Does this bush need a trim? - First Time Grow

Greetings Plant Lovers,

So this White Thunder plant from Kera Seeds is 25 days into veg. It's been topped once and has been getting some LST love every other day or so. It's in a 3gal smart-pot which is 12" across to give some idea of the plant's size. The plan is to let the plant veg for another 2 or so weeks. This leads me to my question, should this bush get a little trim? Seems like there are a whole lot of leaves on this little sucker. Clearly the goal is to help the plant channel as much energy as possible to tips that will ultimately become colas. So should this plant get a trim, or should it be left in all it's bushy glory? The aim is to max out yield without causing the plant too much stress during this first grow.

Bushy and compact
Top view
Close up of top view

Suggestions and opinions welcome!

Looks like some nice LSTing.

xican22 said:

Looks like some nice LSTing.

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Thanks Xican. Using "unfolded" paper-clips has made it pretty easy. Plus they can be moved around easily as the plant grows. But like most first-timers, I'm always wondering if things are being done correctly.

Nice idea on paper clips. I'm using cotton string on my LST grow. Just keep it simple, and your plant will grow just fine.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Xican, much appreciated! A pineapple sativa (also from Kera Seeds) shares the tent with the bushy fellow. It was seeded on the same day, but it's growth has been disappointing so far. That said, being a first timer I have no idea what's "normal growth" for either of these plants. Below's a pic of the girls from a few days ago.

Side by side
Pineapple Sativa - FIM'd two days ago - seems healthy, but very small.

They all grow different.... I have 3 bag seeds going and my runt seedling is now the fastest growing plant.

The yellow pot was my runt.


The plants in round pots I'm LST-ing in circle around pot and the other I'm LST-ing horizontal. This is my 1st time trying these LST techniques.

Looks like yall working on that knew high stress training (HST) in here, keep up the good work.

I totally was hoping for something else...very misleading title of your thread ass hole

ChingOwn said:

I totally was hoping for something else...very misleading title of your thread ass hole

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LoL /*\

ChingOwn said:

I totally was hoping for something else...very misleading title of your thread ass hole

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LOL! - No, not that kind of party here Ching. Stay tuned though, hopefully you'll see something sexy soon...

xican22 said:

They all grow different.... I have 3 bag seeds going and my runt seedling is now the fastest growing plant.

The yellow pot was my runt.

The plants in round pots I'm LST-ing in circle around pot and the other I'm LST-ing horizontal. This is my 1st time trying these LST techniques.

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Sweet set-up Xican! I was reading about doing the circle LST. Seems like it can give some nice yields in a compact space. Keep posting your progress!
I'm trying to keep things simple for this first run, but I'm getting a lot of ideas for round two! How far along are these guys? My runt seems to be picking up the pace a little, but more growth would be nice. They're getting switched to 12/12 in two weeks so the runt's only got a little time to get it's act together.

White Thunder day 27 of veg before LST
After just a little LST love. It gets a little love every other day or so.
Close up of the "unfolded" paper-clip technique.
The runt (Pineapple Sativa)
Runt side view

Sweet looking grow bro.. Those paperclips hold your branches down? I use wire coat hangers and sometimes the branches are so strong they pull it up from the soil..

ebcrew said:

Sweet looking grow bro.. Those paperclips hold your branches down? I use wire coat hangers and sometimes the branches are so strong they pull it up from the soil..

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Hey EB. Yeah, I have the same issue with the branches pulling up the paper-clips. Seems like the bigger the clips the better, since it allows them to go deeper in the soil. Also, I have the best luck when LSTing immediately after watering. The soil is firmer and holds the clips better right after being watered. More recently I've started adding a "kink" to the bottom of the clips which seems to be working pretty well to keep them down. That said, as the branches get thicker they are trying harder to do their own thing.

A nice big paper-clip with the "kink" I mentioned. This is working pretty well so far.

The plant may "out-grow" this method soon, but so far it's working fine. I may even get lucky and find some even bigger paper-clips!