plants are too big!! HELP

[Bgrow91]

so i currently have an issue of running out of space. i am growing in a 10x10 room and ceilings are 10 feet but with lights i have about a little over 8 ft. and i am already having problems with burning my water leaves the flowers are ok but im just getting worried since i am only 4 weeks into flower.

my question is what should i do. should i lower my ballast to 600 instead of super lumens since im using a lumatek. or should i top them again and use all the current tops that i cut for hash. i had to top 2 weeks into flower cause i had the same problem but they litterally grew back over night.

they are covered in sugar and smell soooo good i hate to cutt any of it right now!!

thanks for all help. happy growingggg

 

[Roddy]

Bending and tying off isn't an option? I wouldn't top at this stage, seems like it might be too stressful and would surely slow the bud progress if not stunt bud growth....mho, wonder what the pros think?

 

[Bgrow91]

ive heard that bending and tying down is a good option but the buds are already so heavy and ive topped each one at least 4 times. i wouuld have to tie down all the tops and i am worried the plant would fall over...... last night i switched them to 600watts and when i woke up my temps were better my room was 71 instead of 78 and the leaves didnt seem to burn any more over night im just worried about not getting enough light to the corners and outskirts of my room.

sorry i will post pics when lights turn on tonight.

 

[Hushpuppy]

I definitely would not top them at this point as it will really damage the yield. I have seen this first hand. You can do a super-cropping trick that I had to do the first couple times growing the Blueberry Punch. Go down the stems about 1' from the tops and squeeze the stems between your finger and thumb. Do this on an internode between leaf/branch nodes. Squeeze them at different angles until you feel the inner part of the stem crush a bit.

Do this until the stem is soft enough that the branch will bend over and stay bent over. do it gently so that you break the stem open, but if you "crush" the stem well enough it will not break. This trick works very well for slowing upward growth and will not harm the yield. Do it to every branch that is getting within a foot of the lights and they will heal themselves just fine. Some of them will actually stand back up unless you do it well enough and/or there is significant weight to hold it down. Trust me this will work quite well for slowing the upward growth and it shouldn't pull the plants over as you are only bending the top 1' of growth.

 

[Bgrow91]

i am very familiar with super cropping. i never thought of that. but i am going to give it a try tonight. it sounds like a great and simple idea.

what do you think about leaving them at 600 watts. i have 3 air cooled hoods that were running on 1000watt plus super lumens untill yesterday and the water leaves started to burn. should i raise them to 1000watt or leave at 600watt. im just worried about really stunting them from giving them such less lighting.

thanks for the awesome input hushpuppy!! pics are coming tonight

 

[brimck325]

i dont think many practice any topping during flower, i would stop a week before flower but i'm sure opinions vary...peace

 

[Hushpuppy]

That depends. Since you will be bending them over and increasing the room between the light and plants, that should eliminate the burning problem. However, I have to ask how many lights do you have running in that room? If it is just the 1 light then your vast upward growth is "stretching" from not having enough light within the 100sq ft grow space. That being the case, you will have to keep the ballast turned up to get as much light as possible. In a 10x10 space, you need 8 600w hps or 4 1000w to get the proper lumens needed. If you aren't utilizing the whole space for plants then you need to close in the area under the light to as close as possible with reflective material so that the lumens and light energy are not so dispersed across the room.

The leaf burning; if it is only the top leaves under the light then the supercropping will help that, but if it is further down the plant then there is something else going on, possibly heat or nutrient deficiency. I am interested to see some pics of this.

 

[Locked]

I sure wldnt top them this far into flower...pinch, bend, and tie.

 

[Hick]

"4 weeks in"....... the stretch should... be about over..IME

 

[Bgrow91]

thanks for all the help everybody.

but to answer questions. i have 3 hoods up. and they have the ability to run at 400 600 1000 and super lumens. i have super cropped them like you said and it has worked already. im hoping the upwards growth is over. i will put them at 1000 watt for the rest of the time. and yes the burning was only on the top of the leaves and no where else on the plant. and ive heard that "super lumens" are known to burn plants if too close.... but i was contemplating putting a 4th light up but with temps in the room being a steady 77 when lights are on and 68 when they are off i dont want to risk getting the room too hot. and it seems that the 3 1000s are doing just fine.
the only thing i would do different is put them in 10 gallon smart pots instead of 15. the smell and sugar on these are AMAZING.being a lemon OG i knew it would have a great smell. but ive never smelt anything like this before very very sweet smelling everything is completely covered. even the outer water leaves have tons of sugar. im excited about the wax that will be made from it.

here are some pics. sorry for the horrbible quality my iphone and camera wont let me upload pics to hear. so i have to use my laptop!! hopefully better pics will be up soon.

HAPPY GROWING AND THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL INPUT :icon_smile: :icon_smile: :icon_smile:

 

[Hushpuppy]

Good to hear that you got it under control. Like Hick said, the stretch should be just about over, and having the multiple lights pretty much rules out low light stretch. Man, if the leaves are already frosty at 4 weeks flower you will have some killer wax when its done

 

[bubba887]

That setup looks rediculously famaliar .

Looking nice also, congrats on getting her under control.