Pruning...wish I would have done this before..

[mtbazz]

So, really the only grow method I've ever used is topping or LST. Since I switched to smart pots some years back I just stuck to topping and growing bigger plants.

End result? Decent yields, but about 1/3 of the yield from a plant were smaller buds from areas further down the stem or areas that did not get much light. Still dense enough to trim, so not true popcorn buds, though I always did end up having a bunch of popcorn buds to throw in the hash pile (4 grocery bags of this are residing in my freezer now)...

For my current grow, I took two pure power plants and basically pruned the shit out of them. Placed in 12:12 when they were 28" tall, I trimmed away everything 8" from the base of the plant, than went and trimmed as many of the secondary bud sites from the interior of the plant that i could...

These plants are now 2 weeks from harvest, and looking at them, I wish I would have followed this technique earlier. The yields look like they will be about the same to be perfectly honest, but the buds themselves look much fatter and denser than what I normally would get, and while ended up missing some of the secondary budsites while pruning early on, these actually grew out to be fairly dense so will be usable.

 

[ozzieAI]

yep pruning can be a good way to increase quality yield...

before

after

before

after

 

[mack 10]

Wow,now that's a haircut. Got any bud pics to show the end result?
Peace out .
~mack.

 

[DabSnob]

I'm a fan of the "strip em and flip em" technique aswell. usually i leave the top 5-8 nodes of all the main branches. I havent noticed much of a difference in overall yield either, but definitely noticed a huge increase in density and overall nug size. only downfall to this technique is that i dont get much to add to my hash oil pile...

 

[DarthFader1]

One of the other benefits from doing this is that trimming becomes a lot faster, which matters a bunch when you have a whole room or more to do.

I do it pretty much the same as your 1st and 2nd pic Ozzie, usually i let them roam wild for most of veg, let them get to about 2.5 or 3 feet, and then trim the bottom 1/4 or 1/3 off very close to the start of flowering. It works great for me you just need to adjust how much you trim off relative to the height and overall size of the plant. This is where overvegging becomes rapidly pointless indoors with light penetration a couple of feet at best. Sorry i'll stop rambling now just had morning coffee and bowl feeling good!!

Cliffs: Pruning is good.

darth

 

[fatherearth2011]

if you want a plant to put all of it's energy into the bud, you have to cut everything below that you think is going to be junk. but i think you figured that out... got any bud shots??

comparing the two? best thing about growing is that you learn from what you want to know.
;]

grow on!

 

[ozzieAI]

Wow,now that's a haircut. Got any bud pics to show the end result?
Peace out .
~mack.

not from those particular plants...but this one was treated the same...they are vegged and pruned till they out grow my veg space then go outside....those in my first post will be vegged for another 4 - 6 weeks...

 

[944s2]

yep,,totally remove the bottom third on most of the plants i run,,get rid of the sucker buds [thanks to dr fever ] and more energy into the rest of the plant,,,s2

 

[ozzieAI]

here are those same 2 plants 13 days on