Trimming during flowering? When and how much?

[AOD2012]

Hey eveybody. I currently have about 20 beautiful ladies in day five of flowering right now. Was wondering if I should start trimming eveything that isn't goingo get light now, or should I wait a week or two? I was just wondering if it will be more stressful to trim a little at a time or just hit them all at once. Any comments would be greatly appreciated as I kind of let things veg a little too long and currently have a jungle on my hands. Thanks a lot.

 

[Greyskull]

i prune lower really heavy upto the 3rd week of flower
everything that isnt going to get light gets axed
some folks will tell you 'no doint do it' other will say (like me) its the best thing to do
i like to start my pruning at the end of veg for the most part

heres some before and after pictures of a mtf crop starting week 2 to show you what happens when you wait until then to do it....

NOTHING BAD HAPPENS!!! just a hellava lot less larf and better tops.
finishes like this (and i could have gotten another teir or two cleaned up)

 

[AOD2012]

K so if I start now it will be ok? Just wanted to know if it should be done all at once or progressively. Thanks a lot greyskull.

 

[Greyskull]

with the pruning you can do it all at once but it really is best to do a little bit over time to not stress the plants soooo much at once. but the stress will be minimal maybe a day or 2 of lagg but nothing major (nothing will die)

if this is your first time with the variety you might want to consider leaving a couple of plants 'alone' or unpruned so you can see how they did pruned vs not...

.. but i know you're fighting for space.

good luck!

 

[mdcanna]

Hey Greyskull, you think pruning a few weeks before harvest is bad??

 

[Greyskull]

by pruning a few weeks before harvest do you mean deleafing/removing fan leaves?

if so, yes. i like to remove fan leanes that are blocking bud sights from direct light... and the last 3-4 days the plants are up ill remove all the big fans as part of a preharvest procedure (just makes harvest a hellava lot easier)

hope this helps

 

[grapeman]

I trim lightly when I move to flower. Lightly. I don't see any benefits to trim after that.

My 2 cents.

 

[HydroManiac]

I think it depends on the strain. I have been trying different things in regards to trimming in flower and am comparing results as we speak.

 

[puff adder]

Greyskull,

My garden looks exactly like the pics you've posted. On your garden, do you stake every plant towards the end?

Half my last harvest ended up on the floor as the branches broke from weight (it was sativa and I didn't stake or trellace).

Not wanting the same to happen again, I'm not running that strain, plants are about the same height as yours, and I've used Silica to help make strong branches. Lots of air movement too.

I planned on staking this batch as well, just to be safe. I just was wondering if you stake too? Every plant? or just as needed?

This one room is 8'x8', so it's hard to get back to the far corner (deep jungle) so I can't use a trellace.

 

[Greyskull]

all stakes all the time
stakeing and tying is always a laborous day...
i tried tomato cages but the stakes give me a little more 'control'

 

[Maj.PotHead]

i trim as greyskull described

end of wk 1 i trim some branchs from bottom end of wk 2 i trim more off by end of wk3 flower i'll have bottom half of plants cleaned up. after i place plants back in i still may need to trim a few lower sites off branchs kept on the plant. when this is all done it makes plant concintrate all energy into the sites left on the plant.

larger fan leaves i'll trim some also if i'm unabel to tuck the leaf i'll remove it if its blocking lower sites kept on the plant. some ppl wont trim leaves but when you grow indicas with dinner plate sized leaves you'll trim some also. by doing as greyskull explained your yield can be increased

staking plants mine get staked 30-35 days into flower or the tops get to heavy and start to bow down even my decapation dose this. your local nursery should carry packs of bamboo stakes diff sizes approx 6ft long just cut down to desired size needed. at your local nursery they should carry some training wire or even roll twisty tie. i find myself tiying my shack branchs to the stakes and even itself other branchs on same plant. around 30-32 days into flower well i have company again be back later

 

[puff adder]

I'm about 30 days into flower. My plants are growing into each other too much, maybe I veged too long, not sure. Plants are lollipopped and were pruned in veg and early flower.

I've been fighting powdery mildew for the first time, using Zone/penetrator, but it's a constant battle.

I decided to make the power move and prune basically all the big fan leaves, and hopefully this will accomplish a few things.
1. Better ventilation-help with the PM battle
2. Better light for lower growth
3. removing most or all the leaves with PM
4. help with humidity. My DH is running 24-7 and keeps a constant 60%, hopefully better than that with less transpiration going on.
5. Improve yield. I think I'll break even, or even increase yield because of more better quality nugs/less larf. The big fan leaves were shading everything.

As I'm pruning, some of the plants can't even hold their own weight and droop. A LOT of that weight is the leaves, and after pruning the plants even seem happier. I'm sure they'll be even happier when they get all this extra light.

My plants now look like those in the previous pics.

These are my hopes.

 

[AOD2012]

Hey greyskull, do you pop one single stake in there and just tie long lengths of whatever you are using to the stake? Or do you use multiple stakes for indvidual branches? Just wondering as I used a couple different stakes for each plant and now it's a bitch to get the watering wand in their when it's time to feed the ladies. Thanks for any input.

 

[Greyskull]

Hey greyskull, do you pop one single stake in there and just tie long lengths of whatever you are using to the stake? Or do you use multiple stakes for indvidual branches? Just wondering as I used a couple different stakes for each plant and now it's a bitch to get the watering wand in their when it's time to feed the ladies. Thanks for any input.

aloha
i like to stick a single stake per container and use individual lengths of of sturdy twist (http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-G...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053) to the branches

i bet its really difficult to get a wand into a table full of multi staked pots...

 

[Hank Hemp]

I use what ever number I feel is needed. Sticks won't hurt just don't go crazy. If I use three that's a lot.

And puff adder, just remove the leaves with mold, plants need their leaves you know?

 

[AOD2012]

oh man i feel retarted haha i have like four in some of them ahaha o well i will leave those in there but not gonna add anymore from now on. wow i never cease to amaze myself.

 

[Greyskull]

dont feel retarded haha
not like you are doing anything 'wrong'
i want to say rainman uses multiple stakes in his pots - his plants are pretty wicked.

maybe you'll liike the multi-staking

 

[puff adder]

I discovered a small amount of PM in late veg. I have sprayed, and sprayed. It's now 30 days into flower, and I just finished pruning most of the fan leaves off the plants mainly for better ventilation. It was so thick you couldn't see past the top canopy, and in the thickest areas I again found very small amounts of PM (which is why I sprayed this time Zone/Penetrator).

I was happy to find that there was much less PM than I had originally thought, very little actually.

With the extra air flow, and spraying the Z/P, I am hopefull that I can squash this PM.

I am positive that the quality of the nugs will be better, especially compared to how light starved everything below the colas was.

I staked a few of the girls that needed it, but after removing the heavy fan leaves most of the branches stood proud and happy. I'll probably end up staking more in a while when the buds get heavy.