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Ok...GA3 ain't for me anymore
- Thread starter DarkTrak
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No, you don't "Kink" it or snap it. It is easier to do when they are young and really flexible. It works much faster than Cutting the top, or HST training which does include kinking and pretty much breaking branches.
LST doesn't stress the plant so it just keeps growing with no stall time, only because it is bent you get a ton of Side branching instead of vertical growth. Eventually you end up with a whole bunch of branches that are just as big as the main stem would have been. I've noticed it really does help with production. It's a little trick I heard about from the "Medical Community", but it works really well with peppers.
When I go to put my Trini perfumes into their Bigger pots, I'll do some side by side comparison pics of some of them left alone, and some of them LST'd to show what it does to them. I'm just getting 7 of them hardened off to go outside.
They also do the same thing with apples to boost production. Maybe other fruit as well. Something about bending the branches down sends a signal to the plant and it grows like mad. They are a lot of apple orchards around Hendersonville, NC and when you drive by, they have all the branches bent down.
jacob
jacob
Here is a rough example on one of my Aji Lemons that I could get a shot of. I'll do a new thread with the trini's once I can get them hardened off outside and show it step by step and over a good amount of time. All of my plants slowed down in growth due to the high heat here, but will take off again around september.
This is the crazy branching it caused... All of the branches are pretty much the same size instead of one thick one and a couple of little ones.
And this is the Bush from a little further back...
you can see the hook that I used in the bottom right of the 2nd shot. I leave them bent until I get the branching I want, and then release it so it can do it's thing with the main stem as well without dragging fruit and leaves on the ground.
If you get bored, search for Screen growing of Cherry tomatoes... It is absolutely insane what people are doing using a big screen on their plants. The yields are just dumbfounding.
This is the crazy branching it caused... All of the branches are pretty much the same size instead of one thick one and a couple of little ones.
And this is the Bush from a little further back...
you can see the hook that I used in the bottom right of the 2nd shot. I leave them bent until I get the branching I want, and then release it so it can do it's thing with the main stem as well without dragging fruit and leaves on the ground.
If you get bored, search for Screen growing of Cherry tomatoes... It is absolutely insane what people are doing using a big screen on their plants. The yields are just dumbfounding.
That Aji isn't actually that big, just crazy branching. I had a nutrient issue early on that stunted everything I was growing in pots (Read that as I F'd up and slightly over fed with a screwed up nute product that was not PH stable and dropped to something crazy in the 2.5 range in the soil. I had to repot a lot of them, and others I moved to the ground after shaking all of the old tainted potting soil off of their roots. Worst nutes I have ever used. thankfully they were free as a trial from a local shop so it didn't bother me to trash them. It does give you an idea of the potential that LST has on Chili plants though.
This also works great for indoor growers that have height limitations and need to keep plants away from the lights so as not to burn them. Instead of cutting, just bend them from the beginning and you never really need to worry about them growing into the lights.
Sorry these pics are kind of dark. This is on my dining room table, and due to a Shiner Bock hangover I have all the blinds drawn and the house darkened.
Here is one of the Trini Perfumes in it's Natural form...
Here are shots of them under initial Bondage application
They like it a little rough 
I just use grounding wire and make a hook like this with it.
Stick the hook into the soil and gently bend the plant over underneath it. Once it grows longer either move the hook, or if the plant is getting strong enough to pull it out of the dirt add additional hooks. You can kind of just tell when you need to let them go. If you go to far with it, the plant will snap where the trunk meets the ground due to excessive weight. If you do it right it will start to grow upright again but with equal sized side branches to the main branch.
If they are more mature plants, just bend them slowly and carefully so as not to snap them. You may need to do it a little bit at a time until the make it all the way over. Think of it as plant Yoga with Bondage straps.
Here is a rough example on one of my Aji Lemons that I could get a shot of. I'll do a new thread with the trini's once I can get them hardened off outside and show it step by step and over a good amount of time. All of my plants slowed down in growth due to the high heat here, but will take off again around september.
This is the crazy branching it caused... All of the branches are pretty much the same size instead of one thick one and a couple of little ones.
And this is the Bush from a little further back...
you can see the hook that I used in the bottom right of the 2nd shot. I leave them bent until I get the branching I want, and then release it so it can do it's thing with the main stem as well without dragging fruit and leaves on the ground.
If you get bored, search for Screen growing of Cherry tomatoes... It is absolutely insane what people are doing using a big screen on their plants. The yields are just dumbfounding.
Can't find anything on "Screen Growing" Any links to this?
The Gardening page I saw it on originally is no longer up and running. I couldn't find it in a quick search, but if I do, I'll post some links. I want to say the place that was doing it was somewhere down south. Maybe Florida or Georgia somewhere. It's been a few years since I saw the pics, but it was crazy how many maters they had from just one plant.
I think the Term is "Scrog" for this technique.
here's one link I found, though the maters look sick and like crap on this persons grow. It shows the basic idea though in an indoor setup. The one I saw was outdoors in a green house and you could walk under the thing.
http://my.gardenguides.com/blogs/hautions11/tag/tomato
I think the Term is "Scrog" for this technique.
here's one link I found, though the maters look sick and like crap on this persons grow. It shows the basic idea though in an indoor setup. The one I saw was outdoors in a green house and you could walk under the thing.
http://my.gardenguides.com/blogs/hautions11/tag/tomato