My GDP is 29 days old and I am going to be spending this next month to get her prepared for flower. I have a new trellis netting being delivered today and she has some work to do to get ready for the net.
She has more than double in size over the last seven days and she is doing great. One thing that I have found that these plants really like during these early stages is to mist them a few times a day with water. It helps to increase the humidity in the tent and they can even drink some of the water through their leaves.
I recently added some fans in the tent to increase the airflow across the plant as well. It is essential to have fans blowing across your plant to simulate wind in nature. There are several reasons to do this. Having a breeze blow across your plant increases the strength in the branches. If you do not stress your plant with some wind, you run the risk of having a weak plant with branches that cannot support decent sized buds, so your plant will not produce them. Good airflow is also essential in preventing mold that can ruin your entire harvest.
A few days ago, I trimmed off the two lowest sets of branches. I like to do this because those lower branches always have so far to go to reach up to the canopy and I have found they don't normally produce much bud on them, so getting rid of them forces the plant to allocate nutrients to the other branches. Getting rid of them also reduces the chances that any leaves touch the soil and helps with airflow along the lower part of the plant.
Now that the branches are beginning to get some decent length to them, I have begun bending them down and massaging them. This is something that I do several times a day. I used to use plastic clips to do this, but I have found that I broke too many branches doing this and it is a hassle to remove the clips when the branches fatten up. The clips also just bend a very small section of the plant. Massaging and bending the branches the way I am now allows me to do this across the entire length of the branch. It helps to thicken up the branches and get them ready for the weight of some real fat buds. It also helps to keep the branches from growing straight up because with the net, you want to train them to pretty much grow sideways and build a nice canopy.
As the other branches get longer, I bend them down as well. I have had some pretty great success doing it this way and the plants seem to appreciate the extra attention without stressing them too much early on.
The next thing I am doing to train this plant is to cut the stem, which keeps the main stem from growing any taller. It forces the plant to produce many large colas instead of having one large one. I usually wait until I have four or five sets of branches before I cut the top. It is a pretty easy and effective way to keep your plant shorter and at the same time, force it to spread out more.
Make sure that you use clean shears any time you make cuts on your plant so you reduce the chance of infection. This next couple weeks as the branches all begin to get longer, I will be taking time to bend branches down and spread them out evenly. In the past, I usually waited until I was a few days away from switching the lights for flower before I add the net in the tent, but this time I am going to be adding the net earlier because the branches are easier to bend and I am hoping to make just a massive canopy without any gaps. It should end up looking really cool once I have completed the canopy and am ready for flower.
It won't take long for her to recover from getting her main stem cut. I think by this time next week, I will have a nice start to my canopy. I have been working on my watering cycle and I am hoping that the roots are spreading out in the ten gallon pot. I have been water in larger amounts but less frequently so that the roots spread more as they look for water. Roots do need some dry time between watering because if they are always wet, they do not branch out as much, which will drastically reduce flowering in the later stages because your plant wont be able to drink as much water. Having a healthy root system also acts as a strong foundation for your plant and will keep it upright as it begins to pack on the weight.
I am excited for these next couple weeks. Things are going to start moving very fast and before I know it, she will be ready to begin flower.
