Pruning Fire OG cross for max canopy and yield

[whythefnot]

Hi everybody. I have a room full of Sublime OG, which is a Fire OG x Blue Dream cross that I picked up in OC. Allow me to begin by saying that I'm familiar with all the traditional techniques for canopy control (ScrOG, FIM, topping, supercropping, etc.) and I do realize that a net over my plants would assist in better training my plants. This is my first grow in this location, and the logistics of setting up a scrog didn't fit into my budget.

On to my question...
I've read a lot about how OG Kushes are finicky, and potentially low yielders if not grown correctly. It seems like people are mostly referring to their nutrient regimen, but one recurring theme is that OG yields much better when lower foliage is trimmed (I've read that 40% of lower branches should be pruned back for best results -- taken with a grain of salt).

I'm not sure whether this cross expresses as Blue Dream or OG more, since this is my first time growing it, but it seems to follow the growth patterns I've seen for Fire OG, although during veg and the first few weeks of flower, OGK and BD both seem to have very similar growth and structure.

All plants have been FIM'ed and all but 3 have subsequently been topped. The canopy is very even, I'm just not sure if it's going to be too thick.

Question: Given the size and structure (stretch) of these plants at day 8 of 12/12, have I cleared enough lower foliage? I'm tempted to say that I haven't, but I don't want to overdo it to the point where I lose yield. This crop is very important to me, so I don't want to take any chances. So far I've only trimmed the smallest of the lower branches. I'd love to hear from some people who are experienced with either or both of these strains who have successfully increased their yield by pruning, but helpful input is welcome from any source.

On to the pics... (Yes I know I have N toxicity -- they really are finicky!)

This photo is from day 5:

They are under 4x1000w hps with 1500ppm co2 @ ~80F (should be a tad higher but I'm fighting pythium in 2 pots) growing in organic super soil, water & compost tea only.

They are all approaching 2ft tall right now and buds go down to the bottom.


I can take more pictures upon request, but none until 10 p.m.

Thanks in advance everybody!

 

[whythefnot]

I don't mean to be impatient, but I only have a few days left in my window of opportunity for trimming. Thanks again!

 

[Granger2]

You do have a uniform canopy. I would just lollypop, and you can continue doing this throughout bloom. Don't do anymore topping at this point. I would keep lollypopping anything that does not have enough lite to make solid buds. If the canopy gets too thick, you can thin it by removing stems. Crop looks good, BTW. Good luck. -granger

 

[whythefnot]

Thanks. That's exactly what I was thinking. I wasn't planning on doing any more topping, just wondering how much other people lollipop strains like this. I don't want it to come out too thin and waste the light, but as they continue to grow and fill out I'm realizing that it's probably not something to be too worried about.

I've never been one to lollipop much, maybe I should just go do some more googling about it.

 

[whythefnot]

Most of the information I can find about lollipopping is for larger plants, and almost everyone says not to trim once in flower. I took a few real small branches off the bottom, but I won't be taking any more unless someone decides to convince me.

 

[Granger2]

why,
I'm not trying to convince you, but in bloom, you don't want to do any topping, but lollypopping won't stunt anything. In fact it lets the plant put its efforts into the buds that have good light and will make fat ones, instead of sharing its resources with a bunch of scraggly low grade stuff. Good luck. -granger

 

[whythefnot]

why,
I'm not trying to convince you, but in bloom, you don't want to do any topping, but lollypopping won't stunt anything. In fact it lets the plant put its efforts into the buds that have good light and will make fat ones, instead of sharing its resources with a bunch of scraggly low grade stuff. Good luck. -granger

Thanks, I understand the idea behind lollipopping, and I've even done it to an extent a few times in the past, but I'm just not entirely sure that's it's necessary when the top of the canopy is only 24" above the very lowest branches. I've taken a lot of small shoots out of the bottom of the plants (what I've seen turn into worthless popcorn in the past) but most of the lollipopping guides I've seen show to cut off entire branches, and it's always from bigger plants, and almost always during 24/0, or within the first few days (2 weeks max) of 12/12. This grow just isn't set up the same way most of the heavily lollipopped grows I've seen are.

That being said, I took a bunch more out last night, and will probably take a bunch more out tonight if I can spot any, then call it quits, since tomorrow is day 13.


Thanks you guys, I think I've got a feel for it now. I'll leave the thread open for a few more days just in case anyone else has anything to add.

 

[DinosaurCocks]

thousand watters can handle 24" penetration, imo, but back off on the nutes and probably don't water so often! when you have entire rooms filled with plants you can't be dropping the ball man...every small miscalculation you make costs you ounces, there is no reason to start up a grow that big unless you are 100% on your game and fully capable of keeping your plants 100%.

 

[whythefnot]

?? I haven't watered them in 2 weeks.

Also, I'm not using nutes, just super soil, so backing off isn't an option

Chill bro...I got this. Not my first rodeo...

 

[whythefnot]

Also, if you're talking about the leaf curl, which I already addressed, the ppks in the room look just fine under the exact same conditions. Ogk is known for doing this

 

[whythefnot]

I was on my cell phone last night, couldn't really explain myself too well.

If you go by the book, 1000w lights get 24" penetration, yes. But when you think about it, that doesn't actually mean anything at all. If you have a very dense canopy you might get more like 6" of penetration with 1000w lights. I know that from experience. If your canopy is very sparse you might get 36" of penetration, although I wouldn't recommend it. I'm only interested in hearing peoples' experience with this or similar strains regarding how much they've pruned. I guess I should have titled this thread, "should I bother pruning plants this small?"


About a quarter of the room is purple platinum kush and they look completely immaculate. I just didn't include them in the photos because the majority of the room is the Sublime OG, which is a very picky feeder. Their feeding is completely out of my hands, tho, and that's how I prefer it for the time being.

And if you read my journal at all, you'll see that I just moved out to Cali, and this is my first grow in a new place and my first run with this super soil, which was still too hot when I put the plants in due to time constraints involved with moving 2000 miles. There's plenty of reason to start a grow this big. Everybody's gotta have a first run in a new room.

I don't think I needed the dad-talk.