How do I slow down/reduce/prevent the flower stretch?

O

outopotme

Active Member
So obviously these gals are a little bit too big, still learning the ropes in terms of reducing the “flower stretch” …would defoliation today and flipping the lights today reduce the plant from stretching? Defoliate flip defoliate again in a few days?

I thought I had this time already but few days later my disorientation job doesn’t even look like I did it defoliation. They’re animals. Shit just noticed I didn’t lollipop them good enough. Time is a bit of an issue I got to get these things done and over with but I don’t want to compromise the quality yield shouldn’t be an issue since this thing is packed tight what should I do from here?

Any advice from experienced growers would be appreciated:)
 

Attachments

Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
A good way to keep stretching down is tuning your spectrum and keeping light levels high. Staying with 4200k for the first 2 weeks of flower will help keep down stretch
 
Last edited:
Flowki

Flowki

Well-Known Member
PopAndSonGrows said:
Leaving the lower canopy stay bushy until about week 3 flower, then clean up/lollipop.
Click to expand...
Yeah I noticed that too, I wondered if this was some kind of plant response to leaves being eaten by small animals, grow taller, and hope there are no giraffes ;p. Or it's just a coincidence, and the stretch is normal regardless.

outopotme said:
So obviously these gals are a little bit too big..
Click to expand...
I would personally put a net over the top, sliding it down as far as you can, and weave the higher tops under it, so it will act as LST if done carefully. You will have to remove lower leaves at some point, as they will trap a lot of moisture under the net.

If they outgrow the first net use a second net. You will have to pre-plan the distances so you know you have the light head room to allow it. Alternatively you can try using string from the tops that are too high, and tie them down a bit toward the net if they are too tall to weave, hopefully being enough to stop them getting heat stressed. Monster crop if you have too, better than burnt tops.

Just keep in mind that ''stretch'' is only undesirable due to indoor limitations. It is a natural thing, over a shorter time (aside from spectrum or light distance issues). Some strains stretch far more than others, and all plants in general are more happy if they can stretch out more naturally. Sure a net can be used, but the whole point of that is to let them stretch, but sideways.

Oh btw, plants too close together may begin to compete with each other for light, stretching more. Essentially, I guess that is a big part of why they do it anyway, they want to get to a certain light threshold. Using less plants and leaving them some room will also reduce unwanted amounts of stretch.
 
Last edited:
ImpulsiveGrower

ImpulsiveGrower

Well-Known Member
outopotme said:
So obviously these gals are a little bit too big, still learning the ropes in terms of reducing the “flower stretch” …would defoliation today and flipping the lights today reduce the plant from stretching? Defoliate flip defoliate again in a few days?

I thought I had this time already but few days later my disorientation job doesn’t even look like I did it defoliation. They’re animals. Shit just noticed I didn’t lollipop them good enough. Time is a bit of an issue I got to get these things done and over with but I don’t want to compromise the quality yield shouldn’t be an issue since this thing is packed tight what should I do from here?

Any advice from experienced growers would be appreciated:)
Click to expand...
I personally would’ve waited to lollipop them bc I feel that makes them stretch more. When they have all their side branches and foliage still there’s not as much a need to grow vertical but once you lollipop the plant puts all energy into wuts left and that’s the growth tips which in turn makes the plant grow more it seems. So maybe next time try waiting until the stretch is over before removing the lower branches and foliage.
 
S

strider26554

Member
yeah, uh ...i might not be the best one to give advice in this dept, ive got some very dank old school skunk indica plants that are now being shuffled in and out of my garage daily because they got too tall during stretch. they ARE looking nice now tho. it is by far my favorite strain, third year of it, but i havnt found a way to limit stretch except to induce flowering a lil earlier than normal.
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
strider26554 said:
yeah, uh ...i might not be the best one to give advice in this dept, ive got some very dank old school skunk indica plants that are now being shuffled in and out of my garage daily because they got too tall during stretch. they ARE looking nice now tho. it is by far my favorite strain, third year of it, but i havnt found a way to limit stretch except to induce flowering a lil earlier than normal.
Click to expand...
Topping and manifolding or LST can help. Keeping the nodes tighter during veg helps too. A bluer spectrum makes tighter nodes.
 
O

outopotme

Active Member
Jjgrow420 said:
The only way to keep stretching down is tuning your spectrum and keeping light levels high. Staying with 4200k for the first 2 weeks of flower will help keep down stretch
Click to expand...
I have growers choice roi-720s. I yet to flower under them, I was thinking that with the heavy blue in the spectrum it may help. Fingers crossed. May get some 460nm blue LEDs + uva/uvb on. Will reptile uvb set on an off through out the day for 2 hours help? I read defoliation helps, and in theory, if I defoliate them which since I’m causing the plant damage, would consistent defoliation and maybe lower nuts im at 950- 11000 using jacks 321. I read lowering nitrogen during the stretch will also help keep height down.

no one has yet to answer my question lol. I feel like you gotta ask one question at a time on here lol. Not you personally just in general. I’ve asked will topping when absolutely nessessary during the stretch mess up the entire plants quality? Yield isn’t an issue as there’s enough plant mass in there to without a doubt provide max possible yield for that Sized tent. I wish I could just take them outside to get stupid big. I got one that’s a 9 ft jack herer snd I still haven’t flowered it lmao I dont know Why I’m so hesitant to flower photoperiods. I think outos made the mini “phobia” if you will worse since I got to experience the flower phase an it’s made me want to make sure the plants are all at their absolute best. It’s becoming an issue not gonna lie. I wish I knew people where I’m living now cause I got full size plants that just need flowered and done. If I was living in my hometown I could’ve easily hit someone up to split 50/50 and provide all the equipment. I simply don’t have any space lol. I wish I would’ve known about the stretch.
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
outopotme said:
I have growers choice roi-720s. I yet to flower under them, I was thinking that with the heavy blue in the spectrum it may help. Fingers crossed. May get some 460nm blue LEDs + uva/uvb on. Will reptile uvb set on an off through out the day for 2 hours help? I read defoliation helps, and in theory, if I defoliate them which since I’m causing the plant damage, would consistent defoliation and maybe lower nuts im at 950- 11000 using jacks 321. I read lowering nitrogen during the stretch will also help keep height down.

no one has yet to answer my question lol. I feel like you gotta ask one question at a time on here lol. Not you personally just in general. I’ve asked will topping when absolutely nessessary during the stretch mess up the entire plants quality? Yield isn’t an issue as there’s enough plant mass in there to without a doubt provide max possible yield for that Sized tent. I wish I could just take them outside to get stupid big. I got one that’s a 9 ft jack herer snd I still haven’t flowered it lmao I dont know Why I’m so hesitant to flower photoperiods. I think outos made the mini “phobia” if you will worse since I got to experience the flower phase an it’s made me want to make sure the plants are all at their absolute best. It’s becoming an issue not gonna lie. I wish I knew people where I’m living now cause I got full size plants that just need flowered and done. If I was living in my hometown I could’ve easily hit someone up to split 50/50 and provide all the equipment. I simply don’t have any space lol. I wish I would’ve known about the stretch.
Click to expand...
Supercrop them. Or tie them down.
 
O

outopotme

Active Member
strider26554 said:
yeah, uh ...i might not be the best one to give advice in this dept, ive got some very dank old school skunk indica plants that are now being shuffled in and out of my garage daily because they got too tall during stretch. they ARE looking nice now tho. it is by far my favorite strain, third year of it, but i havnt found a way to limit stretch except to induce flowering a lil earlier than normal.
Click to expand...
If I could and not get thrown out of my apartment complex I would. I got some rn if I did they would reach a good 20ft. My jack herer I topped so many times it technically grew 15 ft, I got it down to 8.5-9 rn
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Ok I’ll answer your Q... I’ve said this before yet I’ve not seen one grower try this besides me. It is probably too late to do much for these plants other than top and reveg or pinch/LST them but there is a way to prevent or eliminate stretching altogether and it begins in early veg phase. Tight nodal spacing makes big buds later on; plants vegged under intense lighting stack up nodes tightly so more bud sites can develop in the same amount of space.
It is the drastic transition from veg to flowering that triggers a plant’s stretch response. Most indoor pot growers will flip from something like 18/6 to 12/12 which triggers flowering but the sun doesn’t do this in nature. The sun gradually changes to 12/12 over the summer into fall. You almost never see a lanky stretching plant outside under the sun because the transition to bloom phase happens gradually and also because the sun is as intense as it gets with perfect spectrum. If you gradually reduce the amount of light hours indoors to mimic the suns natural cycle you can diminish or even eliminate stretching altogether.
So start off by vegging under proper lighting intensity and spectrum to induce tight nodal spacing. That in and of itself will help increase yield but if avoiding stretch and developing plants with the most yield potential is the goal then reduce the hours of light gradually over a few weeks instead of just flipping to bloom in the conventional way. If let’s say you are vegging at 18/6 the next week go to 17/7 or 16/8. Reduce the hours of daylight by one or two hours per week. When they reach 14/10 they should begin to pre-flower; at 13/11 they could start to throw pistils. You can get them to be in veg and bloom phase at the same time which usually makes for bushy plants with lots of bud sites. You can continue to go into full bloom 12/12 at this point or pull them back to veg them even longer but you can almost eliminate stretching if you do this gradually. It’s a great way to sex out reg seeds and/or to “monster” your plants for maximum yield.
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
Richard Drysift said:
Ok I’ll answer your Q... I’ve said this before yet I’ve not seen one grower try this besides me. It is probably too late to do much for these plants other than top and reveg or pinch/LST them but there is a way to prevent or eliminate stretching altogether and it begins in early veg phase. Tight nodal spacing makes big buds later on; plants vegged under intense lighting stack up nodes tightly so more bud sites can develop in the same amount of space.
It is the drastic transition from veg to flowering that triggers a plant’s stretch response. Most indoor pot growers will flip from something like 18/6 to 12/12 which triggers flowering but the sun doesn’t do this in nature. The sun gradually changes to 12/12 over the summer into fall. You almost never see a lanky stretching plant outside under the sun because the transition to bloom phase happens gradually and also because the sun is as intense as it gets with perfect spectrum. If you gradually reduce the amount of light hours indoors to mimic the suns natural cycle you can diminish or even eliminate stretching altogether.
So start off by vegging under proper lighting intensity and spectrum to induce tight nodal spacing. That in and of itself will help increase yield but if avoiding stretch and developing plants with the most yield potential is the goal then reduce the hours of light gradually over a few weeks instead of just flipping to bloom in the conventional way. If let’s say you are vegging at 18/6 the next week go to 17/7 or 16/8. Reduce the hours of daylight by one or two hours per week. When they reach 14/10 they should begin to pre-flower; at 13/11 they could start to throw pistils. You can get them to be in veg and bloom phase at the same time which usually makes for bushy plants with lots of bud sites. You can continue to go into full bloom 12/12 at this point or pull them back to veg them even longer but you can almost eliminate stretching if you do this gradually. It’s a great way to sex out reg seeds and/or to “monster” your plants for maximum yield.
Click to expand...
I mentioned the tighter node spacing during veg. The negative temperature differential thing helps too.

But it makes sense that a slower transition to 12/12 might help too. But I've never tried it myself. I actually did that my first grow back in the 90's but I didn't know WTF I was doing really back then. It's just more work to change the cycle by an hour each day.

Respect though Drysift. You have a lot of good advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top