Plants are too tall for my greenhouse setup - need advice please

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JacksonH

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I have these 4 Pennywise plants in my greenhouse with supplemental lighting due to trees blocking the sun for most of the day. My "problem" is that they are getting too tall for my setup. The canopy is pretty even, and I don't know if there is room for LSTing them. The top of the stalks are only flexible for about 5-6". I wish that they were in flower now, but that is probably a month away. I'm thinking of shutting off my lights completely to slow their growth, but I don't know if that would have unintended consequences, as most things do. I also think that there are too many small stalks that won't produce much.
In short, I don't know WTF to do. ANY advice is appreciated. p.s. I don't know why the photo is so shitty looking.
 
JerzeyMike

JerzeyMike

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Wow! Yea, looks like you’re in trouble. If it were me, i would supercrop them about a foot to foot and a half down, then put a scrog net up. Give them some time to recover and the flip. I am fairly new still, so keep that in mind. I had outdoor grows that got outta control like that. I had to chop them about three xs, in order to keep them below the fence line!
 
PipeCarver

PipeCarver

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View attachment 1267720

I have these 4 Pennywise plants in my greenhouse with supplemental lighting due to trees blocking the sun for most of the day. My "problem" is that they are getting too tall for my setup. The canopy is pretty even, and I don't know if there is room for LSTing them. The top of the stalks are only flexible for about 5-6". I wish that they were in flower now, but that is probably a month away. I'm thinking of shutting off my lights completely to slow their growth, but I don't know if that would have unintended consequences, as most things do. I also think that there are too many small stalks that won't produce much.
In short, I don't know WTF to do. ANY advice is appreciated. p.s. I don't know why the photo is so shitty looking.
I'd try and bend them over by pinching the stalk firmly and wiggle back and forth until flexible enough to bend in the direction you want them to go. I've even used pliers with cloth to hold the part to flatten the stalk before bending...even a break is no big deal you can duct tape and support it for a day or 2 and it will heal up and be tougher than it was before the break

right at about window height and support with lattice/ nets/??
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

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That would be my suggestion as well. It's supercropping time ... just follow what @PipeCarver said. It's a ritual for many greenhouse growers. We do it every year.
 
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JacksonH

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Thanks for the ideas. I'm wondering about supercropping. I understand the technique, but my canopy is pretty dense as is, and I can't figure out where to place the newly-bent-over stems. My lights are 24" X 26", and they light an area about 36" X 36". I can raise them about another foot, then I'm out of room. Should I remove any smaller stalks and leave just the larger, thicker ones? That would give me more room. The plants are photoperiod, and they will start to flower whenever the sunlight diminishes enough. I have no control over that.
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PipeCarver

PipeCarver

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Thanks for the ideas. I'm wondering about supercropping. I understand the technique, but my canopy is pretty dense as is, and I can't figure out where to place the newly-bent-over stems. My lights are 24" X 26", and they light an area about 36" X 36". I can raise them about another foot, then I'm out of room. Should I remove any smaller stalks and leave just the larger, thicker ones? That would give me more room. The plants are photoperiod, and they will start to flower whenever the sunlight diminishes enough. I have no control over that.View attachment 1268005
Can you move your pots at all to maximize the area you have to work with? You are probably going to have to lolly pop them and clean up the bottoms right up to the window...I see a large sea of green ( scrog ) like in a large tent with 1 billion watts of sun for your light.
You can squeeze anywhere you want and bend with the pinch...I bend some left, right or back in towards the center and fill space's where ever I find them....If you don't tie them down after bending them and keep tying them down through their stretch they'll be standing up again within a day or 2 with just a kink in their stalk. defeating the purpose.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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That would be my suggestion as well. It's supercropping time ... just follow what @PipeCarver said. It's a ritual for many greenhouse growers. We do it every year.
Yeah my buddy did this all the time. Like you guys said plants are pretty resilient so bending & pinching is fine. I had plant that snapped main stem once. It was a bad break! I threw some tape on it & it was fine.
 
Backyard_Boogie

Backyard_Boogie

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If you haven't flipped them yet honestly brother you need to chop. Take 1.5ft off the top then put a trellis on it. Wait a week of so for them to recover then flip. Tying that shit down is gonna be tricky they are just too tall and there is too many of them your already pushing into the lights before the stretch. Its called a deep top don't worry your plants will handle it
 
J

JacksonH

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If you haven't flipped them yet honestly brother you need to chop. Take 1.5ft off the top then put a trellis on it. Wait a week of so for them to recover then flip. Tying that shit down is gonna be tricky they are just too tall and there is too many of them your already pushing into the lights before the stretch. Its called a deep top don't worry your plants will handle it
There's no flipping them. They're in a 9' X 12' greenhouse, not a tent.
 
J

JacksonH

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Yeah I’ve done this with tarps & big black garbage bags to induce early flowering on my outdoor plants.
How dark does it need to be for them to flip? I really can't imagine getting the entire greenhouse covered. Heat is also a BIG problem right now. It has gotten up to 120.9 in the greenhouse with the lights off, fans going, and no window covering.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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How dark does it need to be for them to flip? I really can't imagine getting the entire greenhouse covered. Heat is also a BIG problem right now. It has gotten up to 120.9 in the greenhouse with the lights off, fans going, and no window covering.
Yeah I guess that’s true. Would seem like big endeavor to cover all that. I usually was covering like 3 or 4.
 
Bib4tuna

Bib4tuna

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How dark does it need to be for them to flip? I really can't imagine getting the entire greenhouse covered. Heat is also a BIG problem right now. It has gotten up to 120.9 in the greenhouse with the lights off, fans going, and no window covering.
I would probably super crop like someone said earlier.
 
Backyard_Boogie

Backyard_Boogie

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There's no flipping them. They're in a 9' X 12' greenhouse, not a tent.
Yeah thats gonna be tricky man. The LED light in there threw me off. Only thing I can think of is trying to raise that light more instead of using those ratchet rope systems maybe you can remove them and use wire to tie the light directly to the eye-bolts. Maybe you can gain about an extra foot vertical clearance that way. Then try to tie and trellis the canopy down as much as you can.
 
B

Benzi2191

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View attachment 1267720

I have these 4 Pennywise plants in my greenhouse with supplemental lighting due to trees blocking the sun for most of the day. My "problem" is that they are getting too tall for my setup. The canopy is pretty even, and I don't know if there is room for LSTing them. The top of the stalks are only flexible for about 5-6". I wish that they were in flower now, but that is probably a month away. I'm thinking of shutting off my lights completely to slow their growth, but I don't know if that would have unintended consequences, as most things do. I also think that there are too many small stalks that won't produce much.
In short, I don't know WTF to do. ANY advice is appreciated. p.s. I don't know why the photo is so shitty looking.
Should have scrog ages ago bro I had the same issue and it’s helped a little still out of fucking control and I’m worried me self lol if you can bend them arms down mate get some square netting and just hope for the best there beauts tho
 
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MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

3,732
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I think that if I DID get it covered, the plants would spontaneously combust from the heat.
It's possible... Well, maybe not combust but it could be harmful to them.

I just got back from my greenhouse a bit ago where I was bending and pinching ... and using LST clips. I've been down this road more than once before. I do a few things differently than most outdoor growers. I start my plants mid May and move them outside mid June. Otherwise, I'd be in the same shoes you guys are. Here's a picture of my greenhouse a few years ago.

Running out of room


Here's a picture of it today:

Screenshot 20220728 180129


If my plants are 5 ft or under when I harvest them, I'll be golden. You can see some of the red LST clips on some of the plants. I also use pipe cleaners to tie them down and super-cropping. It makes everything a lot easier when you have room to work with the plants. Once things get out of hand, it's a lot more work to catch back up. I have been working these plants since they were moved outside. The pictures don't show it really well but those main stems are all twisted up like a cork screw. Yes, that's right ... I didn't top my plants. I never do. At least not intentionally. LOL

Now @PipeCarver utilizes a different method ... He's a master of topping.
 
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J

JacksonH

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I don't know if I can move the plants since they are in 45 gallon (170 liter) fabric bags, which are really heavy. They might tear. I'll try today or tomorrow. If they can be moved I'll move them to be in line with the roof peak, move the LEDs, and maybe eliminate the rope ratchets. That would give me another 2' or so. Also, I could do supercropping since they would not be crowded right next to each other. Also remove some small stalks.
 
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