Lower branch growth?

Hi i dont know if im explaining this right but here goes. I am trying to grow one main stalk that is nothing but bud. I am growing these plants right now in a cloner under an alternating blue and red light t5. I have certain strains that that lower branches are growing way to fast and some strains the lower branches are growing short and almost hugging the main stalk. This hugging look is what im going for. Is this stricktly strainspecific or is there something i can do with the light spectrum or pruning to get thishugging effect with the lower branches.

Hope this all makes sense.

If your growing inside you could try to make the grow area more bright. You could do this with led's and it would help alot because it would balance the light that every part of the plant gets.

More of an Indica trait

LOL! One main...and to think all these years, I've been topping for all the mains I can get....

Learn to top properly.
Remove all the side branching from those....
Have a bunch of only "mains"!!!!!

I tend to leave some side branching. That's my choice.

I have a plant right now. She has 3 mains from 1 single topping. 8 side branch's have grown to be the same height as the "mains".
I now trim any "branching" from those.
Support them properly.
I now will get 11 "mains" worth of bud.....
I can expand yield by simply leaving the upper 1 or 2 branch's on each of the "main's, and allow the 3, true mains to do the same.
These secondary buds are not the same size of the "mains" but, really increase the yield..and produce good bag appeal buds..

I do have quite the larger grow space(s) and ceiling height limits....

BUT, you get the idea right? You can use some of this information too!

I know how to top. Thats not what im looking for with this grow. I am doing single stem one main cola plants. I am looking to get as many bud sites "huggingg that main stem as possible. I have done the topping style growing up untill now but want to try something new for this one. I will start a journal soon

treeson said:

I know how to top. Thats not what im looking for with this grow. I am doing single stem one main cola plants. I am looking to get as many bud sites "huggingg that main stem as possible. I have done the topping style growing up untill now but want to try something new for this one. I will start a journal soon

Click to expand...

You're going to need a light that can remain very close to the plants to achieve what you're looking for (tight nodes)...consider t5' lighting w/trimming and then maybe finish under HPS...g/l

I have my t5 pretty close. Within 9 inches. Do you know if all red lights or all blue would be best? The plan is to grow 3 weeks in the cloner with heavy manicuring under a t5. Then transplant to tall 1.3 gal tall tree pots under a 1000w hps.

That's not all that hard to achieve but will take time; possibly even longer than it is worth. You will need to be patient and use plants from seed; clones are less predictable to train this way. Grow out a plant from seed and keep the lights close to induce tight branching. Don't top the plant but keep pinching in between nodes to fatten up the main stem.
You will need sufficient lighting to induce tight internodal growth; you want very little space in between lateral branches. It is possible to do this under a T5 but it's easier under HID lamps. Spectrum does not make as much difference as wattage does. You'll want to get your plants under the 1k as soon as possible.
Here's the tricky part: timing it so the plant doesn't stretch too much yet is large enough to produce one huge continuous cola bud. How long you need to veg for initially would be dependant upon strain characteristic but either way select an indica leaning hybrid. You want to keep the plant on the short side yet with very dense branching; a mini bonzai Christmas tree if you will.
To achieve this shape induce flowering gradually to reduce or eliminate stretching and either prune or pinch the lower branches to control their growth. So you'll want to veg for a number of weeks from seed let's say 6 or 7. (Not sure 3 will be enough; at least from seed anyway) Then gradually reduce the hours of light by 1-2 hours per week to induce preflowering. Once you see white pistils emerge you'll want to increase hours of light to 18/6 to revert back to veg mode for a short time before flipping to a straight 12/12 bloom cycle until harvest time. You will probly see some single blade leaves grow out from the stress of all this but the result should be a nice big fat solid spire if cols bud from tip to stem. Good luck and happy growing!!!

I was wondering about pinching the lower nodes to try and get that hugging effect. Also possibly having a 1000w mh light over the cloner instead of a t5. Growing from seed is out of the question for now but maybe in the future. My setup this run is 192 plants under 6 1000w hps. 32 per light. All centered directly under the hood. They will all be in 5inch wide by 12 inch tall 1.3gal pots.


Also i will be vegging for 3 weeks in the cloner and then another 3 weeks under the 1000w. Then into flower

treeson said:

I was wondering about pinching the lower nodes to try and get that hugging effect. Also possibly having a 1000w mh light over the cloner instead of a t5. Growing from seed is out of the question for now but maybe in the future. My setup this run is 192 plants under 6 1000w hps. 32 per light. All centered directly under the hood. They will all be in 5inch wide by 12 inch tall 1.3gal pots.

Click to expand...

You are correct about the lighting. T5 is fine for when they are small but once they get some height you'll need more wattage for penetration. Can probly be done with clones but they will need to be the right shape to begin with or be trained out that way. Much easier to get the shape you want from seeds as they always follow the same pattern; you snip a branch here it splits into 2 there...Clones can only grow in a linear way sorta like branches do.

Well my thought was with clones i notice the alternating spinning type growth pattern. I was thinking or hoping that with mayby trying to pinch the lower nodes to keep them right up against the stalk. I usually start my training immediatly after getting a quarter size root ball on the clones. I also really up the ppms at the same time. I run a real heavy dose of dyna grow foliar pro up to 1400 ppm right in the ez cloner after usually the 9-10 day point. I usually get thw clones up to about 10 inches in 4 weeks. With anywhere from 8-12 nodes each. And thats been only under the t5. I think with 3 weeks under a 1000w or possible cloninh directly under the 1000w and skipping the t5 all together will give me a longer main stem

treeson said:

I have my t5 pretty close. Within 9 inches. Do you know if all red lights or all blue would be best? The plan is to grow 3 weeks in the cloner with heavy manicuring under a t5. Then transplant to tall 1.3 gal tall tree pots under a 1000w hps.

Click to expand...

Use the blue lamps for veg/red for bloom, but you can mix with no real issue.
Anyway, the bud growth locations are totally dependent on strain,
Why bother doing that anyway, you will loose at least 1/2 weight.
Fuck trimming, just let it grow

Richard Drysift said:

That's not all that hard to achieve but will take time; possibly even longer than it is worth. You will need to be patient and use plants from seed; clones are less predictable to train this way. Grow out a plant from seed and keep the lights close to induce tight branching. Don't top the plant but keep pinching in between nodes to fatten up the main stem.
You will need sufficient lighting to induce tight internodal growth; you want very little space in between lateral branches. It is possible to do this under a T5 but it's easier under HID lamps. Spectrum does not make as much difference as wattage does. You'll want to get your plants under the 1k as soon as possible.
Here's the tricky part: timing it so the plant doesn't stretch too much yet is large enough to produce one huge continuous cola bud. How long you need to veg for initially would be dependant upon strain characteristic but either way select an indica leaning hybrid. You want to keep the plant on the short side yet with very dense branching; a mini bonzai Christmas tree if you will.
To achieve this shape induce flowering gradually to reduce or eliminate stretching and either prune or pinch the lower branches to control their growth. So you'll want to veg for a number of weeks from seed let's say 6 or 7. (Not sure 3 will be enough; at least from seed anyway) Then gradually reduce the hours of light by 1-2 hours per week to induce preflowering. Once you see white pistils emerge you'll want to increase hours of light to 18/6 to revert back to veg mode for a short time before flipping to a straight 12/12 bloom cycle until harvest time. You will probly see some single blade leaves grow out from the stress of all this but the result should be a nice big fat solid spire if cols bud from tip to stem. Good luck and happy growing!!!

Click to expand...

I do this for my outdoor "patio" plants... Set them out after starting bloom by a few days. Be sure they "set" into bloom..Say 4 - 5 days. Then flip them back to veg for 2-3 weeks and rebloom them...

One long donkey dick...This is done, outside under natural direct sunlight...Don't even have to remove the side branching...