Growing a plant for aesthetics despite yield.

[grod31]

Hey all this post is about what can be done not why something should be done. Many different trees and shrubs are trained and manipulated to be sold in various forms.
Cannabis grows so quick I assume its possible to to train our ladies into basically any shape we set our ambitions on. From traditional espalier to elephant or what ever we have the patients to grow.
I want to keep it relatively simple and grow a lollipop stem up to about 36-48 inches (91-121cm) with a manifold above that.
Think about a hydrangea "tree" or a "tree"rose basically what the industry would call a "standard". Besides the obvious weight/ staking issues any reason this cant be done?

 

[44:86N]

If you (as in yourself) can do it with a hydrangea or rose, you can do it with cannabis, though maybe not with every strain. Some strains will probably lend themselves better to that kind of treatment than others.

 

[f-e]

Might need a seed for the best symmetry
I grew something symmetrical once.

They eventually slip out of symmetry though. At the height you want, the nodes will be putting out single branches.

I did 3 there out of a 6" pot of soil on tomatorite. I cringe looking back at the deficiency signs.

The secret, I will share. It's on a plant turner. Doing maybe 30 revs an hour. Until mid bloom where it didn't have the strength. Loosing me some uniformity.
If you want a stem straight up without leaning, you could do pretty much the same. Then you can light if from just one side, so you are not looking at the lights if it's in your TV room.

 

[grod31]

really? the amount of branches that comes out of a node decreases with height or age ? Thats something I have never noted. If so one could graft in some additional arms(or varieties) at the top.

 

[f-e]

really? the amount of branches that comes out of a node decreases with height or age ? Thats something I have never noted.

Yeah, a seed puts out a branch each side, at every node. As it ages, the branches get a little offset. Eventually so offset that one node becomes two, with a single branch each. You see this on side branches right away, where there side branches are always one per node after the very early one's are set. By the time a cutting is taken, you never seen a single node with a branch out each side again. In my early years I tried to keep the terminal growth tip as a cutting to see if the symmetry could be kept, but regardless, after 10 or so nodes, the slip becomes apparent

 

[grod31]

hhmm well that does make things a bit trickier. Thanks for that.

 

[grod31]

How long do you think it would take indoors to grow a plant strait up to about 4 feet(100 cm)?
50 days 80 days?

 

[HempKat]

How long do you think it would take indoors to grow a plant strait up to about 4 feet(100 cm)?
50 days 80 days?

That's going to depend on the strain, the pot size (if indoors) and the strength of the light, but I've vegged many strains to 4 feet in height in just 60 days.

 

[44:86N]

How long do you think it would take indoors to grow a plant strait up to about 4 feet(100 cm)?
50 days 80 days?

What I would try, is removing the side branches as they appear, as soon as you can, pretty much leaving only the apical tip. With many other plants, this is referred to as "dis-budding." Super-cropping is another form of dis-budding, but the timing is different.

That may mess with the hormonal responses of the plant, and keep the tip growing. When it's the height you want, stop removing the side shoots and begin pruning the growths to get a heavier branch set up high.

That's basically what's done with fuchsia, hydrangea, rosemary, ect.

Give it a go! It's all just one big experiment, anyway!

 

[grod31]

For sure. Anyone have an idea how long it would take to grow up to 100 cm?
5 gallon soil buckets with LED. I dont usually veg that long and when I have it was never strait up.

 

[Three Berries]

I'm messing with this one as it will be all alone come flower time.

 

[grod31]

I will play around with a few ideas. How do you think they will do with braiding?(inspired by that pic)
I'm thinking about using the two bottom branches to braid up around the meristem but continue dis- budding everything else.
Its alot of fun to think about what we could grow if we didn't want to harvest 110% buds

 

[tobedetermined]

How do you think they will do with braiding?

Check out Pirateboarder Life on youtube He is doing exactly that & a few other things with some plants for fun & entertainment.

 

[grod31]

nice.. so yeah as suspected you can basically do anything you want with them . I wonder what that braided stem would look like after a summer grow season.

 

[tobedetermined]

Gnarly.

 

[f-e]

I reckon pinching the side branches but leaving the shade leaves, you could put a lot of energy into the upward growth. I have seen Jack the beanstalk, do a few inches in a day, without any such effort or even a high RH. Many a Haze can rocket up also. You might see 100cm flowering from seed, using some genetics. No problem at all.

 

[HempKat]

For sure. Anyone have an idea how long it would take to grow up to 100 cm?
5 gallon soil buckets with LED. I dont usually veg that long and when I have it was never strait up.

Well I wouldn't start out with a 5 gallon bucket for one thing, you're more likely to run into issues that will slow you down. Much better to start from seed in a solo cup, then when needed up pot to a one gallon, then a 3 gallon. You'll probably be at 4 feet while still in the 3 gallon but when people veg to that size they often do one final transplant to 5 gallon and then flip to 12/12. Of course if you do that you'll likely end up with something a good bit taller then 4 feet when it's ready to harvest.

 

[grod31]

Typically I would have my light close with an oscillating fan blowing on my girls to promote tighter internodal spacing and sturdier stems. In the case of a standard I assume it would be better to put the light much further away and to not use a fan to promote stretch. I think a larger or at least deeper than average container would be better for a plant growing taller faster. Also staking would be 100% necessary from day 1. The stretch coupled by the"dis-budding" /Super-cropping would make the before mentioned Slip of nodes by f-e less apparent at the advanced height.
I regularly achieve 16+ sets of nods at 16 inches with the my normal method. Based off of peoples pictures of insufficient lighting with the stretch them i'm sure the interodal spacing could be as much as 10X longer. After the achieving desired height the light can be lowered +increase wind. Then Manifold after normal growth rates recover.

 

[grod31]

Two plant elephant; you see it?

 

[grod31]

It's hard too mutilate a plant in a fashion that wont increase its stability or yield.
Not physically hard; emotionally... Im uneasy making such ludicrous cuts. I really have to commit to aesthetics. Im up to bout the 20th node so far and removed the bottom 10 . Now i can see the "node slip" with the parallel branches being staggered and not conjoined.
I would love to start the manifold but the plant is only about 14 inches tall.
Stupid I can only have 3 mature plants. I just wanna grow some art and not have to sacrifice me yearly medicine to do so.