Trimming lower branches

Sinbad5150 said:

Hi all. I'm going in again with some stardawg on Coco slabs. I have trimmed lower branches before at various times based upon different people's opinions.

These will be quite packed in so it's essential to get the tops to get all the growth and as it's in slabs I don't have the luxury of pulling them out to trim and move them around.

My last go I didn't bother and had a hell of a lot of scrag so this time I am going to do what I have done before, take off the bottom third of the plant pretty much.



In the past I have done this in veg and also on someone else's suggestion at 2 -3 weeks into 12 and 12 after the stretch so as to not stop them stretching (their reasoning) Didn't notice much difference either way but this was growing cheese and it was always a hardy plant.


Does anyone have any suggestions for trimming with stardawg or any tips in general.



Thanks all

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soil margin said:

Sounds like some scrog netting would be perfect for you. Allow you to control the positioning of the tops and get them maximum light exposure without having to cut off too much of the plant.

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Switcher56 said:

Don't eat that Elmer! All major work should occur prior to the flip, so the plant can concentrate on producing flowers vs repairing "damage" done.

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gaiusmarius said:

stardawg illuminati is not stretchy at all, plant stays small and bushy so make sure to veg her a lot if you want decent size bushes in the end.

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Sinbad5150 said:

This was one of the things I've always thought but it's hard to tell exactly how it will end up before the stretch has occurred.

I do net things but there is always a load of bottom branches that don't ever see the light.

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Switcher56 said:

When doing it this way, you have sexually mature plants, that doesn't need to mature/stretch as much.

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sethimus said:

bs, clones are as old as the mother plant...

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f-e said:

BS is a little harsh. He can only talk about what he knows. We all tend to imagine other peoples grows are like our own, or should be more like it.

Flowering young plants isn't wise. Waiting for signs of sex is the earliest indicator that you could flick the switch. This could be at any age, but around 6 weeks from seed is common. We can see a bit of this in autoflowering plants. Where they can seem to have a veg period, then a slow start into flower.


It sounds like the OP wants a sea of green, but might be using seeds. Hence growing plants so tall the bottoms have to come off, rather than getting developed. Perhaps fewer plants would be better. Using a net. So time spent in veg, is time spent stretching out his plants laterally. To fill the space. Rather than growing stuff to chop off. Spacing should be such that 6 weeks is needed to fill the screen/net. Then flick the switch, hoping for even vertical growth across the entire area. Upwards, through a second net, giving the overall appearance that lots of plants would give. It would be wishful thinking to believe no further training will be required though. Some bits will push ahead, needing leaves pulling off to slow them. As this reduces shade response. Other bits will want a little shade, to get them to come up. Some will show themselves as needless popcorn growers, that sap energy from elsewhere. While other bits may still need hst, to get them out the way. This is very common in single light grows, where leads under the light just can't be held back, so your forced to: 1, raise the lights so everything else suffers. 2, let it burn, stressing the plant and effecting it's pheno. 3, Accept it's in the way, but you want it, so bust it down flat.

Many things will effect the need to train. Most of which won't show themselves while the seeds still in the packet. The nice squat plants your expecting, might be like something from jack and the beanstalk. Or maybe the x2 stretch you expected to fill your space, is only a 50% stretch. A fear that drives many of us to spend to much time in veg, then be forced to train heavily during early flower.

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sethimus said:

growing in slabs usually implies that you are using clones as you need similar sized plants on the same slab, growing seed plants in slabs is just limiting yourself as you can't correct plant spacing after you planted the seedlings

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Sinbad5150 said:

Thanks I'll take that into consideration, it's hard knowing how much a new strain will go when your used to one.

I was reading not too long ago your thread
Let's talk coco slabs with drippers

Are you still using slabs?

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gaiusmarius said:

yes bro, still rocking the coco slabs indoors. that thread is old, but most of the info is still usable, just depends how you are set up to grow. you can see my newest grow in my sig, the new tangyxcookies link. although it's not as detailed on method as the old dripper thread.

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Switcher56 said:

IMHO/E folks seem to rush things e.g in and out like an assembly line. e.g 4 weeks veg, booted to flower. I was taught to veg a minimum of 6 weeks and if I could afford it, 8 weeks are better. I veg for 8. The 8th week is the transition week.

When doing it this way, you have sexually mature plants, that doesn't need to mature/stretch as much. They do stretch but not as much. What does happen..? they develop flowers much sooner.

Research your strains, many do say how much they have a tendency to stretch. Leafly is your friend

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