Best time to remove lower branches & leaves?
- Thread starter ExoSteve
- Start date
M
moodster
^i wud say 2 weeks as well
G
growingcrazy
Once you get into flowering and the stretch happens, you will be able to see what is and is not getting good light penetration. This applies for horizontal and vertical grows. If parts of the plant aren't getting a good amount of light and have stopped stretching, it is time to go.
I do a defoliation of all the large fan leaves coming off the main stem at each node at about 3 weeks veg, then let them veg for another 3 weeks to get them to bush out some. Then do the flowering defoliation after stretch.
I do a defoliation of all the large fan leaves coming off the main stem at each node at about 3 weeks veg, then let them veg for another 3 weeks to get them to bush out some. Then do the flowering defoliation after stretch.
Bunz
Active member
Yes, it allows the plant to redistribute the energy it would be using growing the lower branches, up to the upper branches = bigger buds!!!
I wait until the 12/12 stretch is over. Some plants it's 10 days, others take 3 weeks.
Bunz
yep! always increased my dry weight .
NashvilleN
Member
Sure, the plants have plenty of time to recover from the minor trauma and you vastly increase the amount of well-lit bud sites. I do what growingcrazy does, pretty much.
E
el dub
I think growingcrazy hit the nail on the head. However, I do trim the suckers at the very bottom of a plant at the start of 12/12 with most strains indoors.
lw
lw
S
sweetypie
in the first 10 days of 12/12 but i scrog..
little wing
Member
I have never tried this, I'm ten days into 12/12. i shall try it.
S
SeaMaiden
If you make 'e' = the response "all of the above" then the second question is answered. This is how I do it, for a few reasons. One of which is because of that post-flip stretch, another is because I'm also focusing not just on cleaning up under the canopy, but determining which bud sites have the best potential. If you look into how Medjool dates are farmed it helps give an idea of what I'm trying to accomplish.
NashvilleN
Member
Hey, LW, I know one of the strains you're growing well enough to advise you although I can't remember your light wattage. GS produces nothing worth keeping 10 inches below the top of the canopy under a 600. She's miserly about the bud sites and hard to train with her brittle branches, but it's too late to worry about that now. Kinda traumatic to take a bunch of lower branches off now, but you probably should and she'll definitely benefit from judicious removal of any of the larger fan leaves that are obscuring the bud sites. I would gradually remove them over the next week or so as the bud sites become more obvious.
S
SeaMaiden
You can remove bud sites only, too, ya know.
Just leave the last few, or ONLY those that are receiving direct light, remembering that for the first two to four weeks that can change as leaves grow, shift, etc.
Just leave the last few, or ONLY those that are receiving direct light, remembering that for the first two to four weeks that can change as leaves grow, shift, etc.
daheadies
poppin' outta control
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=208705
Hey!
I dunno if you have seen any of my threads:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204634
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204626
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204628
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204636
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204643
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204644
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204638
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204641
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204650
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204679
but you can clearly see how I trim up drastically, as well as defoliate fans during veg. I provided the thread links so you can see how much I trim up and results..
-Anyways, during veg, after the plant is more than 1 foot tall, I trim up 5-8 inches, and top (There are VERY FEW strains I have grown that dont react well to trimming up, but there are a few that dont have many branches and need the bottom ones b/c they will grow up into a flat canopy. EXAMPLE=BOG SWEET CINDY!)
-I then let the plant continue vegging out w/o further trimming up pretty much until flower to see how each plant reacts to the trimming up. During this time though, I defoliate 2/3rds of the fan leaves.. Also remove any and all yellow or dead leaves
-Note- 2 weeks before flip, I stop defoliating
-Right when I flip, I evaluate the light situation. I trim up a good amount, basically everything thats in the dark.
-I then wait about 2 weeks into flower, evaluate the light situation again after stretch, and trim up again.
-Then between 2 and 3 weeks into flower, check for pre-flower/flower production, and the stuff on the bottom that is obviously much smaller than the top, take off...
The first time you truely do this method correctly, especially when you trim up when flipping, you look at the plant very very skeptical and think wonder "what have I just done"
Well b/c your plant is about to stretch out and now those top buds will be huge, you will wind up yielding way more dense quality product than you would w/o trimming up.
I pretty much just explained my entire growing style, which I attribute a large amount to my results
Hey!
I dunno if you have seen any of my threads:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204634
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204626
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204628
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204636
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204643
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204644
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204638
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204641
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204650
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=204679
but you can clearly see how I trim up drastically, as well as defoliate fans during veg. I provided the thread links so you can see how much I trim up and results..
-Anyways, during veg, after the plant is more than 1 foot tall, I trim up 5-8 inches, and top (There are VERY FEW strains I have grown that dont react well to trimming up, but there are a few that dont have many branches and need the bottom ones b/c they will grow up into a flat canopy. EXAMPLE=BOG SWEET CINDY!)
-I then let the plant continue vegging out w/o further trimming up pretty much until flower to see how each plant reacts to the trimming up. During this time though, I defoliate 2/3rds of the fan leaves.. Also remove any and all yellow or dead leaves
-Note- 2 weeks before flip, I stop defoliating
-Right when I flip, I evaluate the light situation. I trim up a good amount, basically everything thats in the dark.
-I then wait about 2 weeks into flower, evaluate the light situation again after stretch, and trim up again.
-Then between 2 and 3 weeks into flower, check for pre-flower/flower production, and the stuff on the bottom that is obviously much smaller than the top, take off...
The first time you truely do this method correctly, especially when you trim up when flipping, you look at the plant very very skeptical and think wonder "what have I just done"
Well b/c your plant is about to stretch out and now those top buds will be huge, you will wind up yielding way more dense quality product than you would w/o trimming up.
I pretty much just explained my entire growing style, which I attribute a large amount to my results
Yuuuup. I've had that sinking feeling once or twice after a particular enthusiastic trimming session. Not a week later all was well...better than well, actually.
There are certain plants I don't trim quite as much all at once with for fear of stress-induced hermies...but I've yet to see a plant that didn't benefit from at least moderate trimming, especially after the stretch when you flip. I basically lollipop the shit out of 'em (typically a node or two higher than many people do depending on the strain) after they are well-established in veg, give them a solid trim of nearly all large fans and anything small enough for me not to care about turns into another clone right before the flip. A couple weeks after flipping, I trim (nearly) all of the large fan leaves, and if for some reason I still need clones, that is the latest I'll take em...assuming there is still a bit of larfy nonsense down on the lower nodes that could be removed without detriment to the plant. Wash, rinse, repeat as needed.
Actual bud defoliation is something I have dabbled in but for the most part don't do unless the leaf-to-calyx ratio is particularly high for a given strain...this is not because I don't agree that the method can be beneficial, but simply because I don't have the time or energy to pay that much attention, and the yield increase if I did doesn't really justify the time expenditure. in my mind anyways...hope that helps at least somewhat.
I've actually gotta finish trimming an Afghani x NL#5 (basically a local version of Chrystal from Nirvana, as I understand it) tonight, so maybe I'll take a few photos of the before and after.
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Here is my observation!
The 2 plants that I removed few budsite/branches at day1 during I was transplanting them in bigger pot. They have showed sex pretty fast compared to others. The bud are pretty good for only 10 days.
The 2 seeds (same strain) was in much more healthier than the other because they was growing in shrimp compost (75% pro-mix/25% compost) which make them explode during veg. I've never seen that! I can barely see few "real" buds.
Removing lower branches/budsites at flower day 1 help to sex faster?
The 2 plants that I removed few budsite/branches at day1 during I was transplanting them in bigger pot. They have showed sex pretty fast compared to others. The bud are pretty good for only 10 days.
The 2 seeds (same strain) was in much more healthier than the other because they was growing in shrimp compost (75% pro-mix/25% compost) which make them explode during veg. I've never seen that! I can barely see few "real" buds.
Removing lower branches/budsites at flower day 1 help to sex faster?
S
SeaMaiden
Actually, I've found that if you keep the roots constricted (bound) they'll show sex much faster. Hold off on the transplant, or flip once they're a few nodes high.
I've never flipped a plant to sex it! I just realized that ALL my seed starts go under the sun and show sex once their nodes begin to alternate and I've never timed that or the photoperiod. Hhhmmm... I guess I need to grow out some seed starts under artificial lighting and flip to sex, see how it works exactly, get that one under my belt.
Since I lost ALL my moms and clones last year, this will be the perfect year to try it.
