Should I support these stems?

Hello fellow sneaky friends!

I haven't found much info on the forums.
I can see alot of people support their stems, but some don't. At what point should I support them, if at all?
Is a single bamboo stick tied to the stem enough, or should I support them even more? I saw on the forums someone asked if Bamboo isn't a good idea as it can get pests/termites and can rot? The question wasn't answered, so what are your thoughts?

These are my plants, they spend half their time indoors and half outdoors. The sun is strong now, but the wind makes me bring them in for half the day. I grow 90% on sun and top up with a CFL occassionally.

Also do you support the bigger leaves? The larger ones are drooping and i cant imagine the flowers can get as large as they want to if the leaves cant support them?

Can anyone look at the picture and tell if im doing something wrong?

#1 Gonna need a bigger boat. 5 gallon container would work. Will correct itself after transplanted. Also, are they going outdoors?

:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Esteban1

#1 Gonna need a bigger boat. 5 gallon container would work. Will correct itself after transplanted. Also, are they going outdoors?

:thumbsup:

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Yes they go outdoors for 5 hours a day or so when the wind isn't too strong.
Otherwise it's through the window sun with a lot of fresh air and not much direct wind.
And when it's not properly sunny then I top them up with CFL warm for flowering.

I transplanted them to these pots 2 weeks ago! But thank you for advice! Will transplant this weekend

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Esteban1

#1 Gonna need a bigger boat. 5 gallon container would work. Will correct itself after transplanted. Also, are they going outdoors?

:thumbsup:

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hey Esteban, will transplanting my plants constantly harm them?
I transplanted these from pots about 1/5th the size (way too small) just two weeks ago. If i transplant them again now to 5 gallon, will that not harm them?
I am also 1 month from flower (I assume, as its been 2 months since they germed- i did have a set back after not watering for 10 days, they dried out completely and nearly died). They are the same height as 2 weeks ago, but now are getting bushier as opposed to just growing tall with not many leaves.

I would slow them from growing taller. Need lots more buds before flowering. Bend and tie the main colas to the side of the pot to get the other buds growing. I screw hooks or eyes to the top side of the pot. This will cause the main bud to grow up, but the others will try to take the place of it. Also makes it easier to keep lites pretty close to the plant.
If not fim or top them.

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Originally Posted by morelmaniac

I would slow them from growing taller. Need lots more buds before flowering. Bend and tie the main colas to the side of the pot to get the other buds growing. I screw hooks or eyes to the top side of the pot. This will cause the main bud to grow up, but the others will try to take the place of it. Also makes it easier to keep lites pretty close to the plant.
If not fim or top them.

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Thanks Morel. Tie the main stem to the side of the pot? So it prevents the main stem from growing and the plant compensates by the other bits growing?
I heard topping the plants wasn't a good thing. What are your thoughts?
The plants haven't grown taller in two weeks, but the other leaves are starting to push out. Should i still be tying it down or fim/topping them?

5 hours isn't enough sun time light through a a window is too weak to grow healthy cannibals plants, wind will strengthen the stalk if it's not gale force. They do need bigger containers and they do need support, bamboo works and they make plastic "bamboo" stakes too.

I would continue to tie them down and let the other growth catch up. Don't want to tie and fim. You can train it to grow horizontal and the main top you have tied will be close to the new growth in height. Let the new growth continue.

If you gently squeeze the stems till they pop they will repair the damage and the stalks will become much stronger. Start closest to the main stalk on the branches and gently squeeze stems from stalk to first node on all stems. Wait a few days and repeat between the first and second nodes and so on. Constantly pinching the stalks during veg will strengthen them for flower and will improve circulation for the plant. It's kinda like the broken bone that heals stronger on the break than the rest of the bone.

to answer the orignal question, lots of great growers use bamboo stakes to support plants. Use as many as needed. I've seen 35 gallon gorilla pots (root trimmers) with at least a dozen bamboo stakes all around the outside, like a jail cell. :(
Get more light on them, more time outdoors.

Hello everyone, thanks for your replies.
Shovel, I've used bamboo now :)
Built2spill, I've started pinching the bottoms a bit :) I tried to pinch and bend the top of the main stem, so the colas from the bottom would grow upwards, but the main pinched stem basically just decided to repair itself, straighten itself out and grow upwards again.
Morel, I have low stress trained one, with a near horizontal grow for the main stem. It looks like it's working well.

you can see pictures here- http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/...ml#post2251005

i also upgraded the pots as you guys suggested. they are on 20 litre (5gal) air pots.

any further tips on droopy leaves and next steps would be great!!!!

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Originally Posted by Esteban1

#1 Gonna need a bigger boat. 5 gallon container would work. Will correct itself after transplanted. Also, are they going outdoors?

:thumbsup:

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5 gallon air pots now, thanks for advice!

Nice, did ya grab the pots with or without handles, also which type of soil did you use? Remember that the smart pots tend to dry out quicker than conventional containers. Peace

:thumbsup:

they come with handles?! i got ones without and that's the one complaint i have about them. 5 gallon, filled aren't easy to move around- manufacturers- get some handles!
are you thinking about smart pots? i don't think air pots have handles.
I went with air pots because i read someone comparing the two and said they prefered air to smart as the smart ones take a while to drain out and leak for quite a while after you water them, so it's not good for plants you intend to move around.

i use bio bizz and coco coir in a 50-50 mix. with the cana coco coir and the smart pots, i'm keeping an eye on the water!

Tip for 5 gallon containers.

Buy a 1/2 Sheet of MDF board, don't get fiberboard
Have it cut into 1'x1', it should make 32
Buy a boatload of the 1" casters
Screw 4 into each board

Viola - Sliding plants.

If you need to make 32 of them, that's alot of wheels. Personally I don't move my plants, just twist them, unless they need rotated, but I'm in hydro, so I just swap out the netpots

Estaban, air pots are different from Smart pots. Air pots are plastic with ridges and air holes in the sides to air prune the roots. They are the cats ass.