question, I understand the point behind lst is to provide more light to the under sites, but my plants are so short and bushy that even after tying down I’m not really getting much more light to lower nodes. So is the fact that the top is being held down going to allow for the lower nodes to grow through the leaves even though they aren’t really getting much more light? I’ll include a pic of each (gorilla, gorilla side, dreamberry), post lst. Advice is much appreciated!

I wouldn't waste much time trying to open them up. They are short and stocky. I stopped growing Autos a long time ago but with their limited lifespan and their size, I wouldn't worry about it. If they started stretching a bit then maybe revisit LST. jmo

 

[Lesso]

If they were photos i would say fim or top at this height, but i i think the concensus on autos is to let them do their thing.

 

[marthajeep]

I gave it a day and a few tucks. I know I was told to leave them alone, but isn’t this what I should be aiming for? 5+ Possible new main colas?

 

[stinkyattic]

I'd be more concerned with transitioning them onto a feeding regime than worrying about training , especially an auto. They're at a point where they need food, and they're gonna start telling you soon.

 

[thegloman]

1st of all, Welcome to MP Marthajeep!
Glad you found us!
I have a little experience with autos, and while they CAN be trained, the yield doesn't seem to increase by much if any.
At 20 days you Need to start a light feeding schedule. start 1/4 strength nutes 1 time weekly for 2 weeks then raise it to 1/2 strength for 2 weeks then go to full strength.
Just my opinion for what its worth, train photos. Leave the autos alone till you have 1 you just want to experiment on.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

If you weren't growing autos, you would be aiming for something like in post 4. However, you are growing autos. Anything (and I do mean anything) that you do that causes them stress (which causes them to quit growing and repair) is detrimental to autos and to their yield. Most serious growers do not grow autos for exactly this reason.

 

[marthajeep]

I'd be more concerned with transitioning them onto a feeding regime than worrying about training , especially an auto. They're at a point where they need food, and they're gonna start telling you soon.

Thanks stinkyattic, you were spot on. The DreamB Did just that about 2 days after your reply. I’m going to use roots organics grow and bloom which arrived today. I did a top dressing 1/2 strength this afternoon. I did also add organic calmag to my water (ro) bc it looks to me like I could possibly have deficiencies of both given that the rust spots I noticed were only on the oldest set of leaves. Take a look at the picture and let me know if I’ve diagnosed the problem and acted properly. Advice from others is also welcome.

 

[stinkyattic]

I'm those early single blade leaves, minor rust spots aren't uncommon nor particularly worrisome, and those are mild. Its a sign to take particular care not to overwater or let the soil and/or fert juice not to go any more acidic. You might be approaching the lower end of the pH range. If you are in small seedling pots, you're going to repot pretty soon anyway. If leaves on the next node start showing them, you'll definitely want to address that. Otherwise, I don't stress about them. Start weak with your fertilizer. My general rule is the first couple feedings should be either a half strength bloom fert or a quarter strength grow fert. Most folks go the weak grow food route but i persoally go with weak bloom. This has to do with easing them into their nitrogen food. I don't know anyone else who starts with bloom food lol but just slamming them hard with N right away is easy to burn them.
Learning to interpret the strange language of plants will help you become a more intuitive grower in the long run ; ) they are very specific in what they ask for... once you can see their signals and adjust accordingly, all that small print on the bottles just becomes a general guide.

 

[marthajeep]

It’s been 3 days since lst. I think the deficiency progressed just a touch, but I think I caught it early and the calmag is doing its job along with with their first feeling. Still a bit concerned that they are small, but I think it’s focused on growing out the side branches and sites. I’ve read through a ton of grow diaries of the same strain and some have mentioned it tends to take off once in flower. I just started to see preflowers in the last day or two, I’m just going to leave them alone for now aside from food and water and cross my fingers that they explode soon. Funny thing is two different strains growing almost identically, at least to this point. Day 22 Gorilla 1, Dreamberry 2.

 

[Surfer Joe]

I just topped a bunch of different auto strains at the 4th node and they are all doing fine and well into flower now. It didn't seem to slow them down at all and it's a much easier way to get a flatter canopy than having to keep tying stems down for LST.