LST question +rep for help!

sfsurfer

sfsurfer

Well-Known Member
So heres the deal, Im currently LSTing my plants and have about a week and a half before switching into floweing. My question is should I let the plant grow out the last week and a half without LST to let the plant stretch up a little more or should I do LST right up until I switch to 12/12.

My thinking is if I do let it grow without LST the last week and a half, the longer stems will allow for bigger, longer buds or am I completely wrong on that?

+rep for any advice, guidance or personal experience!
 
LorDeMO

LorDeMO

Active Member
It depends on how big you want them to be. If you want super tall bitches then I'd LST during their flowering stretch to allow more light.

They will grow much more in the first few weeks of flower than in the week and 1/2 you are going to carry on vegging them for.
 
rzza

rzza

Well-Known Member
i tie them down during 12/12 because thats when they do the stretching. i start when i switch the lights and finish about 20 days in.
 
bestbuds09

bestbuds09

Well-Known Member
i started both of mines on the 3rd week of veg. now im in my 6th week of flowering. i couldnt be happier. they both have grown even with the main cola. Now i am working with 12 colas plus the main cola for each plant and on top of that they are filling in really good. Im glad i didnt do it while i was in the flowering stage since the main stem was getting thicker and it was way harder to lst at that point without breaking the stem in half. You have to look into that. theyve been some strains where i was able to lst all the way without any problems but yet again there would be some that after a certain time i wasnt able to even bend it a little bit. BTW i am working with NorthernSkunk (peakseedsbc) and LSD (barneys farm) not lemos sour diesel. I hope my input helps you out bro. good luck with your lst and hopefully you dont break no stem at all.
 
nizmo

nizmo

Well-Known Member
I LST through the entire grow. Even during the tail end of flowering im always tying branches back to make the most of the lights (although near the end its only really to hold them up because they are falling over with the weight of the buds).

The whole point of it is to maximize the amount of leaves/buds getting light. A bigger canopy = bigger harvest (as long as you dont achieve it by topping too much). As the plant grows you have to make regular adjustments, but the most important time for LST is when the plant is small thats when you can really shape it.

I guess its important to note that when i LST, i never put too much preassure on the branches and i dont force them if they really dont want to move. Im careful not to damage the stems especially during flower.
 
sfsurfer

sfsurfer

Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the help everyone, your input definitely makes my decision easier! I think I will LST right up to the switch from 18/6 to 12/12 and maybe even LST a week or so into flowering to open up the plants to more light depending on how theyre looking.

One more question and I feel its already been answered but for my peace of mind; I dont really have height limitations so will it still be more advantagous during the start of flowering to LST them keeping their canopy short and flat or should I let them stretch to take advantage of the vertical space ive provided? Which should give me the largst, densest buds?

Thanks again everyone for your help!
 
nizmo

nizmo

Well-Known Member
Don't worry about whether your in flower or veg, as long as you arent putting to much pressure on the stems to put them at risk of breaking (which you shouldn't be when LST'ing - hence the 'low stress') then it doesnt matter whether the plant is a 1 week old from seed/clone or 6 weeks into flower.

Just because you have lots of height to spare, doesnt mean you want to use it. A shorter but wider/bushier plant is better than a tall skinny christmas tree-like one.

You want short and wide. You want to tie your branches in such a way as that one cola doesnt rise too high above any other. You want them all at an even height so that you can make the most of the light. If you have one cola that sticks up higher than the others then you need to raise the light so it doesnt get burned, but that means its further away from all the other colas and so they lose out - but if you tied it back so it was the same height as the others than you can lower it to the benefit of all of the colas. Im regularly making adjustments right through the whole grow.

Remember the purpose of LST is not to get bigger buds, but to get more of them, and more consistently sized.

Look at my grow log in the link below, and go to the bottom. Notice how all of the colas are at roughly the same height? Thats what you're going for. It didnt happen naturally, they are like that because i constantly tied them back as they grew (all through veg AND flower) to keep the canopy height even. This enables me to keep the light closer so that i get lots of big colas rather than one massive one and the rest average (like the christmas tree style). Ignore the fact that all the strings are holding them up rather than tying them down - thats because the buds get too heavy near the end and start bending over. Not exactly something i'd complain about :P
 
bestbuds09

bestbuds09

Well-Known Member
large dense buds does not consist of only lst, but it consists of nutes, temps, relative humidity, lights etc etc etc. Let them stratch, in my case i let them stretch and now they are filling in very good. As long as there is light getting to the lower parts of the branches you should be fine, but if very little to no lights reach the lower then you will have small airy buds while the top of the LST should be filled in a better and fuller way rather than airy and loose.
 
Slab

Slab

Well-Known Member
I agree with Nizmo. your lamp size should be a factor in your decision how far you are going to allow them to stretch after you trained them. you get to far away from the lamp and yields suffer.
I say train until they don't stretch if space permits. I use trellis in replace of screen of green, yields are great. smaller nugs would be my only 'complaint'.

What strain are we hypothetically speaking?
 
sfsurfer

sfsurfer

Well-Known Member
nizmo said:
Don't worry about whether your in flower or veg, as long as you arent putting to much pressure on the stems to put them at risk of breaking (which you shouldn't be when LST'ing - hence the 'low stress') then it doesnt matter whether the plant is a 1 week old from seed/clone or 6 weeks into flower.

Just because you have lots of height to spare, doesnt mean you want to use it. A shorter but wider/bushier plant is better than a tall skinny christmas tree-like one.

You want short and wide. You want to tie your branches in such a way as that one cola doesnt rise too high above any other. You want them all at an even height so that you can make the most of the light. If you have one cola that sticks up higher than the others then you need to raise the light so it doesnt get burned, but that means its further away from all the other colas and so they lose out - but if you tied it back so it was the same height as the others than you can lower it to the benefit of all of the colas. Im regularly making adjustments right through the whole grow.

Remember the purpose of LST is not to get bigger buds, but to get more of them, and more consistently sized.

Look at my grow log in the link below, and go to the bottom. Notice how all of the colas are at roughly the same height? Thats what you're going for. It didnt happen naturally, they are like that because i constantly tied them back as they grew (all through veg AND flower) to keep the canopy height even. This enables me to keep the light closer so that i get lots of big colas rather than one massive one and the rest average (like the christmas tree style). Ignore the fact that all the strings are holding them up rather than tying them down - thats because the buds get too heavy near the end and start bending over. Not exactly something i'd complain about :P
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info! You've definitely got the whole LST thing down, I checked out your journal and thats exactly what im trying to get my canopy to look like. About how often did you LST during flowering? If you wouldnt mind checking out my grow id love to have your opinions/suggestions.

600w MH/HPS LST grow journal: the cheese PICS
 
sfsurfer

sfsurfer

Well-Known Member
bestbuds09 said:
large dense buds does not consist of only lst, but it consists of nutes, temps, relative humidity, lights etc etc etc. Let them stratch, in my case i let them stretch and now they are filling in very good. As long as there is light getting to the lower parts of the branches you should be fine, but if very little to no lights reach the lower then you will have small airy buds while the top of the LST should be filled in a better and fuller way rather than airy and loose.
Click to expand...
I havent been able to find too many pics of an LST plant allowed to stretch the last week or so of veg, do you have a few pics I could check out? Here's my set up:

-4X4X7 ten
-8" aircooled hood
-MH/HPS digital ballast
-600w MH for veg
-600w sunpulse 3000k MH (not HPS) for flowering
-5 gallon pots
-perlite/fox farm ocean forest mix for soil
-using all 6 fox farm nutrients (according to their feeding schedule) and EM 1 (microbial inoculant)
-temp lights on is 76*
-temp lights off is 68*
-Humidity is between 40-50%
-Ph at 6.8

Its my first time seriously regulating nutes, environment, lighting and all that but its incredible how fast and aggressive they grow! I tied my plant down and within a few hours everything that had been tied down was pointed back up.
 
nizmo

nizmo

Well-Known Member
sfsurfer said:
About how often did you LST during flowering?
Click to expand...
Probably about the same. But near the end they need adjusting less and less.

You need to get in early to get an even canopy like that. Just keep tying branches back when the plants are small, just aim to keep all the colas at the same height right through the grow.
 
sfsurfer

sfsurfer

Well-Known Member
nizmo said:
Probably about the same. But near the end they need adjusting less and less.

You need to get in early to get an even canopy like that. Just keep tying branches back when the plants are small, just aim to keep all the colas at the same height right through the grow.
Click to expand...
I started right after I transplanted the clones into their 5 gallon pots and so far the canopy is staying fairly consistant. I will say though, its getting pretty difficult to tie them down as the plants get bushier! It seems every time I go to do some LST the number of branches I have to tie down doubles (not that im complaining lol). It is starting to slow down a lot tho. The original side branches have become as thick as the main stem and have their own groups of offshoots which are all forming and growing at the same rate. Cant wait to start flowering these girls. Thanks for the advice/knowledge!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top