I left off Grow Journal 8 with topping my five plants (Steve’s Dream Queen, Amnesia Lemon, Blood Diamond OG, Prayer Pupil, and Swabi Pakistani 3) with photos taken May 4 (two weeks into vegetation). I probably should have topped each plant earlier, but I’d waited an extra few days for recovery before topping because of the shaky pre-transplant (in Grow Journal 7).

ILNJ image

All five plants responded well to the topping. After topping, I rearranged the plants in the tent so the plants could gather different angles of light from my NextLight Core LED Grow Light (sponsored by Aroma Grow Store).

I’m not sure why, but Swabi Pakistani 3 had a rough start with yellowing fan leaves while in the middle of the tent. I also noticed she sucked up nearly twice as much water as the other plants. I moved her to a corner and started watering her more than the other plants. After a week, she recovered nicely, and branches started out-stretching the other plants

ILNJ photo

For the next couple weeks, I followed my watering and Lotus nutrients schedule. The four other plants were bushing out and becoming probably too leafy, because I only trimmed or pruned yellow, damaged, or dying leaves. I moved them around the tent for different lighting angles but otherwise left them alone (besides looking at them and talking to them every day).

ILNJ photo

May 19 (four weeks into vegetation), the branches on the bushy plants were more than long enough to train. Again, I think I may have been a few days late in starting the low stress training process. I bought some coated wire, and though I’d seen several photos online of low stress training, I was not sure how to connect the plastic coated wire to my fabric pots.

So I poked the tip of a spade bit through the fabric, slid the coated wire through the hole, and bent the stems underneath the hooked wire. At first, I cut off way too long of wire. I shortened the wires to where the branches were barley above the top of the fabric pots.

ILNJ photo: Dream Queen

The bottom branches were easy to hook underneath the wire. I should have started training two the top branches earlier, because I had a couple issues. The top two stems were thick and harder to bend. Though I tried to be careful as possible, I cracked the SP3. The loud snapping sound caused a gut-punch feeling. I instantly started apologizing and searching for something to fix it.

I learned a valuable lesson. Keep duct tape within reach of the grow tent, because stem cracking/breaking was going to happen. In this SP3 photo, my only choice until I could find duct tape was a twisty.

ILNJ photo: Swabi Pakistani 3

The next day, I slightly cracked the top stems on the Blood Diamond OG and the Amnesia Lemon but was able tape them up immediately.

With the bottom stems pulled down, the plant opened to better lighting. I again moved the plants around in the tent. Within three days, the leaves were already covering the top of the plants.

ILNJ photo: Prayer Pupil

On May 23 and 25, I slightly lowered and re-hooked the wire to each branch and again rearranged the plants in the tent. Every time I thought I’d opened up the plants for more light, the leaves grew back and covered everything up with a couple days.

ILNJ photo: Payer Pupil

May 26, I was five weeks into flower (and probably waited nearly a week too long). It was time to ready the girls for the flip to flower.

ILNJ photo

Check back for News Joint Grow Journal 10 for my attempt at Kyle Kushman’s super cropping and chiropractic techniques.

Click here for earlier entries of News Joint Grow Journal. A Prairie State of Mind.