Plant stems bent. Need Help

Newbie here. First Grow. Tried searching for this but didn't find exactly what I was looking for so I'm hoping one of you fine experts could help me out.

My plants are currently 3 weeks into flowering and I got really lucky that all 4 that I started with ended being female. The plants are completely healthy other than some of the leaves closest to the bottom are dying off.

I had an accident where all 4 of my plants' stems got bent over 45 degrees. 2 of them in 2 or more places. A couple of branches just below top colas were completely bent over. However, none of the stems or branches actually broke off and a few of the injuries showed some fluid coming out but no significant tears other than one long branch that broke halfway off at the joint.

I grabbed some bamboo sticks I just happened to have and duct taped them to the plant for support and I used twine instead of tape where I could. All plants are now upright and stable. The plants were splintered up within minutes of the accident but were fixed up right when the lights were turned off (so no time under lights right afterwards, unfortunately.

1. Will the plants be ok, even where it bent nearly 90 degrees?
2. Will the tape adhesive poison the plant? (little tape was used)
3. Is it safe to assume that the plants could all turn hermie at this stage of flowering?
4. How far did this set me back?
5. Anything specific I should do to help the plant heal? (nutes, etc...)

I found info in the forum close to what happened to me but I would like to get some opinions on this specific instance. Thanks for your help

.......yes, I was high when it happened. And yes, it was my fault.

i have had lights fall and bend and break my plants befor sometimes i just leave them the way they are bent and let them fix their selves if there's not to much stem damage and they seem to do fine the twine you used might not be the best thing it could cut into the stalks depending on how thick it is and how tight its tied i have splinted and taped branches but once it is broken to a certin point its just kinda a lost cause as for the hermi thing if your doing every thing else right i wouldnt worrie about it and i dont think you have to worrie about the tape poisening the plant i used sports tape on mine good luck :thumbsup:

-Bomb

Can you post pictures?

Unfortunately, I don't have a camera so I can't post any pics. My camera phone sucks.

The twine I'm using is thin and soft and it wasn't tied too tight anywhere...my fear was hurting the stem. Maybe I'll tape it up in spots I used twine when I get back from work today.

After checking them this morning, the two plants that had one spot on the stem that sustained a bad bend appear to be doing well...also the plant that had half its joint ripped at one of the main branches seems well so far. The plant that had multiple bends is having some problems including: white pistols are shriveling up and turning brownish and leaves and branches sagging pretty bad. I'm a little worried about this one.

Like you smokin, I dropped the stupid lights onto them. Lesson learned...don't make adjustments with them underneath. I damn near had a heart attack. So you just left them alone? I didn't feel comfortable with that since a few of the bends were nearly 90 degrees and I thought for sure I'd lose a lot of yield if I left them like that.

forgot to ask (and this is for anyone). Would nutes help the plants at all? I am only using a bloom fertilizer that is 10-30-10 at this point and I'm wondering if I should use the 20-20-20 for a week or so to help them out. Before the accident last night, the lower leaves were getting a little crispy, hanging low, and changing colors a bit, but I thought that may be normal at this stage. What do you guys think?

seems so odd to me to put duct tape on a plant

darnit, I knew I forgot one other thing....

one of the plants had multiple sections of the stem that were bent badly (though no real tearing that I saw) and I had to put a thin stake the length of the plant into the pot to anchor the plant to it. Obviously, I ripped some roots out when inserting it into the dirt. I'm curious to know if doing that was a big mistake. I just checked on it and the leaves are starting to droop badly and the pistols are shriveling and turning brown in the top places. I'm sure it's shock, but will the loss of roots be of a concern and will they grow back?

sorry for the multiple posts and questions. This forum has been awesome in helping me grow for the first time and so far it's been really good and this problem has me stumped.

thanks.

they are gonna be fine...I have recently been playing w/"super cropping" w/is the act of bending the stems over till the fold in half intentionally.(I suggest pinching the stem before folding so you dont break it off) It increases lower growth while maintaining a reasonable height. my results thus far have been great!

Dive:stoned:

Thanks Dive. I've read a bit about supercropping and if that works, then I'm sure most of my plants will ok. It's just the part about being 3 weeks into flowering and seeing buds turning to shit is what's making me freak out about it.

amazing how easy it is to freak out when you're new. Every time I had the slightest weirdness in my plants early on I'd read 100 things to find the problem. Now, I pretty much let it go and use some common sense and they end up fine.

hey bob how are your plants doing ?

I snapped mine in half by mistake. It looks like it's growing ok. I will compare it to the other plants if it turns out female. :jointsmile:

Smokin, they are doing much better, thanks. 1 of them sustained 2 tears in different spots of the stem and it's unable to stand up without splints on those spots. Most of the old pistols that had grown near the tear spots have died or are badly withered but above and below them seem to be ok. I wish I had a dang camera to take some pics...the leaves at those spots actually are pretty good so I'm thinking positive on a rejuvenation.
The other plants seem to be pretty good now and I've taken off most of the splints.

so far so good...for the most part.

Well, I spoke too soon..... I woke up this morning and had a problem.

One of the plants had one bad bend, which I put a splint on it right after it happened, waited 2 days and took it off after it seemed to hold itself up just fine. Well, this morning I walk down there to look at them and it was bent over again and this time the place where it bent looks bloated or something. Like all the plants first aid it's using to try and repair it all got bunched up a few millimeters above the injury and the place where it's actually injured is pretty weak. So, I've put a splint on there again but it's difficult because it's right where 2 good buds are growing and I'm rubbing up on them to get this splint in. Still, the buds seem ok for the most part but I'm sure my plants are just really pissy and focusing all their energy on fixing the injuries and not creating buds.

I need to get a camera..I really, really do.

the bloating is totally normal,it's the plant's attempt at reinforcing the broken section.if your branch hasnt died yet,its gonna be fine :)

Dive:stoned:

wow pass that, that looks like it was doing pretty fuckin nice for outdoor grow Nice man

This happens to us all, usually within a week the plant has repaired the damage and growth resumes as normal. Until then, the unbent branches will develop faster than they would have, so while you may need another week to fully flower you may get some nicer buds on the unbent branches.

Thanks, Mike. After reading everyone's comments I feel better about things. I'm still paranoid but not nearly as much. I am noticing the unbent branches developing quicker but it appears the stretch part of the flowering is over with for the most part. It will be 4 weeks into it tomorrow and I haven't had any real bud growth in the areas above the injuries in a week. I'm sure it will perk up like you said.

I have good news and bad news.

Good news is, the buds are growing like wildfire now. They really took off over the past 24 hours. Hmmm..I started molasses a few days ago.
The crystals are growing very heavy and I'm just giddy over it.

bad news...3 of the 4 plants that I have are hermies! I've left my plants alone for most of the week since they all got injured but a little while ago I took them out and inspected them and I noticed some powder on a leaf, got suspicious, and found some opened balls. What a disappointment it is. There's no way the hermieness was from the stress of repairing themselves, it can't happen that fast....at least I don't think.
It's a lost cause to save all of the flowers from pollinating at this point, but I removed a bunch and always had some thick duct tape with sticky side up, underneath the place I was cutting (I have these really tiny pair of scissors I got from a pack of buttons and string for clothes repair that are perfect). Those little boogers hold a ton of pollen. Enough were already opened so I know sections got pollinated. You know, I thought some of the early flowers looked like balls but they had pistils growing out of them so I wasn't positive. I'm pretty sure the 3 seeds for these plants that I got in a bag of some weed that resembled northern lights all came from a plant that was hermie. The plant that isn't a hermie came from another bag. I'm trying to keep the non-hermie plant as separate from the others that I can without compromising the light on it so I'll just wait and see what happens.