Vortex stretch, when will it end?

So I topped and LST'd 3 vortex and 2 jilly bean from seed and vegged them till about 10 inches. Right now I'm at day 25 and the vortex are just over 40 inches and one of the jilly bean is at 38. I've only got 12 inches before they hit the light(600W). When is it going to end? Do I need to start looking at tieing down the tops? I'm honestly a bit shocked they got so tall and I really don't know how to deal with them.

Lst and lst again is gonna be your best bet if you can't move your ligh

I flowered my Jack The Ripper at about 12" and she is a good 40+ if she was not into heavy bondage...the main stalk didnot stop growing taller/longer until she was at day 30 or so..

Oh crap, I have some Vortex at about 10" right now. Sounds like time to flip 'em to 12/12. Please keep us updated with how yours come out.

Sure thing

What many seem to overlook is that it's wise to keep the light adjustable and held closer to the top of the plants so they don't stretch quite as much. The problem is complicated with HPS over MH, being the higher orange/red spectrum tends to cause more stretching anyway. Some 35-40 watt CFLs can be added to supplement and balance the light spectrum better. And the additional overall lumens can't hurt either. Of course some strains just keep going longer beyond the period most others begin to slow upward stretching and flower clusters dominate most growth activity. I used two 150 HPS and a 40 watt CFL in a tiny 18 x 18 inch space with 2 Hindu Kush females and was glad I had over 6ft to work with. They got huge and brought in just over a QP. But they were over 24 inches tall when I switched to 12/12.

my 13" vortex got up to 30" tall at the end of stretch

First of all, you guys are all flowering some tiny plants. If you want to grow soil, you have to spend time in veg. Sub vegs for up to 60 days, I veg until roughly 18" tall. You need time to develop thick stems and thick roots, you CAN NOT do that in less than a month. A few weeks more in veg will more than double to triple yields... but anyway.


If you have height problems then you need to do your research better, because both Vortex and Jilly are well known for their stretch. Its also not recommended to top vortex, and IME I agree. Vortex from seed, will more than double in size, and will continue vertical growth fro roughly 3 weeks into flower.


I would suggest trying to find a way to move your light up, start pinching the tallest shoots to slow them down, and get to bending and tying. On the bright side, Vortex clones are much more manageable than those from seed.

heuheuheu said:

So I topped and LST'd 3 vortex and 2 jilly bean from seed and vegged them till about 10 inches. Right now I'm at day 25 and the vortex are just over 40 inches and one of the jilly bean is at 38. I've only got 12 inches before they hit the light(600W). When is it going to end? Do I need to start looking at tieing down the tops? I'm honestly a bit shocked they got so tall and I really don't know how to deal with them.

View attachment 1957751

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Interesting.......my Vortex doesn't stretch too bad at all. I would say you should be about through the stretch though. By the end of the 3rd week of flowering mine are about as tall as they are going to get.

SmokeCraft said:

First of all, you guys are all flowering some tiny plants. If you want to grow soil, you have to spend time in veg. Sub vegs for up to 60 days, I veg until roughly 18" tall. You need time to develop thick stems and thick roots, you CAN NOT do that in less than a month. A few weeks more in veg will more than double to triple yields... but anyway.


If you have height problems then you need to do your research better, because both Vortex and Jilly are well known for their stretch. Its also not recommended to top vortex, and IME I agree. Vortex from seed, will more than double in size, and will continue vertical growth fro roughly 3 weeks into flower.


I would suggest trying to find a way to move your light up, start pinching the tallest shoots to slow them down, and get to bending and tying. On the bright side, Vortex clones are much more manageable than those from seed.

Click to expand...

I have to disagree with this statement. I've seen sub say, numerous times, that Vortex (as with much of his gear) benefits GREATLY from early topping. I have found this to be the only way to get a decent yield from my pheno. I agree with you about vertical growth stopping at roughly 3 weeks though.

Thanks for all the input. I'll be sure to stop back in and update the thread.

Jar Man said:

What many seem to overlook is that it's wise to keep the light adjustable and held closer to the top of the plants so they don't stretch quite as much.

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My lights were adjustable up until the point where I had to remove the hangers and bolt the light directly to the top of the grow box. The grow box is in a short room and is as tall as possible.

SmokeCraft said:

First of all, you guys are all flowering some tiny plants.

Click to expand...

I topped and LST'd them heavily. When I switched to flower they were about 10 inches tall and 15 inches in diameter(35 days). Due to this being my first grow I wasn't sure what to expect in regards to 12/12 growth, I also didn't know how many male/female I was going to get. I ended up going 7/7 on regular seeds.
Day 1 Day 30

SmokeCraft said:

If you have height problems then you need to do your research better, because both Vortex and Jilly are well known for their stretch.

Click to expand...

I did do research, and I didn't read or see anything that would suggest 4X+ stretch which is why I posted looking for some additional information from folks who have grown out these strains.

I'm growing vortex, and have 2 plants that were flowered when they were about 12" tall. those 2 plants are now 4 feet tall and cover a 3 foot by 6 foot area. like a shrubbery!

Day 2, the 2 little girls on the right.


day 14


day 23


day 28

Maybe its just me, but the Vortex's I've seen didn't respond well to topping at all. I know on his site, he advises to grow it un-topped, but you're right that you can make it work.

heuheuheu said:

Thanks for all the input. I'll be sure to stop back in and update the thread.


My lights were adjustable up until the point where I had to remove the hangers and bolt the light directly to the top of the grow box. The grow box is in a short room and is as tall as possible.


I topped and LST'd them heavily. When I switched to flower they were about 10 inches tall and 15 inches in diameter(35 days). Due to this being my first grow I wasn't sure what to expect in regards to 12/12 growth, I also didn't know how many male/female I was going to get. I ended up going 7/7 on regular seeds.
Day 1 View attachment 1963413 Day 30 View attachment 1963415

I did do research, and I didn't read or see anything that would suggest 4X+ stretch which is why I posted looking for some additional information from folks who have grown out these strains.

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Whoa! What an incredible stretch; those plants are yearning to break free. Crazy. Best of luck. I'd almost recommend roughing her up a bit and super cropping at that point, what else can ya do?

I break tops all the time if the get too close to the light. They love it.

heard a trick: use MH your first 2 weeks of flower. will help lessen the stretch.

i am having just the opposite with Qrazy train, almost no stretch at all.

Jar Man said:

What many seem to overlook is that it's wise to keep the light adjustable and held closer to the top of the plants so they don't stretch quite as much. The problem is complicated with HPS over MH, being the higher orange/red spectrum tends to cause more stretching anyway. Some 35-40 watt CFLs can be added to supplement and balance the light spectrum better. And the additional overall lumens can't hurt either. Of course some strains just keep going longer beyond the period most others begin to slow upward stretching and flower clusters dominate most growth activity. I used two 150 HPS and a 40 watt CFL in a tiny 18 x 18 inch space with 2 Hindu Kush females and was glad I had over 6ft to work with. They got huge and brought in just over a QP. But they were over 24 inches tall when I switched to 12/12.

Click to expand...

uh, your wrong. MH causes more stretch than hps

rocknratm said:

uh, your wrong. MH causes more stretch than hps

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using MH during early flower is known to reduce stretch. uh he's right.

so how long does it take for the jilly bean to finish i have a five pack but am a little hesitant to pop those

old school you got pics of those qrazy train hell yeah