Serious problem - Plants FELL OVER!

So ran into some serious troubles last night. I should have topped my plants early in veg, as now theyâ??re just huge monsters in bloom. I have one that is about 4 days away from my 5 day flush (9 days total to chop). Well last night I noticed it was getting pretty top heavy (stems are small and have been supported for some time), but decided it was something I could fix a day later. Shouldnâ??t have waited. I woke up this morning to see one plant had leaned so much, it actually brought the lid off the bucket. Of course it couldnâ??t just fall forward and land on the floor, it had to fall backwards and knock another plant down. So one had fallen straight to the ground, and bent its top cola at a 90 degree angle when it hit the wall on the way down. The other just had a bend in the stem, looked like it snapped slightly, but didnâ??t break off in any places.

Damage: Well, the most developed plant was bent in the middle of the stem, as well as the top cola actually being bent. It spent about 8 hours laying on the floor (while I slept), and all the leaves donâ??t look dead yet, but they are drooping really bad. The other one was just bent in the middle of the stem, no damage to the cola, and the leaves look better on this one (probably because it was still upright and not on the damn floor).

Armed with toothpicks, dowel rods, and Gorilla tape, I was able to get them standing on their own again.

So did I kill them, or is it too early to tell? Iâ??m worried since this happened so late in flowering, stress might trigger some hermies. Anyone care to calm my fears? Iâ??m 59 days into 12/12.

I doubt that you killed them. It sounds like you've splinted them up as good as you can which is the main thing. Maybe try to string them up gently in the spots where they seem like they might need it since they'll be packing on more weight still.
I'd just hang in there because it sounds like you've done what you can already. I think Latewood had a top cola that bent at 90 degrees and it lived and got huge just the same. Saw pics somewhere, think it was his.

Sorry to hear that dude....In KBS growing they have chicken wire on the roof to tie each branch to because they get so large and heavy they will break off from the weight.

You can try to mend the stems with twist ties and cheese cloth soaked in Ph adjusted water.

Already mended them this morning before lights off with toothpicks (for the cola) and I taped dowel rods on top of my other dowels to handle the higher parts of the plant with bungee cords. Will the plant repair itself this late in flowering, or was I better off to just chop it - it's about 10 days early, and still needs to be flushed.

Thanks for the help!

Don't worry about any hermy problems IMO, even if it did turn hermy it wouldn't have any time to complete any pollination process that would seed your girls with 10 days left.
Adieu

Wow sorry to hear that! Hope they recover!

Well, I started flush on them last night. Hoping to get one or two days in with some Flora Kleen before I chop them down. They had 12 hours of light last night, and the leaves are still drooping heavily, so I don't think it would recover fully.

You have no problems...I break my tall sativas on purpose, (in fact I have just harvested a 1/4lb top that was broken over. and I have 2 more in flower that are broken over and they are fluorishing. I don't even tape them or anything; and haven't had a problem yet...the fact that you are late in flower makes it next to impossible form you to have a hermie problem. Stress maybe a little, but if you are flushing, then your are done anyway. goodluck

Stake them up with some garden stakes attatched with a plastic zip tie (cut off excess zip tie) that's what Gorilla Greenz does (best gardener I know.)

Well actually, there were serious problems, and I should have chopped it the day it fell over. The rest of the plant felt fresh, the cola? Well, all the trim leaves were almost completely dry and curled around the bud. So it probably died off when the plant fell, and sitting that 12 hour under a light speed dried it. Only part of the plant that smells like complete shit, and unfortunately for me, where most of my yield was. :(

well cut and trim then and just do the best you can with what you have.

At least you learned something for the next time so all is not a total loss, education is important too.

Good luck

Yep, cut and trimmed them up last night. Hopefully next time I'm more successful...

Last one, I think this one should have gone for a week more...

they're so cute...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LiquidMagik

Last one, I think this one should have gone for a week more...

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True you may have a better crop if you did but look at it this way.

What you have is better then if you broke it in the first week of flower. :D

Good luck next time.

Happy growing.

sorry to hear about your problems,in future get some garden mesh atatch it to all sides of your grow room,let your plants grow through this and you will never have this problem again.

I have broke a few of my plants in my first grow as well. I have about 32 total right now, three of which are a little broken. They seem to be doing okay though. My question is this though..if I start to see browning on the inside of the stem should I yank the plants out of the room? I am guessing this is rot and leaves the plant more suseptable to mold. Or can you just let her try to make a come back?