indoor Keeping plants short and bushy for a small indoor grow

[finitejest]

I've been growing indoors for about a year now. Today I moved several of my older plants outside. I'm not even sure they'll survive the winds, but I needed space in my grow area. I've been having a bit of a problem with plants getting not exactly leggy, but not all that bushy, either. At the same time, too, many of my plants did not produce (many or any) frutis.

What can I do to help keep the plants a bit more squat?

I'm running a 400w metal halide, I have a fan blowing continuously, and I occasionally use a nutrient mix to fertilizer. My two hydroponics plants have tree trunks, fwiw.

Thanks for the help!

 

[griff87]

You can try topping your plants to encourage more lateral growth. Just cut off the top of the plant were it's growing on the main stalk and the lower branches will grow out more.

 

[megahot]

Couldnt have put it better mysellf!

 

[Sawdust]

Whack it, Whack it good!

 

[FarmerGuy]

Pinching it at the top is good advice.
Other things that come into play are:

- lots of light. That way they don't have to "reach" for it.
- temperatures that aren't too hot. Try to keep things at 85F maximum
- In hydroponics, keep the nutrient solution cool. Optimum is around 67F believe it or not. Anything above 73F will elongate your plants to some degree. Also, cooler water holds far more dissolved oxygen, which plants love.
- too much nitrogen in the mix will also elongate your plants.

Here's a couple of my babies I use for tissue culture stock. They are short and stout, yet only get under 20 watts/sq ft (LED). I follow the above rules and always get great results.

Good luck!

 

[Jamison]

Def top your plants. Your main stems will get way thicker as well as bushier. I've noticed they catch right back up and way outproduce other plants that weren't topped.