2 years, 2 months ago-
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First step is super cropping all the branches that need to be shaped. Pinch the stem between your fingers and roll it back and forth to break the connective tissue in the vascular bundles and the inner pith (you’ll hear it snap). I worked these branches a lot as I need to do a lot of shaping to make it manageable (new clone, new lights, lots of big nodes that need to be tightened up), so I kept rolling until I could twist it all the way around once or twice. Having masking/paper/painters tape handy is useful if you snap a branch accidentally and need to repair it, as long as it doesn’t break off entirely they’ll usually heal but this technique does take some skill.
Next I take a piece of coated wire longer then the branch, maybe 25% roughly but it depends how thick the branch is as you need to make tighter loops to compensate for thick/hard to move branches/stalks. Start by wrapping one end around the stem to anchor it and the up around the branch, making sure the wire falls between the nodes so it doesn’t block/damage any growing shoots. Hold the wire pinched to the branch with one hand and use the other to wrap/guide the wire into place around the branch working towards the tip. You’ll notice in the pic above that the wire isn’t tight to the stem, make sure there’s some gaps around it as pot grows quickly and you don’t want the wire cutting off the vascular bundles as the branch thickens. At first periodically check to make sure it’s not to tight, if it is getting a bit tight pinch the wire and stem below where it needs to be loosened and twist the wire in the opposite direction that it’s coiled to create some space. Once the branch is fully wrapped you can shape it as needed, making a zig zap pattern to reduce it’s length.
Or creating a spiral if you want a short bushy plant…
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That’s not at all the shape I want for this girl though, so here’s a couple more snaps of the actual end shape which show the advantage of this technique as it lets you move branches exactly where you want them.
To get a nice, even bush to work with I started by making both lower branches into zigzags in opposite directions, which when bent forward fill that area nicely. Next I wrapped the main trunk and bent it into a curved S going backwards to fill most of the remaining space. You’ll notice I left one branch sticking directly upwards so it’ll become the dominant growing shoot as it has no competition. I want it to grow quicker so I can bend it down and back to fill the last area nicely, so making it the dominant apical meristem directly controls the plants growth.
This close up shows how I twisted these two branches to face outwards from where the main trunk bends back in an S. Thinking ahead I don’t want branches crowding each other but given space to grow.
These other two between the two in the last pic were twisted around to be facing upwards to possibly be cut for clones as again I don’t want them crowding each other. Which is also why I’ve twisted the branches around onto the outside of the curve towards the tip as you can see in the last pic. You can also see how might tighter the coils are as it’s significantly thicker, as well as being tough from already being super cropped a couple times to keep it from growing into the light. The main stem will take a couple days to strengthen itself to This level of shaping is the benefit of the extra work and skill needed to do it. I haven’t found an easier way yet though, although tying branches to each other is something I’ve started to explore as a simple way to do this. A couple notes:
Stems will split, have tape handy to hold them tightly together for a week or so until healed.
Try to avoid kinks which limit one side of the vascular bundle, it’s not the end of the world but better if the curves are gentle enough they don’t kink the stem/trunk.
The wires will need to be either adjusted or removed in a week or two depending on the growth rate, once the branch has grown enough it’s pushing on the wire it’s time to adjust/remove before it starts to restrict the vascular bundle. I’ll leave some wire on too long to show what happens, again though this technique requires some skill and knowledge as it’s not the easiest. Standard LST is probably best for most beginners but this is a useful skill to have in your back pocket when needed. Plus fun to play with.
If people are unclear about how to wrap them I can try to make a video to show it, just let me know if I can clarify anything
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It’s a great way to learn how hardy the plants really are. I’d often suggest beginners grow some clones as if you give one twice as much nutes, one the regular amount and one half as much you can quickly see for yourself what the different nutrient excess/deficiencies look like. Which makes diagnosing plants much easier.
I snapped a quick pic of the One Night Stand this morning to show how it’s already perked up, even though it’s only been around 12 hours. Like I said calling it high or low “stress” training is a bit misleading as plants aren’t significantly effected even by significant super cropping as long as the vascular bundles don’t snap, just break apart the connective tissue.
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That’s why I recommended they speak to someone like you @somatek that was a great tutorial on directing your limbs for scrog to receive more light or whatever etc.You are a five star dude great information as always bro!
The soft wire do you just type in soft wire for scrog growing on Amazon?
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