What to do? Small grow area

Hey, first time grower, totally forgot for about 2 years that i had seeds in my dresser, but they were in a room temperature dark place and apparently still work. I had about 12...screwed some up being a first timer and some just didn't take....so im left with one haha. It seems to be growing strong and so far small n bushy, though it is still very young 2-3 weeks from germination.

My problem is my grow space...Being incognito is key and only have a small old stereo cuboard. Its almost 3 feet high with a foot and a half deep and wide...Got lights that suck and aren't that hangable but rather proped up by books and than do go over it so this and a very small fan in there make it a bit smaller.... For now this set up is working as i got 2 CFLs on the one plant, good ventilation and enough water. From what I've read that is enough lumen output... My problem is going to be once this thing starts takin off (which hopefully it does).

How do i deal with having a plant that has some height but not much room to grow sideways?

LST - Low Stress Training
idea to tie the top the plant down to edge of the pot, and have the plant grow around the pot
i grow in a space very similar in size to yours, Lst with cfls will likely fit, but you may to start LSTing soon before the plant stem hardens

Yeah i was looking into LST, but im afraid to do it as its my only plant (no other seeds either). I might have to suck it up and do it anyway....I don't think its tall enough to do yet as its only about 5 inches tall, Just starting to really grow n get all of its first pairs of leaves. Is there anyway to just prune it everytime something gets a little too long? Or is that just gonna stunt the growth or kill it if i do it too much?

this is the ideal time to start, LST is not hard to do
trick is start gradual, and counter tie the plant at the base, that insures that it won't pull out by the roots
be patient and gentle, it will bend
now for pruning, that's not something i've tried yet
you could top it i suppose, but i'd think you'd need 2-3 toppings(or more) to fit in such a small space

Make sure it's a female before you knock yourself out.

Yea, the base of the plant is what im worried about the most. What's the best way of tieing that down? I read on this forum that the top can be held down with a small part of a bent close hanger...
I will try to get some pictures up within the next couple minutes or so....I know its pretty home-made and makeshift...but if it wasn't free it wasn't really. There are these little green hairs coming from the V in the branches...at first i thought that ment they were female...but everytime i see something that shows you how to find out its always bright white and much later down the line...

i'm a DIY type myself, making do with stuff lying around is a very 'green' way of growing
what i use is string and twist ties, string goes to the pot hole(or any place to attach to), the twist tie is at the end of the string and goes to the plant
the nice thing about twist ties(other than being free) is that they aren't too strong, just strong enough
make a guess of the length and bend the tie, then try it to bend the plant, if it feels to long then adjust the tie bend, same thing if it feels to short, very forgiving
do the 1st one at the base of the plant, firm but not overly tight
the green stipules(i think, not sure of name) are always there, male or female

I'll think about it and probably try LST in the next day or two....heres a couple pictures....I know you can't see the green hairs as my webcam sucks some pretty big ones, but am i wrong and green hairs can show sexuality just as much as white?

Its drooping a bit, but thats cause i just gave it a good watering after a bit more than 2 days without any

meant to say "if it wasn't free it wasn't worth it"..pretty sure ya got the point though

looks healthy, a great start
sexing this early is unlikely, maybe not impossible because there are few strains that will sex themselves very early
but that requires some magnification to look with, at this point still a crap shoot
this is the stage that i've lst'd at, just done 2 of them, both did have good results
1 was classic, a 'ring' of vertical buds around the pot
the other(PPP from nirvana) didn't lst so well, it was too dense in flower, so was more of a crooked plant
still yielded well, just strange looking

Just dont want to fuck up my only plant....probably gonna end up flipping a coin

anyway you got some pictures of yours at this stage during LST
?

here's the PPP grow, apparently my memory isn't what it used to be, much larger when i started the LST than i thought
link: https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/316379-nirvana-ppp-78w-cfl.html
must be i did the other LST, which was a nl#5, still searching for that log

do you have pictures of it during LST? do you think i should try without LST for my first plant ever, just so i get the hang of growing?....currently not comfortable changing anything with my plant as it seems to be growing nice n steady, but still open minded

the grow log has pics of LST, it was a funny plant for LST since it was so squat
but you can try to grow to completion in your space
my space is just a little taller, 38 inches, and i've been able to finish every thing i've started in there, did have some close calls though
but if you want to do that, flower will have to be started soon, i flower at 5 inches/5 nodes, and those usually finish at 2 to 3 feet tall

really? flower that quick? doesn't even have all its normal pairs of leaves yet though? the node is simply the V of the side branches right?

the node is the V, results vary a lot from strain to strain
but most plants from seed don't flower all that quick, they will continue to veg in 12/12 for a while
sex shows at 2 weeks or so, and during flower cycle you'll get up to an inch of vertical growth a day(in the worst case)
add to that the extra growth in full flower, plants can get out of control very fast
in general, it's better to flower sooner than later, a little less bud as opposed to a monster that outgrows your space

Well you aren't going to hurt the plant with LST...hell you can rip pieces off and such not and as long as you give them time to recover it will all be alright.

Missnu, first time so don't know all the ins and outs, but was afraid of the base/roots coming out as it doesnt seem that strong yet.
Growone - Flower at 2.5 inches? (what it is now)...what do you think? What you said makes sence about how in flower it can still get way outta control.
I have just over 2 feet when you count the lights and pot....closer to 3 feet without lights/pot

infowarrior420 said:

... Growone - Flower at 2.5 inches? (what it is now)...what do you think? What you said makes sence about how in flower it can still get way outta control. I have just over 2 feet when you count the lights and pot....closer to 3 feet without lights/pot

Click to expand...

probably flowering at 2.5 or 5 inches won't be too different, many strains won't become mature enough to flower until they hit some thresh hold
you may be able to squeeze out some more space with clever lighting, i.e. space the lights at the top and the top of the plant will have the lights at the side
the plant top is much thinner than the middle, i use this trick in my grow setup to keep everything small as possible