to cut or not to cut !!!

[GreenBowlsmoker]

ive always herd of people cutting the bottom ( under growth ) off . but what if the under growth , is catching up with the top ? from what ive been told you trim the bottems to promote the upper branch's growing more . but id rather get a better understanding ,,, and yes here is a pic of the bottom Branch's im talking bout .

ill add in two secs forgot to upload it .

 

[DocLeaf]

We tend to trim the lower nodes from Sativa before entering into 12/12,, but leave them attached on the indica because we usally double-crop and they flower faster. Hope this helps

 

[GreenBowlsmoker]

here is the picture .

you are meaning by double crop , that you cut the tops off then finish the rest of the plat ? please explain . this is some kinda kush not sure of witch or crossed with what , it was shipped from cali some dank arse stuff tho and only got 8 seeds from many pounds .

can i ask why you wait till you go to 12/12 , if you are going to cut if off , why not do it earlier and let the plant use that energy towards something you keep ? not arguing just wanting to learn in depth. thank for the reply

 

[mexilandrace]

honestly it depends almost from plant to plant, as was mentioned above Sats respond better to it, but I have had some indica doms respond well too.

Practice and playing around with different techniques leads to knowledge, if you mess one plant up you can just grow another, part of what makes this hobby so much fun.

even caught up growth tends to get shaded out by the upper growth, it really boils down to ability to provide side lighting, in my experience.

But I say try it both ways and see.

 

[DocLeaf]

you are meaning by double crop , that you cut the tops off then finish the rest of the plat ? please explain .

Yeah ,, that's how we do most Afghans,,

 

[pinecone]

In my setup the bottom of the plant isn't getting much light. I generally just wait until the plant stretches and then do a cleanup on the bottom 1/3 (indica) or 1/2 (sativa) of it. Most of the leaves from this region of the plant will be in the process of dying off and none of the buds that are produced are worth smoking.

Pine

A sativa with its lower growth removed.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Like most things related to cannabis culture, whether to prune lower buds or not doesn't fall neatly into sativa VS indica categories, at least not when you look past the surface. A plant like pinecone shows above, with multiple low branches could have been bent outwards to achieve at least double the lightprint, as well as halving the height, letting much more light to the lower buds and increasing yield by at least half. In that case, no lower pruning would be needed because the lower bud quality would be high enough to include in the harvest weight.

 

[pinecone]

A plant like pinecone shows above, with multiple low branches could have been bent outwards to achieve at least double the lightprint, as well as halving the height, letting much more light to the lower buds and increasing yield by at least half. In that case, no lower pruning would be needed because the lower bud quality would be high enough to include in the harvest weight.

The best way to "double the lightprint" and double the harvest is to grow another plant just like the one I've shown right next to it - and harvest just the tops. This would be a far better use of 2 square feet than trying to spread the plant that I showed out somehow.

Pine

 

[GreenBowlsmoker]

hahaha pine cone that was your 420th post on my thread ... congrats .

wait looking upward its at 420 for all of them , lol hummm

 

[Tuggo]

What if the top colas have side shoots do you trim those as well?

 

[pinecone]

What if the top colas have side shoots do you trim those as well?

Depends. If they are high up enough on the plant, even with the branches, and look like they will produce grade A without leading to too much bushiness I leave them. Otherwise, I trim. The way I go generally discourages side branching.

Pine

 

[Tuggo]

Does trimming them promote growth on the branch that it was growing from? In your pic (great pic btw) it shows the kind of colas I'm aiming for but no side shoots on any of them. I'm worried that if I leave them I'll have a bunch of popcorn a la my last grow, but if I cut them will I decrease yield?

Everyone always says trim the bottom and just kinda figure out the tops, and then post pics of huge colas with no shoots coming out the sides. If clipping the popcorn lookin sites higher up promotes growth as well then there's nothing to figure out.

Would I be correct in trimming side shoots higher up on branches in order to get bigger single colas?

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Years ago, I thought that more soilmix/rootspace should yield more, but I don't think so now. Now I see it's directly related to the amount of light the plant can absorb, which is what increasing the lightprint is about.

It's really strange how long it took me to realize what I was doing and what the exact cause and effects involved were. I started pruning, bending and tying down plants outdoors to keep them from growing above fences. One time I got well over 5 pounds on a single plant, but I thought in my usual genocentric way that it was 'in the genes', when it was probably just as much the increase in lightprint. The signs were all there even in those early outdoor grows. I noticed that as soon as a plant is bent, it starts using much more water and food. I also noticed at the time that a branch, when first bent, doesn't block the light completely because the leaves are all at the wrong angles, so you can see sun on the ground below. Later in the day, the leaves all arrange themselves in such a way as to block the sun on the ground. Now there's shade, and it's a bigger patch of shade than before.

It was only about 6 years ago that I really started fooling around with three or more 'elite cuts' and keeping them around for breeding. Unlike seedlings, cuttings have many branches that can be bent right from rooting. One never needs to let a cutting 'stand up'. Mad growth speed and size to be had by a cultivational method.

This will sound like a flimsy excuse, but I think one reason I had such a hard time seeing the obvious is that I've always concentrated on the genes. If I want a plant to grow faster, yield more bla, I know from experience that the fastest way to get that is to breed it. I just never think cultivational methods are worth thinking much about. Except increasing the lightprint. That one is one that works.

The odd thing about other methods that increase lightprint is that the people who 'invented' them, credit their huge success to things like increases in the auxins at the broken parts (probably true, but not the reason for the increase in yield). Somehow the obvious is still escaping the general community. Maybe it's not that obvious after all.

 

[pinecone]

Does trimming them promote growth on the branch that it was growing from? In your pic (great pic btw) it shows the kind of colas I'm aiming for but no side shoots on any of them. I'm worried that if I leave them I'll have a bunch of popcorn a la my last grow, but if I cut them will I decrease yield?

Trimming the bottom of the plant will definitely decrease your popcorn yield. I don't care about the popcorn yield as it doesn't get smoked. I'm not sure how much trimming increases the yield at the top. Rather than increasing the yield on the tops, the biggest reasons to do the trimming are to increase airflow around the base of the plant, to remove dying growth from the plant so as to prevent to spread of fungus and other disease.

Everyone always says trim the bottom and just kinda figure out the tops, and then post pics of huge colas with no shoots coming out the sides. If clipping the popcorn lookin sites higher up promotes growth as well then there's nothing to figure out.

In veg always bend my plants down during veg and tie down main branches as they reach the side of the pot. I don't keep tying down the branches once they reach the sides of the pots so they continue to grow vertically. Side branch formation is discouraged by this vertical growth. If I were to continue to tie town side braches then my plants would have a lot of side branching and more smaller colas.

Would I be correct in trimming side shoots higher up on branches in order to get bigger single colas?

As I don't try to grow big single cola plants I don't really know. This said there is usually a good justification for leaving stuff on on the plant alone.

I'm cutting that Kali Mist pictured above today. This is it a few days ago.


Pine

 

[Tuggo]

Thanks for your reply pinecone, I'll try to post a pic of my plants later to better illustrate what I'm asking.