#1 topped. Looking back at the instructions I may have been slightly too conservative with my FIM. Should have gone a tiny bit lower, so my fault that it didn’t work. Topping is healing well.
Gender expression so far as I understand.
@Unicron yup, ladies for sure, so that’s awesome. Pistols from calyx so you are flowering, so the girls should be stretching. expect them to grow at least half as much again in height, or more. 5 of mine are over 7 feet.
I would strip those lower leaves and small branches like you said. they won’t amount to anything.
I’m honestly not sure if mine switched to veg again now or not. they are looking good. I think maybe when I defoliated a few weeks back they were just trying to recover and shot out some new leaves. reveg maybe not sure, but they look ok. thank the heavens the rain has stopped. sunny and 26c today with a bit of a breeze.
Here are some pics of my 4 little ones. got them all properly fastened down this morning. just playing with these ones to learn the manifold training technique in case I decide to do a run indoors this winter.
@grizZz @dirtydave @anon86641082 @Seraphina @Unicron all day squirrel proofing
@dirtydave they bury shelled peanuts the neighbors throw out in the back yard. I’ve found peanuts sprouting in the media.
Look at them nice lookin laddies. Seem to be loving the light and life overall. Starting to form out very nice 
I’m super happy you did the squirrel proofing. ‘If’ they try to attack they have another thing coming
Need a little bit of assistance please.
I’m not really understanding how to identify the difference between a top, and some of the side branches which appear to have similar tips. Or Is there a difference at this stage…?
Example where I topped one of my plants, the resulting two sections are surely tops. But what about other stems which are growing from the trunk…
Apologies for what is likely a very basic question, either I missed it in tutorials or it’s too basic for people to mention and I’m just not getting it.
Small update, no major changes to report. Things are growing well.
My understanding is a top is the very end of the main stem or branches…they grow buds
@Unicron I agree with @grizZz. All tops. For instance, when indoor growers manifold, they train branches to be main tops. Force them to be all at the same height reaching for the light. They scrog net to tuck branches down that stretch at a faster rate.
So long story short, the ends of branches are considered tops. How you train then to get as much light as possible determine bud growth and density.
Here’s a pic of 1 of 4 girls I am trying the manifold technique on just for shits and giggles.
Okay, re tops it’s just down to my inexperience then. It’s starting to become more evident though.
Plants are continuing to grow well despite the gloomy wet weather. Both are showing plenty of lite green new growth.
One item of concern. Does appear that some pests are paying attention to #2. Pic below is of the worst leaf. Most have no damage, a few have 1-2 small holes otherwise fine. I’ve been watching very closely, on, under and around the leaves, but no culprit has shown themselves yet… Thoughts?
Tops forming nice I think
Looking really nice G! You have come very far from reading through your journal and I’m impressed with your experience. Nice work
Leaf miners possibly…they look real healthy! Good job!!
@TRF - Thanks 
Working hard to make sure I don’t screw it up! Hopefully smarter the next go round.
@grizZz Cheers GrizZz! I really appreciate the feedback.
Continuing my search on the inter-webs for similar pictures of damage… most similar I can see appears to be caterpillar damage, like small inch worms. If that’s true, does anyone have a recommendation on how to kill them or slow them down? They’re not a threat now… but I have no idea what things mike look like in another month.
Carefully searching every leaf yielded exactly nothing, so it doesn’t appear that they’re living on my plants… dunno when they’re doing the damage, or if its ongoing.
@Unicron that second pic looks like a Caterpillar has been at that leaf. I have one of my small girls with the same issue. Haven’t been able to find the little bastards.
I am working on defoiating the big girls tonight. Noticed some aphids so will have to mix up a concoction tomorrow or Sunday to spray down the plant. Your plants look great. Throwing some purple pistols in early flower. Which strain is that one? Looks delish! Have you thought at all about slowly tieing your plants down, aiming towards a 45 degree pitch? I did that last year and the results were pretty good. Just a thought as I think you are at a good stage now to do that. Would help to get light to the lower branches. The stretch should be happening real soon for you if not already.
@Unicron Sounds like you are on the right path with both questions.
~ All branches that come to an end can at some point be considered a top. It’s really just a point of view from each grower. I consider the majority of the branches that get plenty of light penetration to be a tops. Aiming towards the top of the canopy. Of course the larger taller ones are kinda the main ones. The eye candy of the garden you could say.
~ Well… You have a leaf minor of some sort. You may ‘never’ locate the culprit. Some are so tiny that they truly live in your plants interior and will only feed at night. It also may be a Caterpillar of some sort and is living underground.
*I would immediately start a regimen of spraying for bugs. We like to use Captain Jacks. Spray the entire plant and area around the grow.
Your plants looks healthy and happy. You will solve this little problem in no time. Super excited to see future days.
Happy growing…
@anon86641082 - Much appreciated for the insight and feedback on my plants Seems that Spinosad, the active ingredient in Jack’s isn’t available in my area. Looking around it appears that BTK is effective for caterpillars so i’ve picked up some of that this morning. I’ll start a straying effort as soon as it stops raining 
I removed the heavily damaged leaf already as described. I’ve seen some reference to this product here as effective, but definitely less broad acting as the Jack’s seems to be. Assuming travel is an option again, I might try to acquire some for next time.
@Packof3 - So when you did have the issue with caterpillars, did it just resolve or did you use a product? Curious on that front, as I said above to HippieRunner, we seem to be SOL on the good stuff, unless you see more than I do.
Strain was described as “Liloot Landrace” (Sativa Dominant hybrid - Femminized), however in post purchase researching there appears to be some contention as to it being a landrace as the company is too young. Honestly hadn’t really clued into the color but now that you mention it can’t miss it lol Exciting, can’t wait to see the mature product assuming I get that far.
When you say a 45 pitch, are you measuring that between the tallest top and outside lowest (ski slope style)? Force the plant to be wider by pulling low branches downward and anchoring to the pot edge, I think. Re stretching, yeah they’re both growing and reaching at rapid pace, seems to be around 1" a day, evident in the lime green color of the shoots. Both around 31" tall now.
Gonna be switching up the nutrients I’ve been using, pick up one which is more on the PK side of the balance (3-6-12). Nothing fancy, just what I’m comfortable accessing.
@Unicron yes, and yes. Keeping a closer eye looking for caterpillars. I didnt use anything, nothing they just moved on.
The center of the plant, if you drew a line from the base straight up through the canopy, use that imaginary line and slowly start tying down/back until you get to 45 degree slope. Make sense? I’m very much baked at the moment.
