Forget FIM; lost cause?

Basic Growing Info
#1

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We’re standing tall at 9 nodes. Very little training has happened; never topped.

I’ve tried researching on the subject but as per usual I can’t find much useful info. Can anyone tell me the harm of topping of fimming later in veg? This is about 2 months of veg, a little droopy as I recently transplanted them as well as increased the light. I plan to flower them in the next few weeks as I’m running out of vertical space. I have about 4’ from my soil to the glass of my ac hood, and they’re already using ~18”. I’ve been avoiding messing with it; I find the less I have to do with the plants they better they are, so LST hasn’t really happened, aside from helping one of them up that I managed to plant sideways and grew kinda unbalanced.

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#2

I don’t think there’s any harm, but since you’re so close to flowering and have limited space, how about another option: using a safety pin, a piece of string or twist ties, and a medium-low tension rubber band, pull the top down to allow the side branches to get the growth auxins?

I do this with cloth pots and plastic ones with holes drilled in them. Works great! Just start slow on the tension so it doesn’t break, and increase it over time as the top bends.

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#3

Damn it, I knew there was something to improve on the string around the pot, something stretchy gives me a little more time to adjust it before it gets too crazy.

Are heavy rubber bands like from the mail safe enough on the limbs? Or would an elastic tape like for waistbands maybe be better?

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#4

No harm at all in this stage of veg. I would top them and top again right before flower. (Or FIM) That way they stretch from that point and your branches get much bigger.

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#5

I have topped many times in the last week of veg I am not a lucky kind of guy so i think its ok

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#6

You want not so heavy rubber bands or, if you use heavy rubber bands, just adjust the safety pin location to not put too much pressure on the stems you’re bending down. You don’t want to snap them.

I’d recommend placing the rubber band 3-4 nodes down from the top or you’ll pop the new bits off. This doesn’t need to be an overnight thing - you can gently pull the stalk down over a week or two without doing any stem crushing or breaking.

This way, you don’t have to remove any foliate or tops or anything yet you accomplish the same thing - auxin redistribution - without any stress. LST ez pz.

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#7

When you do not only will everything start to shoot up but the trunk gets fat… I top and manifold the entire veg process last one happens about a wk before i wanna flower

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#8

If they were mine I would bend them over really hard, like almost snap, and let them grow from there. If your goal is maximum tops it’s something to consider.

All the best

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#9

That is a good point though; I should say I’m not pushing for a killer yield or anything crazy. I’m making most of it into bubble hash. All I care is that the plants are healthy, so I can be too.

Rubber bands were so instantly perfect and convenient I can’t say no. I have it; it’s less stressful to the plant and more forgiving to me than string.

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#10

I’m always pushing for maximum yield :wink:

Seriously though, as long as you have the vertical space I think you’ll be fine. If you think you’ll run out then you should do something different. There’s also nothing wrong with cutting them down a few nodes just to make them shorter. Take some clones or something. Just don’t overdo it :slight_smile:

They look nice and healthy so good job.

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#11

All about that yield. Also your plant will only put out a set amount that itll divide between the tops. More tops will give you smaller colas that are easier to take care of as far as mold or bud rot issues as they will have less moisture build up inside the denser strains. It will raise the humidy a bit though so you gotta compensate that part. Good luck… Oh those girls are pretty and healthy good job​:+1::ok_hand::+1:

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#12

Benefit of a mid western winter. House is dry as hell, so automatic dehydration. Fighting to keep above 40%. Haven’t figured out quite how to get the humidifier seal in the tent, without it taking up floor space and misting right into a plant. Although, since temps drops 12 degrees at night I see humidity bumps at night, if I’ve just watered easily is 50-60% day and 70% night.

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#13

Im in ok and its so humid i gotta keep the door open on my tent when the lights come on or it hits like 80-90%… I really need a good dehumidifier

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#14

I used TWO rubber bands chained together for each, and attached it above the 4th node, much farther up would need longer bands or it would be pulling what seems like too far. I tried for about 35-45 degrees to begin with, they are pretty soft stems. Took a good 2” off the canopy height.

I’m fairly happy with this method, it’s pretty easy, I wonder how it compares to similar training with less elastic string. I would imagine pretty similar, and the bands were easier for me to do personally. Thanks, @nube . Sometimes it’s the little things that are game changers lol.

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#15

When I have a plant getting taller than the others I knuckle it over. Branches grow more and stems get fatter. The bigger the shoots the bigger the fruits.

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#16

I just harvested a haze that i bent 90° at the base without any stress

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#17

Just popping in, good to see your grow coming along!

I just flop mine. You can bend stalks till they “snap” (you’ll feel it) and they’ll flop right over. If you break the skin of the plant, wrap it in masking tape and she should be fine.

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