Help With Outdoor Mainlining Lots of Opinions Welcome.

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Keags47

Keags47

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Hi guys, I got a purple haze, Bruce Banner, and a Northern lights germing right now. I want to train them outdoors by mainlining them, what would be the optimal number of colas for an outdoor grow that will veg for about 4 months? How will these 3 strains do with the training? Thanks guys a lot of advice would be awesome.
 
mysticepipedon

mysticepipedon

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There is no optimal number of colas for all strains in all outdoor growing conditions.

Have you grown outdoors before? Training is not so important outdoors, unless you have a plant that doesn't like to branch or has branches that run mostly vertically.
 
Keags47

Keags47

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There is no optimal number of colas for all strains in all outdoor growing conditions.

Have you grown outdoors before? Training is not so important outdoors, unless you have a plant that doesn't like to branch or has branches that run mostly vertically.
I only grow outdoor problem is my main cola takes all the size
 
Imzzaudae

Imzzaudae

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Get your seed started.
The hardest part of doing what you are setting up to do is being patient. Not pushing the plant.
I started a Black Gorilla Mainlining project for next year the day I harvested my last plant in October. She is starting to take shape now.

Creating your Manifold.
You must let the plant grow 6 nodes before you top the plant. Top it Just bellow the 2nd node. Making sure you leave as much of a stump as possible.
This will help stop splitting laughter on. Be patient and let the Y grow a couple of nodes. It's best to let the plant dry out when your ready to bend.
Take your time and bend the 2 new main branches down and stake them in place. Great care must be taken not to break them. Keep in mind that in a years time, this is going to be the plants main manifold. Very large and support the entire plant. Water well.

What are leaves? Leaves are light collectors for the plant. At this stage it's important that you leave as many leaves on the plant as you can. Do not defoliate!
There will be time for that down the road but today every leaf is a food collector for your plant leave them on and let them do there job.
I'm off to work. Will post some pictures laughter. I love mainlining.
 
Keags47

Keags47

25
3
Get your seed started.
The hardest part of doing what you are setting up to do is being patient. Not pushing the plant.
I started a Black Gorilla Mainlining project for next year the day I harvested my last plant in October. She is starting to take shape now.

Creating your Manifold.
You must let the plant grow 6 nodes before you top the plant. Top it Just bellow the 2nd node. Making sure you leave as much of a stump as possible.
This will help stop splitting laughter on. Be patient and let the Y grow a couple of nodes. It's best to let the plant dry out when your ready to bend.
Take your time and bend the 2 new main branches down and stake them in place. Great care must be taken not to break them. Keep in mind that in a years time, this is going to be the plants main manifold. Very large and support the entire plant. Water well.

What are leaves? Leaves are light collectors for the plant. At this stage it's important that you leave as many leaves on the plant as you can. Do not defoliate!
There will be time for that down the road but today every leaf is a food collector for your plant leave them on and let them do there job.
I'm off to work. Will post some pictures laughter. I love mainlining.
Thanks man im looking to get a more dense and consistent grow this time around my last one i only harvested half because my lower branches are still weeks behind
 
Imzzaudae

Imzzaudae

1,571
263
This will be my 3rd year mainlining. The difference this year is that I am out to grow a short plant. Maybe a foot tall with 100 colas.
I started this seedlings under 4 15w 6500K CFLs.
Then bumped light up to 23w 6500k CFL.
CFL

I now have 2 Cone shaped LEDs. They draw 40w but produce 300w of light. 5200lumin 5,000k Daylight.
I keep them 8" above the plant. I downloaded the Lux meter app on my smart phone and at 8" I'm showing 26000 Lux and my plant is happy.
Nice color. I know giving it a 1/4 strength 21-10 - 10 burned a few leaf tips but the plant seems to have forgiven me.
Ph is running a steady 7. I will be picking up 2 more cone shapped bulbs tomorrow as to spread out the overhead light.
Lights are on 14 off 10 I don't want it growing fast. If I have to I can spread out the lights and keep the plant growing at this rate until May 24,22
M2

As you can see I made a big mistake when I topped the ends of the main Stalk.
But I have just redirected 2 vertical shoots to continue the manifold. And pulled the 4 side shoots down so it now looks like -H-0-H-

4w

This little plant seems to think life is good. This is a hands on at 7 am and again at 7 pm, 8 pm project.
IMG 2409

I just pulled the 4 side arms down and have them pointed in the general direction I want them to go then,
bent the verticals out past the end stumps to continue the main manifold.
113021

I know it's hard to see what I'm on about but it's taking shape. Now it's tie down everything that grows for the next 6 months.
I want a wheel shape plant. I will know how big it will be next July. I best keep sharpening little tie down stakes.
In a few days when each of the manifold arms gets longer it will be much easier to see Just what I'm up to with this plant.
Looking forward to seeing your project take shape in the near future.
Ron
May 24 weekend this little plant goes in this 1/2 of a 55 gallon barrel full of real home made kitchen scraps worm castings composted leaves and grass clippings, wood chips. Real living soil years in the making.

As I am a woodworker I have designed a wooden tie down frame to lay over the soil and tie the plant down as it grows. Then as the plant begins to stretch mid June. I will install a scrog frame above the plant and let all the heads turn up word threw the net. It's going to be a full time job keeping this tied down.


IMG 2091 1
 
LEDs
Last edited:
Keags47

Keags47

25
3
This will be my 3rd year mainlining. The difference this year is that I am out to grow a short plant. Maybe a foot tall with 100 colas.
I started this seedlings under 4 15w 6500K CFLs.
Then bumped light up to 23w 6500k CFL.
View attachment 1193231
I now have 2 Cone shaped LEDs. They draw 40w but produce 300w of light. 5200lumin 5,000k Daylight.
I keep them 8" above the plant. I downloaded the Lux meter app on my smart phone and at 8" I'm showing 26000 Lux and my plant is happy.
Nice color. I know giving it a 1/4 strength 21-10 - 10 burned a few leaf tips but the plant seems to have forgiven me.
Ph is running a steady 7. I will be picking up 2 more cone shapped bulbs tomorrow as to spread out the overhead light.
Lights are on 14 off 10 I don't want it growing fast. If I have to I can spread out the lights and keep the plant growing at this rate until May 24,22
View attachment 1193200
As you can see I made a big mistake when I topped the ends of the main Stalk.
But I have just redirected 2 vertical shoots to continue the manifold. And pulled the 4 side shoots down so it now looks like -H-0-H-

View attachment 1193201
This little plant seems to think life is good. This is a hands on at 7 am and again at 7 pm, 8 pm project.
View attachment 1193204
I just pulled the 4 side arms down and have them pointed in the general direction I want them to go then,
bent the verticals out past the end stumps to continue the main manifold.
View attachment 1193218
I know it's hard to see what I'm on about but it's taking shape. Now it's tie down everything that grows for the next 6 months.
I want a wheel shape plant. I will know how big it will be next July. I best keep sharpening little tie down stakes.
In a few days when each of the manifold arms gets longer it will be much easier to see Just what I'm up to with this plant.
Looking forward to seeing your project take shape in the near future.
Ron
May 24 weekend this little plant goes in this 1/2 of a 55 gallon barrel full of real home made kitchen scraps worm castings composted leaves and grass clippings, wood chips. Real living soil years in the making.

As I am a woodworker I have designed a wooden tie down frame to lay over the soil and tie the plant down as it grows. Then as the plant begins to stretch mid June. I will install a scrog frame above the plant and let all the heads turn up word threw the net. It's going to be a full time job keeping this tied down.


View attachment 1193239
It seems like you have quite the project ahead of you!

I'll keep you posted aswell through my project in the next few weeks. All 3 of my seeds have popped within a day of germ, gonna put them in their temp containers until they get a good root structure for me to transplant, so they can get some more care in their early stage.

Flowering will start end of March next year, I took this hobby up last year as it's now legal in my country for recreational use; it's my stress reliever oddly enough. I like the challenges they give.
 
ezenzyme

ezenzyme

625
93
man this is a project!! i am defiantly watchin this one!
i have a few cents, in terms of growing monsters and highest yield per plant i have found that giant ball shaped plants produce best. nice and round with heady colas from top to bottom all round except a lil larfey on the north side. If your limited by size then your defiantly on the right path. If not id let that baby go!! Cuz honestly the amount of shock and stress mainlining a plant vs the final shape and yield is only really worthwhile indoors. In terms of a seed plant it kinda breaks down like this, month 1 seedling stage fin in 1/2 gal pots, month 2 up pot into #5 nursery pot so a 3.5 or whatever; start of rapid growth. This is when you would want to start mainlining prolly half way thru the month. prolly take a whole month of shocking it and pissing her off till your get a proper mainline. so by 3.5-4 months veg time you have accomplished a mainlined plant prolly rather small with a minimal amount of tops and ready to be up potted into their final home. Now if that 1-1.5 months was spent feeding and loving, possibly one or two good toppings giving only mild shock for a week max your going to come out with a three foot tall bushy plant 4-8 main tops plus branches ready for a up pot and a scrog or cage, pretty much the outdoor version of mainlining those tops and branches you have that are now a foot or so tall can then be laid down and the branches can be pulled down as well. from there you just let that bad bush go!!

Long story short unless you trying to grow some cute lil bonsi thing outside that has to be sneaky or concealed you can get much more for less.

But i seem to be missing some perimeters, you should be thinking along the lines of; how big can my plant be, how much space do i have, how much dirt can i get etc etc the ideal number of colas is determined by the plant when treated properly. Every plant is different there is no one size fits all
 
Imzzaudae

Imzzaudae

1,571
263
This is what ya call something to do over the winter. Won't be long and the plant will be to big for its 2' x 2' space. About a week. I will carry on and see what she does.
Going to simply bend one North and let her bush don't know about the other 2.
 
detroitjoe

detroitjoe

634
93
There is no optimal number of colas for all strains in all outdoor growing conditions.

Have you grown outdoors before? Training is not so important outdoors, unless you have a plant that doesn't like to branch or has branches that run mostly vertically.

I guess marijuana cultivation has become so trendy these days that SECURITY isnt on peoples minds anymore.
 
mysticepipedon

mysticepipedon

4,738
263
I guess marijuana cultivation has become so trendy these days that SECURITY isnt on peoples minds anymore.
Seems that way. I'm in SE MI too, btw.

I won't grow outdoors because I don't want anyone getting a hint of what might be indoors, but a friend of mine had a plant out in front of his house all summer and well into October. The thing was HUGE, with droolworthy colas. I told him, "When I was a teenager, if I saw that, it would be gone." He harvested it right then and there.
 
Keags47

Keags47

25
3
man this is a project!! i am defiantly watchin this one!
i have a few cents, in terms of growing monsters and highest yield per plant i have found that giant ball shaped plants produce best. nice and round with heady colas from top to bottom all round except a lil larfey on the north side. If your limited by size then your defiantly on the right path. If not id let that baby go!! Cuz honestly the amount of shock and stress mainlining a plant vs the final shape and yield is only really worthwhile indoors. In terms of a seed plant it kinda breaks down like this, month 1 seedling stage fin in 1/2 gal pots, month 2 up pot into #5 nursery pot so a 3.5 or whatever; start of rapid growth. This is when you would want to start mainlining prolly half way thru the month. prolly take a whole month of shocking it and pissing her off till your get a proper mainline. so by 3.5-4 months veg time you have accomplished a mainlined plant prolly rather small with a minimal amount of tops and ready to be up potted into their final home. Now if that 1-1.5 months was spent feeding and loving, possibly one or two good toppings giving only mild shock for a week max your going to come out with a three foot tall bushy plant 4-8 main tops plus branches ready for a up pot and a scrog or cage, pretty much the outdoor version of mainlining those tops and branches you have that are now a foot or so tall can then be laid down and the branches can be pulled down as well. from there you just let that bad bush go!!

Long story short unless you trying to grow some cute lil bonsi thing outside that has to be sneaky or concealed you can get much more for less.

But i seem to be missing some perimeters, you should be thinking along the lines of; how big can my plant be, how much space do i have, how much dirt can i get etc etc the ideal number of colas is determined by the plant when treated properly. Every plant is different there is no one size fits thanks f

This is what ya call something to do over the winter. Won't be long and the plant will be to big for its 2' x 2' space. About a week. I will carry on and see what she does.
Going to simply bend one North and let her bush don't know about the other 2.
My babies are enjoying their 1st light outside today. The day is a bit cloudy, but light none the less!
 
20211203 091800
Madmax

Madmax

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If you was planting in the ground maybe my method could b beneficial topping only once at 3rd node so you have 6 main branches and heaps coming off those...then train those along the ground for 3 and abit months then let it all come up.. tops all the same size and even canopy grown this way for more stealth ..
20190115 125917
 
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PK1

PK1

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My babies are enjoying their 1st light outside today. The day is a bit cloudy, but light none the less!
im not sure if its the way you took the picture or the lighting or what not. But those babies do not look healthy or good.
 
Keags47

Keags47

25
3
im not sure if its the way you took the picture or the lighting or what not. But those babies do not look healthy or good.
They're good trust me, I deshell gently when they poke out. I've done it for past 3 grows, they only just poked their heads out yesterday afternoon. The stems are a bit bent, cuz I use garden soil, so hard top soil compresses the stem side ways. They still need to fully open up. They're half way there, by tomorrow they will have their 1st set of leaves pop out from the cotlydons.
 
Imzzaudae

Imzzaudae

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263
This is my 3rd outdoor mainlining project, I'm pretty much learning as I go. I have had 2 very nice crops in 2 years. To tell you the truth more than I cold smoke in another lifetime.
It's just one of those things. I smoke a little of my own bud but that adds up top about an oz a year, and I have grown 9 lbs of pretty nice bud. I can't believe I threw 3 lbs of my best bud so far in a bucket and made bubble hash out of it just because it's easier to tuck away. Most of the best bud I give away to my old friends at Christmas time, birthdays or other special occasions.
I am just doing this to see what happens. I cannot help but hope this grow turns out well in the end. As I only let my plants grow top colas I am looking for a lot of nice, not to big top colas. I will leave as many leaves as I can but remove all bud sights on all the stalks bellow the top 2" of each stalk. As of today the plant has 6 nice mainlines each of them will be getting topped laughter on this week. I will know then the plant is ready. It's growing steadily and seems to be doing just fine. It will only be another day or so and I will be able to screw long wire coils onto the branches and turn them out as each of the arms grow. These will help keep the branches going where I want them. Will post pictures soon.
 
Keags47

Keags47

25
3
This is my 3rd outdoor mainlining project, I'm pretty much learning as I go. I have had 2 very nice crops in 2 years. To tell you the truth more than I cold smoke in another lifetime.
It's just one of those things. I smoke a little of my own bud but that adds up top about an oz a year, and I have grown 9 lbs of pretty nice bud. I can't believe I threw 3 lbs of my best bud so far in a bucket and made bubble hash out of it just because it's easier to tuck away. Most of the best bud I give away to my old friends at Christmas time, birthdays or other special occasions.
I am just doing this to see what happens. I cannot help but hope this grow turns out well in the end. As I only let my plants grow top colas I am looking for a lot of nice, not to big top colas. I will leave as many leaves as I can but remove all bud sights on all the stalks bellow the top 2" of each stalk. As of today the plant has 6 nice mainlines each of them will be getting topped laughter on this week. I will know then the plant is ready. It's growing steadily and seems to be doing just fine. It will only be another day or so and I will be able to screw long wire coils onto the branches and turn them out as each of the arms grow. These will help keep the branches going where I want them. Will post pictures soon.
 
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