Topping vs Breaking vs Bending vs LST - a photojournal

I was recently experimenting with some plants and figured this is a great chance to illustrate the differences of each technique. I am not saying one is better than another or one yields more, simply trying to help growers visualize the concepts and view them right next to each other, using the same plants, same age, lighting, nutes, atmosphere, etc

So onto the details.

Plants were all Nirvana Aurora Indica clones, nearly identical in size and nodes, rooted and transplanted to 16 0z cups on 3/10/07.
Light source is a single 4' fixture with 2 x Philips 40 watt daylight (6500K) bulbs. Light schedule 24/0
Distance to plant tops from light was ~ 1 inch, maintained by raising lower/shorter plants to same level
Temps were a consistent 65-68 degrees, plenty of fresh air
Watered individually by container weight, ~ 2x a week
Foliar feeding only for all 1xweek with Fox Farms Grow Big (6-4-4) - 1 tsp/gal PH 6.4
All alternative techniques were started on 8th day of xplant into cups ie 3/18/07- giving 7 days to settle in and one feeding - All were on node 4
Pics are from Day 31 after xplanting rooted clones. Std. DVD case used for size reference

Now onto the show!

Control plant - no alternative techniques used

Topped Plant - at day 8, the main grow tip was cut off with a sterile razor blade.

I read about this technique somewhere, but had never put it into action. This plant had the stem physically broken in

1/2 about 2 nodes (1/2way) down from the top. Broken 3/4+ of the way throug, the "dangling" portion was held up in place by the rim of the cup, so it was held at a right angle and healed. There is a huge (nearly 2x stem diameter) knot where the break was. Notice that the tip stopped growing and it did not revert to an upright growth position/phototropism until the plant healed sufficiently, approximately ~ 10-12 days after the breaking. meanwhile, everything under the break got a huge growth spurt.

Again, a technique I had read about, but never introduced before. Also called "breaking the hurd" or "crushing the hurd", I took the stem of this plant (in the same place as the one I broke), yet this time , just gently crushed the stem flat with a pair of needle nose pliers. It instantly dropped to below a 90 degree angle, actually pointed down, but reverted to growing up within 2 or three days. I continued to crush the stems of the tallest parts about once a week.

LST'ed plant - This plant was tied down with dental floss and tape, starting with the main stem on day 8 tied down to well over a 90 degree angle, taking care not to bend or crack the stems at all. Subsequent parts were tied down as they grew taller, once a week.

Hopefully this gives a good idea of what groeth patterns are associated with each style. Also keep in mind that container size plays a HUGE role in the outcome, and if all these were flowered now, all would likely give similar yield. Had the containers been larger, perhaps some of the alternate techniques would prove greater root growth. When I transplant them in a couple of days I'll make sure to take pics of the roots as well

This thread is FREAKIN great! KEEP posting. That's an order...lol. no seriously, I'm watching and thanks for sharing!!

:jointsmile: Bree

Excellent thread and thoroughly done. I'll be dying to see the results!!! Thanks!!!!:)

Sweet Tokudai ,
Once exp. is done , look into making it a sticky or FAQ so noobs can get info on alternative methods all in 1 place . Not as much hunting would have to be done on their part = hopefully eliminating some of the more comon noob q's / threads on any or all these techniques .
Peace bro.
Crispi :jointsmile:

Transplant day
Blech. I hate transplanting a bunch of plants at once. Add 12 more to these 5 today. And then, of course, I was out of soil and perlite, so I had to go get some - closest open place is 25 miles away. They didn't have the brand of compost I normally use (or ANY organic compost!), so I got the "cleanest" or most fertilizer free soil I could find - Hyponex. It was the only one that said to feed immediately after xplant. Blech.

So anyways, in case you are wondering, my soil recipe for this batch is

2 Cu Ft Hyponex Potting soil
1.3 cu Ft Perlite
1 Cup Powdered Dolemite lime
2 Cups Greensand
1 Cups Kelp meal

Mix well and serve. Makes approx ~ 25 gallons of soil. I have started to regularly add the greensand, lime and kelp meal when I make a batch of soil - I don't tend to feed much in veg and figured it might help them get a kickstart, and make the overall soil a little juicier. I should convert a bathroom and go hydro it'd be a lot less work...


Details and changes

I did not "water in" these plants tonight, as the soil was very wet to begin with, even after mixing it up and letting it air out a bit.
I did foilar feed them a little early on the schedule, but since I was x-planting tonight...
I will continue each ones "alternative" treatments on friday, giving them'all a little time to settle into the new pots (except the LST will start tomorrow as to not lose the "bend")
Lighting has changed to 2x40watt Daylight(6500k) tubes and 4 x 26 watt Daylight CFLS (6500k)
Light schedule became 18/6 today

Onto the transplanting!

Control plant

Topped Plant

Broken plant

Bending/crushed plant

LST'ed plant

Some of my pics didn't come out so great :( They were all pretty rootbound as you can see from the pics. I loosened the rootballs gently to get an idea of density, and they were all fairly equal. The control and the bent plant were the most rootbound, and had the most coiling at the bottom.The bent plant was the hardest/toughest one to break apart. One common condition through them all was they were very dry at the bottom, but the top of the soil appears moist. If merely giving a visual inspection on a larger scale, I likely would have passed these over. This is why using weight of the container is useful to judge when they are or are not ready to be watered.

This part of the session, I will X-plant them to larger containers as they warrant, rather than keep them all in the same size pot. Here is where I expect to see some major differences in size and shape, and, provided everything goes right, I will flower them in about 4 weeks and compare yields/overall size/health/ease of maintenance, etc etc.

We'll see how they deal in their new homes, and update this thread soon! Gotta go deal with the aftermath mess now (sigh).. Did I mention I should go hydro? ;)

Great update Tokudai...thanks again. I noticed you have a fair amount of perlite in your soil mix....more than I have tried to use.....I wonder if that's part of the reason I suck at growing in soil. :wtf:

I have used a few of these methodes in my grow, and I got to say connering (another form of topping), isd the best thing to do. To change the cola shape. I like to bend also, just keep an eye on how much room the roots have and your good to go. . .

any new info man? i would sure like to read up on it

Wow is all i can say thanks for the photo grow log.

Great source of information!!!


Thanks

~Russ~

what would you say is the best way? lst?

I'd like to see an update!! Please?

:jointsmile: Bree

OH YEAH, THIS IS A BOOKMARKER FO'SHO'!!!:thumbsup:
Rock.

Damn, this was a good thread. I've never seen it. I've gotta get my arse into the other growing sections instead of just staying Indoor/Grow Log.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bree1978

I'd like to see an update!! Please?

:jointsmile: Bree

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Last I remember, didn't he say he was going on some kind of trip...cannabis related...like to go be a professional horticulturalist or travel the world or something? I know there were two good ones...one was ericwt, right? I dunno. I wish Tukodai would have finished this thread, tho. :(


The Fog :rastasmoke:

great thread! im still trying to figure out what i should do with mine, I think im gonna do LST instead of top so that i dont have to have recovery time. less recovery time means i can start to flower sooner

I hang in the basic growing section most often, like this thread alot too. I don't do anything to my plants to be honest, but feel that topping is a bit outdated because obviously it stunts the plant and slows down growth a bit..just my opinion tho

I accidentally super cropped one female out of two on my first grow....it did in fact make the buds grow the same. I can't type anything today sorry. What I'm trying to say is that the topping forced the engery of growth more evenly, so I really didn't have a main cola....many instead. The plant that I just LST'd had a main cola and many medium and small side shoots. Oddly enough, they produced about the same weight (they both hermied though too, I'm a stress inducing caretaker). This grow I've just LST'd and again I have one main cola on each and medium sized side shoots. I liked the topped buds better, but in retrospect that could have been the strain. And it didn't really help weight, I just liked it. Women, huh? I

I've Fimmed my third grow, not sure if it is right quite yet. We shall see.


:jointsmile: Bree

bump.

just LST'ed for the first time. Will post pictures tomorrow of what they look like after 12 hours of light.