Thinking about LST, looking for input, Thanks!! Pics

AlGore

AlGore

Well-Known Member
Hey all,

On my 2nd grow, my first one went fairly well and I've upgraded to a bit more room and some different strains this time(growing all the freebies I got from attitude).

Details can be found here: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/787377-needmos-2nd-grow-organic-tgass.html#post10124990 But the short version is, 3 mostly indicas and 1 mostly sativa hybrids. Plus one auto and 2 bagseed that I'm pretty sure are indica dom. The auto is off on it's own, not really worried about that one, but am thinking about using LST on the others.

I've read the sticky and it's not all that clear on exactly when to start. I found an older post that says start when you have 3 nodes and hook between the 2nd and 3rd nodes. I've never been clear on exactly where the first node is, if someone could define it, maybe using my pics, that would be awesome.

Still on the fence if I should LST or not, maybe I'll just do a few. Thoughts on that or any other input is great appreciated. Thanks!!

400W MH/HPS
4x4' foot print, about 5.5'x4.5'x4.5' total space for the 6 plants.
4.5' height is from the top of the container to the glass on the hood at max height, so about 3.5' tall plants would put them 12" away from the glass.
Planning on Vegging for 3-4weeks starting today.























 
To keep a plant short what I did was top between 4 and 5 nodes then Bondage pull them down and pull the branches apart.

At each node you will have two shoots and the two primary tops.
If my math is right you create 10 tops with two being Colas.
After each of the 10 is tied and pulled down and out and the branches are all turned toward the light top all of them.
Keep pulling them into the shape you want, create a top canopy that is as even as possible.
After you top all the ends more shoots will start at all the new nodes in pairs.
I bet you have close to 20 tops if you follow.
the plant I describe (I did the above on my 1st plant)
plant produced 7 ounces under a screen with a 400 watt HPS and T5 side lighting.
Indica dom bag seed.
 
I have my first grow going, and I tied down the main stem in their 19th day. I like how clean and nice your setup is. It matches your avatar.
It's a pleasure to look at.
How big are your air pots by the way?
 
Dogenzengi said:
To keep a plant short what I did was top between 4 and 5 nodes then Bondage pull them down and pull the branches apart.

At each node you will have two shoots and the two primary tops.
If my math is right you create 10 tops with two being Colas.
After each of the 10 is tied and pulled down and out and the branches are all turned toward the light top all of them.
Keep pulling them into the shape you want, create a top canopy that is as even as possible.
After you top all the ends more shoots will start at all the new nodes in pairs.
I bet you have close to 20 tops if you follow.
the plant I describe (I did the above on my 1st plant)
plant produced 7 ounces under a screen with a 400 watt HPS and T5 side lighting.
Indica dom bag seed.
Click to expand...

That
+my input: I have a hard time lsting my auto which is so compact and bushy, I can't even bend it. If it weren't an auto, topping would be very ideal for lst.

Also, it looks better topped, while just lsting takes aways from the symmetry
 
noham said:
I have my first grow going, and I tied down the main stem in their 19th day. I like how clean and nice your setup is. It matches your avatar.
It's a pleasure to look at.
How big are your air pots by the way?
Click to expand...

3 gal airpots. And Thanks! My lil panda film room might not be the best but keeps all the cold dirty basement air away from my babies ;-).

I know topping and/or scrog is a good way to cut down on the height and spread things out, I just want to avoid it for now for a few dif reasons. I did top two of my last plants, just once, and didn't see any benefit in the end really. My largest plant I just sort of trained the branches and ended up tying them all over the place to keep from going nuts, and it had more promo bud than the two topped ones combined, hehe.

Eventually I wanna try mainlining, as that seems the way to go. Not ready to torcher cannabis just yet tho, hehe.
 
Ha. I was just going to suggest mainlining. I have done it now two cycles and really like the end results, pretty looking plants too! There is a bit of a learning curve and it does extend veg out but the plants make up for it on the back end. I also like topping for 4 mains but did a side by side and the mainline produced more. You should give it a try!
 
Thanks for the input so far... Quoting this from my new thread....

AlGore said:
I decided to try some lst on my largest plant, I think I should have waited for it to get a lil taller. Also think where I bent it over was a lil low but that part of the stem was the most flexable.

Any thoughts on what I've done so far? And what about the other plants? Thinnk I should give 3-4 more days before trying to do anything with them? Most of them are one 3-4th "true" node I think right now.

THANKS!!! :razz:











Click to expand...
 
You can do several different things. This grow, I first tried to tie down main stem then didnt like it. Then I fimmed and LST (tied) and had/have great results. I harvested more from 2 plants than I did 4 from last time
 
Haha, awesome.

I think I'm just gonna train them around the pots in a circle. Was thinking about making one grow in a vertical snake shape for fun too, lol.

Updated pics, tied down two others...

AlGore said:
Thanks! I've done two others, one yesterday and one this morning. It's neat how the leaves flatten out, hehe.

BTW figured out what the "first node" is. It's the first pair of leaves that has more than one segment, all mine have 3. So it goes: cotyledon, single segment leaves, first true node.








Click to expand...
 
I'm still a lil confused on the counter tie. Doesn't really seem to do anything other than ruin the new shoots on wherever I tie it to. Started just wrapping it around the base. Also should/can I remove it after a day or two?
 
AlGore said:
I'm still a lil confused on the counter tie. Doesn't really seem to do anything other than ruin the new shoots on wherever I tie it to. Started just wrapping it around the base. Also should/can I remove it after a day or two?
Click to expand...

I didn't think it was necessary for me because the stem was tough and woody. But after every watering the whole plant bent more and more in the fluidus soil.
Probably could have even unrooted it, if didn't counter-tie in time.
 
AlGore said:
I'm still a lil confused on the counter tie. Doesn't really seem to do anything other than ruin the new shoots on wherever I tie it to. Started just wrapping it around the base. Also should/can I remove it after a day or two?
Click to expand...

The counter tie is there so you don't pull the roots out of the growing medium. It is used as the counter force to the main force of the original tie. The goal is to permanently alter the plants growth structure with minimal stress compared to topping, fim, or supercropping. I think the plants enjoy a good super crop and lst tho. I have recently been very impressed by nugbuckets mainlining work and many others and will try that out next grow.
 
AlGore said:
I'm still a lil confused on the counter tie. Doesn't really seem to do anything other than ruin the new shoots on wherever I tie it to. Started just wrapping it around the base. Also should/can I remove it after a day or two?
Click to expand...

noham said:
I didn't think it was necessary for me because the stem was tough and woody. But after every watering the whole plant bent more and more in the fluidus soil.
Probably could have even unrooted it, if didn't counter-tie in time.
Click to expand...

catalysttheory said:
The counter tie is there so you don't pull the roots out of the growing medium. It is used as the counter force to the main force of the original tie. The goal is to permanently alter the plants growth structure with minimal stress compared to topping, fim, or supercropping. I think the plants enjoy a good super crop and lst tho. I have recently been very impressed by nugbuckets mainlining work and many others and will try that out next grow.
Click to expand...

Those two guys are correct...


Also, if you unbind the plant before it turns into pretty ridgid wood, it can start to bend back out of shape towards the light. Best bet if to leave all wiring/ties on until the end if you can. Less risk breaking things too
 
ok, so just keep it wrapped around the base? That is where my "bend" is, is that fine or should I wrap it back around above the node?
 
the way you did it is perfectly fine as long as there is a bend thats close to 90 degrees with the plant growing horizontally parallel to the dirt. Thats what the counter ti is for. The plant isnt really picky about where you bend it as long as the main growth tip isnt above the stem that all the others are coming out of.
 
WTF, this thread was moved from the advanced section? Fucking mods man, if I wanted it to get buried in the sea of general growing I would have posted it there. This is not general growing it's LST, hence why I put it in the section with all the LST info, to get advice from those that read the advanced section. I also put a similar one in newb central.
 
AlGore said:
Updated Pics... 5/6 photos are tied down now. Leaving the sat dom to grow as it likes, haven't grown a sativa yet and wanna see how it grows. The one in the tent is an auto, not doing any lst on that either.









Click to expand...

Sometimes man...
 
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