Time to top this youngin'?

I was thinking about topping the taller plant because she's just getting too tall too fast. Plus these are only 24 days old from seed. Im using a T5 HO 2ft 4 bulb and 2, 23w CFLs. I'm a little limited on space, I CAN lower the shelf they're laying on and raise the light but I'm pretty sure when she starts stretching going into flower, it will just be too big, and will dominate of the smaller for light. I MUST NOT HAVE THIS!!! I love my babies equally. Also, the taller plant has shown quite a few alternating nodes, but no pre flowers on either of them.

Anyone?

bump. bump.

top away!

So, The taller plant is getting topped today 2-3 hours after my first water since transplanting. Is the best way to do this is an hour before the lights go on, water the plants, then another hour or 2 after the lights have been on, top the plant? So the stem is a little softer and it has a full cycle to recover? Am I right about that??

The tallest plant has shown numerous alternating nodes, but the other shorter plant hasn't... I only have that single grow room so I'm pretty much at the mercy of how fast the smaller one grows. I'm going to switch as soon as I see alternators or pre-flowers. I wanted to flower at about 12" but it doesn't look like I'll be able to do that because she's growing SO SLOW, and I have a feeling the taller will just blow past her even after being topped, maybe even twice... I'm topping the taller plant about 2 maybe 3 nodes from the top, Is that too far down?

Also, how soon is too soon for flowering... It will be 4 weeks from seed this coming Monday (the 20th)

Any advice on what actions I should be taking to possibly speed up the little ones growth? ANY ADVICE IS WELCOME!! If you see anything that I could be doing different I'D LIKE TO HEAR IT!

are u using nutes and if so what are u using and how often

fabfun said:

are u using nutes and if so what are u using and how often

Click to expand...

I have FoxFarm 'Big Grow' and I've only used it for one watering at about 3 weeks. I'm using "Aurora - Root Organics Soil" and it was already hot with nutes. I transplanted at 22 days (the 13th) to what you see in the pictures, watered them pretty well and haven't watered since, so it's been about 4-5 days since last water. They were both pretty root bound so they are loving the new home. The soil is ready to be watered today which is when I planned to top. Should I add some nutes to the water today before I top? When I transplanted, I put the same soil as I used before so it's new hot soil. I was using half gallon pots before and now I'm using 2 gallon, so there was quite a bit of new soil added. I haven't seen any signs of burn or anything else suggesting the transplant was bad or the didn't take well to it. They started growing again on the next cycle.

When I used the nutes at 19 days, I saw signs of burn on the smaller plant but not the taller, and I think it was partly because it was too soon and I might have put too much (1 teaspoon / gallon). Also, I was kind of over watering at the time, which I have definitely pulled back on since I noticed.

try using half strength nutes and use them today when u water
a simple way to check if they need water is stick finger in soil a inch or 2 and if dry water
if u use tap water let sit for 24 hours with jug open if u dont already

When topping, don't count down, count up, starting with your first true node, not the one with a single leaf blade. When you have about 4-5 nodes and the plant has stretched a bit, count up TWO true nodes and then cut just the main stem, right above the new growth. This will give you 4 true mains that will flower as colas. The new growth and the two existing side branches are instructed by the plant to grow as main stems when it releases auxins after being topped.

Your first plant will give you a sizable top. If you clone or want to try it, now would be a good time.

Serapis said:

When topping, don't count down, count up, starting with your first true node, not the one with a single leaf blade. When you have about 4-5 nodes and the plant has stretched a bit, count up TWO true nodes and then cut just the main stem, right above the new growth. This will give you 4 true mains that will flower as colas. The new growth and the two existing side branches are instructed by the plant to grow as main stems when it releases auxins after being topped.

Your first plant will give you a sizable top. If you clone or want to try it, now would be a good time.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to count the 3 bladed leaf node as '0' and count 2 above that, right above the secondary growth canopy. I really hope I'll have enough light for these girls... I have a 2ft 4bulb T5 HO and 2 x 23w CFL's. When I switch 12/12 I'm going to add another 2 x 23w CFL's, or if I have the funds, I'll replace with 30-40w CFL's on all 4 fixtures. Next grow maybe I'll invest in a HPS and use the bottom chamber of the closet for veg and the top for flower

I really wish I could clone but I just don't have the space for a dome

As for adding nutes 4 days after transplanting to new soil (already nute hot soil), can anyone confirm this? I don't want to burn them since the newly stretching roots and grabbing into the new soil, I didn't think I really needed to add nutes, but maybe it's a good idea if I'm going to be topping a sizable amount off?

If it were me personally I would just slowly bend the bigger plant over to the side over a period of 2 or 3 days until its at a 90 degree angle. This is called Low Stress Training and it works really well because you aren't doing any damage to the plant and causing stress(hence the name). Its very normal for plants started together to differ in size and flowering one that is too tall can shadow the shorter one causing reduced yields. Otherwise, if you really want to top it go with Serapis advice, I haven't heard of a better method than that, its What I use on my mother plants and it will also cause the plant to bush out more.

So I topped today and am attempting to clone the top. For some reason I feel I did this all wrong, it looks really weird.

For the clone, I clipped the lowest fan leaves to lengthen the stem a bit so it would stay better in the soil. Yes, soil... I didn't have rockwool or anything fancy like that so I'm just using my regular organic soil. I'm not sure if that was even a good idea but that's all I could use. I put the clone into a half-cut plastic water bottle and then put into that tupperware container to kinda hold the leaves up. I poked some holes in the bottom for drainage too, and I have the CFL right above it.

BTW, the temp is really 80 degrees and 50% RH, I had the doors open so it was showing ambient temps.

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF I DID THIS RIGHT

bumpbump..

wish u would have had rockwool never done clone to soil hope it works got my fingers crossed for u keep me updated