Light distance issue...

I was just wondering if anyone could suggest anything for my situation. I am currently growing under a combination of cfl and t5 lighting. My girl is just about 7 days into flowering. Shes set up on a stool just below (about an inch) the t5 fixture. The CFLs are easy enough to rearrange but theres nothing I can do about the position of the t5 fixture, and shes getting awfully close to those bulbs.

So this morning, in order to keep her about an inch away from the t5 bulbs (which she was basically touching), I sawed an inch off of each leg of the stool i use as a platform. this increased the distance to a desirable ~1" gap between her top and the bulbs. However as soon as i placed her back on her pedestal, i realized that i will probably be stuck repeating this rather time consuming and strenuous method untill her vertical growth slows enough.... not an attractive concept.

So my question is twofold. Has anyone ever heard of any kind of adjustable platform or stool that would be useful in this case? I am trying to avoid tying down the main stem as she is quit rigid already.... though if anyone has a safe method of tying down for such an old girl....
Also, when can I expect vertical growth to more or less cease? Ive heard from some that plants double when they flower.... does this mean in height??? or simply overall...? Or is that even true? haha.

Mine have definitely at least slowed their stretch and it's day 20. Quick question; why are you unable to adjust the t5? If it can be lowered, then take your plants off of the stool and raise and lower your t5 as necessary. Seems too easy, so I'm sure you've thought of that, in which case you could maybe stack on a stack of something (books?) so you can simply lift the pot for a second and have somebody remove whatever was necessary. Kind of a noob here, but I hope my advice helps.

...your plants will grow "overall" 2-3 times bigger during the flowering process, unless it's a mature plant already. They should slow/stop their vertical growth during wk#3-4 of flowering. You can pinch your stem until it softens, then bend and stake down. Here a video to check out, watch 5 minutes into it. Good luck.

[youtube]MkgeJw6nMks&feature[/youtube]

Thanks for the vid! And mouthmeetsoap, the thing is the t5 is hangin from a bar literally right below a shelf thats permanate. I cant raise is up, and the plant is so tall that when the planter is right on the stool, the top of the plant is touching the lights. so what ive done is shaved an inch off of each leg of the stool to lower the stool itself... If she was short enough/the stool was short enough the book idea would work great!

ah man, im nervous to try the bend.....

trichlone fiend, is this really safe to do during flower? I'd worry about the stress potentially making my girls have balls. Maybe get a screen in there. Even this seems like it could be stressful, but much less than supercropping.

hmm yes, last thing i want to do is make the she a he. maybe ill just continue with my hacksaw method, and maybe build a shorter pedestal that I can just add books or whatever too... I was originally gonna try just tying it to a clothespin to bend it, but i was sketched about that even, so bending :-/ I dunno..... probably be safer to just continue sawing or build another platform, eh fellas?

...lol, hey man...you can bend them in circles if you want anytime of flowering, no stess. Very simple thing to do, but if your not comfortable with it....chop away.

...look here how I turned this 6-8 foot sativa into a 3 foot plant.

hempstead said:

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/299554-how-lst-low-stress-training.html

Click to expand...

actually Ive read over this a few times just out of pure interest... Im still considering options, I guess I could use lst, but i mean its grown natural and unimpeded by such methods up to this point, so im nervous about starting to do that, though if i get tired of hauling my pedestal outside to hack it up every other day, i may just have to try this.... (first gro, nervous, just want her to show me some love!) im also considering buying some of those plastic shelves from wally world that you can stack to diff. heights... or finding some steel crimps to try and rig up the t5's steel wire hangers a little higher....

btw I just want to thank everyone who's replied so far and anyone who might have any reasonable advice for me! RIU is great.

Supercropping has never given me balls. I do it well into week 5 if needed. It doesn't really slow growth at all surprisingly. In fact the node you bend at makes a larger bud since it gets more light. The bud above the bend reaches back up and grows tons of tails from the top side.

Very impressive trichlone! Glad to learn this can be done. I have a couple of branches stretching over my canopy as well! RIU is great.

The bend is not hard. You must squeeze the stem until you hear a crunch sound. In fact, if you twist the stem first you will hear the crack. once that happens just bend your plants over. I was hesitant my first time as well..

Yea Trichlone's the man! I currently solved my delimma by using cable crimps to tighten up the slack in the wire my t5s hang from, so Im safe for a couple days at least. i think i will be attempting the lst/supercropping/ tie down procedure, but im just happy i have a bit more time to mentally prepare myself for the whole procedure. makes you nervous venturing into the unknown when your a noob haha

xXLalauraSXx said:

Yea Trichlone's the man! I currently solved my delimma by using cable crimps to tighten up the slack in the wire my t5s hang from, so Im safe for a couple days at least. i think i will be attempting the lst/supercropping/ tie down procedure, but im just happy i have a bit more time to mentally prepare myself for the whole procedure. makes you nervous venturing into the unknown when your a noob haha

Click to expand...

just do the LST thing it really does work and unless you tie the top of your plant to the base of the stalk it wont make your girl hermie. hence the name low stress training. poke a hole in the top on the side of your pot and pull the pul down and inch or 2 every day. prolly easier then choppin an inch off your base every day i had a plant that i LSTd into spiraling upwards around the perameter of the pot then up in the center of the pot again made for wicked side growth plant at finish was 5 1/2 ft tall with about 15 main colas all at the same height. plant weight turned out to be just under 3 oz

dude go get yourself some 12 gauge wire, wrap it around the pole, and connect it to something sturdy. then tie the other end to your light. do it on both sides.

check out the link to my grow in my sig. i got lights hangin with it. VERY strong stuff and easily flexible over and over