As a first time grower I have made a fair share of mistakes, and I'm just in veg... Today I headed to Home Depot in an attempt to address some of the issues that have arose, I ended up with the following:
I used bread ties and paperclips to secure branches to the stem after topping my plants, and then left for 5 days. On my drive out of town I read that using thin items to secure when performing LST can cut into the plant. Paranoid, I cut my trip a day early to come home and find healthy plants, but with some complications. The bread ties and paper clips had cut into the plant. I unsecured the plant and exchanged the bread ties and paper clips for the rubber reusable ties pictured above (a friend informed me the .99 Cent store sales an equivalent).
My tent is 36"*20"*62", so refilling my dwc buckets has been a chore, and a leaf or two has been spilled on. The funnel and tube cost me $10 and has already earned it's keep. Hopefully can avoid the worrisome looking leaf displayed below!
I'm moving out of my place on March, 1st so going to start 12/12 Saturday, should hopefully be enough time for them to mature a little and make it through flower.
Current status:
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!
I would not call myself a beginner even though I've never used anything past cfls, leds, soil and tap water for my grows but you seem to be doing well imo. The ties are a good idea but I would buy a large roll of thick gauge wire for 5 bucks on amazon although it does not anchor well in soil. Looking good so far but watch out for light burn. Gl