Hi, I was LST’ing my purple lemonade auto and I accidentally broke the top of the main stem while bending it. It’s not the worst case scenario because it honestly makes a for a pretty solid topping, but I would rather try to save it. I have it taped and was able to get it back within 10 mins. It wasn’t a full break it had about 15% still attached, but as of right now the leaves at the top are wilted. Is that normal for stem breaks? And how long should I wait before deciding it’s not recoverable. I believe it should recover but I’ve never had a significant branch break so I’m just wondering what I should expect in the recovery process. Like I said i was able to tape it quickly I’m just not sure if it should be looking like that
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Just had the same thing happen. I always mend the break just like you did and most times it heals. The other day it just continued to wilt and it ultimately was removed. Just continue observing and it will either perk back up or further wilt and you’ll have the answer.
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Thanks for the response! So you would say that’s pretty normal for it to wilt like that for a bit?
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Yes but you should see some signs of recovery within a day or so. If not it will be pretty obvious. Further shriveling and wilting. Mine was apparent after a couple hours but it was pretty much a complete break hanging by a literal thread.
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Thank you for the heads I’ll keep monitoring it 
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Make sure where you taped it up there’s no gaps where air can get into the break.
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Thanks for the advice I don’t think it will be a problem like I said there was still about 15% of the stem still attached so I was able to get it back into place, but there’s no way I’m messing with it anymore until it either recovers or dies
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What did you use to tape it up
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Just a small amount of duct that you should be able to see from the pic I posted
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I use teflon tape when ever I’m making a repair on a broken branch and sometimes put aloe or honey on the break before wrapping it, especially if I’m breaking it on purpose. Sometimes the broken branches end up with the best buds on the plant.
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Been there done that !
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Honey on the break and a toothpick for support would have been great before taping it. But it is already taped and at 15 percent left you can’t redo it. I wouldn’t touch it now. Just play it some James Taylor music and hope for the best. You will know in a day or two if it will need to be taken off or not
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This is the big thing. I use honey to put on the break and then a little bit of tape. I damn near snapped a plant clean in half and within minutes had the honey out and some tape and it grew back just fine. I’ve got a post in some pictures on here somewhere from when it happened to me last year. The plants are pretty resilient if you can catch it in time.
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You can use honey or aloe Vera. But you need to do it very quickly. Electrical tape and Teflon tape will stretch with the stem as it grows. If it started wilting you may have been too late. But it’s a good idea to have a crash cart handy with the emergency stuff at hand. In my experience you got a couple of minutes and that’s it. I hope she recovers quickly 
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Well I woke up and it was looking like a sorry sack, so it must have been too late. Like said it’s not the worst thing I guess it made for a pretty decent top and was pre flower stretch
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My dog laid down against my plant it was completely flat on the ground almost completely up rooted. Bottom branches were broken at the main. Day 2 it was still drooping. I realized that the teflon tape wasnt covering all of the crack where those branches were attached. You can kind of see it in the picture. I added more tape and the next day she looked better. Eventually that broken branch grew the bud that I entered in the Bud of the month for November.
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Yeah it was really hard to get the tape around the part I was trying to save because there were so many little important nodes in the way so I must not have secured it good enough
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Get a Chihuahua. 
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