Big ass tree split and broken from weight - how to avoid in future?

Lion-O

Active Member
Didn't get photo yet, as this happened this morning. The tree is maybe 4 ft tall in 5 gallon hydro bucket. I generally adjust/water them an hour or two before lights off in the morning (I have two in flower now). The larger one in its own 4x4x6.5' tent was partially fallen over this morning. Damnit!

As I was pulling it up, branches were breaking left and right, before I knew it, the damn thing looked like this:
__\__/__
Yup, big split in the middle, branches all spread out mostly flat with a couple upright. Damnit! I grabbed yoyo's I already ordered off Amazon (yeah, shoulda had it up with them already, but it looked OK and I haven't been growing long), and a bunch of green rubber wrapped plant ties, with duct tape. When I got done my friggen arms were all sticky from the resin.

The big split in the center was so strong and branches kept snapping so much that I was about to just chuck the whole friggen thing when I remembered that nutrients should continue to travel through the branch as long as it's not completely severed. So I continued on, and just did the best I could without causing more damage.

So now the yoyo's are up, tape is on, along with supporting plant ties. I generally lift the buckets just a tad and slide them back so I can look at the roots, and add/test water/nutrients. I also slip in a small frozen water bottle each day, swapping for a new one from the freezer. I DO use silica for the stems (and hydro guard for the roots), but maybe I wasn't using enough. I have two small fans attached to the poles in tent blowing indirectly all the time for some movement/cooling.

I was GOING to use a scrog net I made, but things happened and I didn't get a chance to get it in there in time. I assume that method would add support to the buds and avoid a lot of these issues. I'm wondering what else can be done in hydro buckets to provide preventative support or more strength to avoid this issue in the future. Perhaps it's just as simple as using more of the Pro-Tekt nutrient than I have been? Maybe a bunch of more air flow to strengthen stems as well? Also I assume perhaps I let it get too big! I originally planned on bringing the other plant (diff. strain) from a nearby tent growing on LED over to this tent to take advantage of the 1000 watts of HPS lighting instead, but this plant got too big and there's no room for another in there.

I'm guessing that my constant sliding of the bucket didn't do much damage as it's lifting the whole plant at once. The current setup and the plant 5 weeks into flower makes it so I can't really adjust my method of watering and the like at this point.

This is just a friggen shame as the plant was doing so well in my first hydro grow. I'll try to get a pic or two once lights go on tonight or tomorrow morning.
 

Lion-O

Active Member
As promised, here's the pics. Didn't have one of right after the split as I was in triage mode!
IMG_6566.JPG IMG_6569.JPG IMG_6571.JPG
As you can see on one of the pics that I jam a rod under the bucket so as to hold it up to add/test water. Saw a few pistols starting to turn color so hopefully won't be much longer, although it will probably be diverting energy to all the repairs.
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
I used an upside down laundry basket to scrog my trees in a tent. I didnt move the bucket, instead drained and filled with fittings until finished. looks good, sorry she cracked
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Should be fine if you taped the split tight and now have support for the branches. I bust branches on purpose to control height and the buds above the breaks always seem to be the biggest so I would fret.

Just get support up earlier next time. ;)

Good luck!
 

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
I have a similar issue with a really stretchy plant that I had the light away from too far away.

Hasn't snapped yet but im going to make a vertical screen tomorrow to hold the branches up.

Had to turn it vertical due to running out of ceiling height.
 

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
So this is what I ended up doing after finding my plant fallen over. The screen is secured to the lid using 1/4" x 3" nylon nut and bolt. Screen is made out of cotton string and 3/4" pvc and I used twist ties to secure the branches to the string.

Very sturdy now.
0722172217_HDR.jpg
 

Lion-O

Active Member
So this is what I ended up doing after finding my plant fallen over. The screen is secured to the lid using 1/4" x 3" nylon nut and bolt. Screen is made out of cotton string and 3/4" pvc and I used twist ties to secure the branches to the string.

Very sturdy now.
View attachment 3982689
Wow, that's bloody awesome! Shoulda did that before it split on me. Hope the next grow I can do this or something similar.
 

GBAUTO

Well-Known Member
Sorry to see that you're having troubles. I've had plants split from weather/wind damage and they recovered just fine with some basic first aid(duct tape bandage). What I see is the result of multiple colas-some strains require a trellis to support the weight of their buds so I'd start to design a setup for your space. When you do your next grow train the plant to grow into the trellis and no more splitting.
 
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