Don't be afraid to prune

Hey Everyone-

I prune my plants generally up to the middle of flowering to concentrate the flowers and maximize the yield.

For everyone, but especially those who top their plants it is beneficial to prune your flowers that are not going to mature to worthwhile product.

Also, since light can only penetrate so deep into a canopy, lower flowers will never realize their potential and instead detract from what could have been converted into energy for viable flowers.

So here are some pics. I am adding the plants AFTER they were pruned (yeah sorry, no before their), then the pile that was pruned, and finally what you can expect those plants to look like at harvest. The big central cola is the size of a 1 liter bottle and their are 3 more that size that you can't see in the pic.

I've even thought about wrapping the stems/stalk of the plants with something to block the light where I don't want popcorn buds to keep growing after trimming them off. As long as it's somewhat breathable and still blocks the light...

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Originally Posted by GreenDestiny

I've even thought about wrapping the stems/stalk of the plants with something to block the light where I don't want popcorn buds to keep growing after trimming them off. As long as it's somewhat breathable and still blocks the light...

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Yes, that is on the right track, however remember that when you block the light to the popcorn buds, it still sucks the energy produced from areas IN the light. So really you need to prune it off.

Yeah, like I said, block the light after trimming. :)

dear herbie - thanks for the info and pics! i've only done three grows, so i'm wondering if you can expand a bit...it looks like you pruned many, if not most, of the side branches....my dream would be -- given that i have a very small space to grow no more than 3-4 plants -- to prune off practically everything except the main cola and maybe 2-4 side branches near the top...do you do this? (it looks like you do). if you do this, at what point during flowering do you do this...you suggested around the middle of the flowering period, so I'm guessing 4 weeks in? and finally, do you cut near the base of the main stem?

looks like you prune off a whole lot of plant material. do you dry it out and make butter / oil or something out of it?
best
jash

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Originally Posted by jashbery

dear herbie - thanks for the info and pics! i've only done three grows, so i'm wondering if you can expand a bit...it looks like you pruned many, if not most, of the side branches....my dream would be -- given that i have a very small space to grow no more than 3-4 plants -- to prune off practically everything except the main cola and maybe 2-4 side branches near the top...do you do this? (it looks like you do). if you do this, at what point during flowering do you do this...you suggested around the middle of the flowering period, so I'm guessing 4 weeks in? and finally, do you cut near the base of the main stem?

looks like you prune off a whole lot of plant material. do you dry it out and make butter / oil or something out of it?
best
jash

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That's kind of what I wanted to do, little plants with one main colar with no popcorns on the side, just enough room for leaves

Maybe 12/12 from seed to get them that small

I remember seeing a picture of someone with a whole closet full of a one cola tiny plant but I can't find it again i forget where I saw it :\

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Originally Posted by Revanche21

That's kind of what I wanted to do, little plants with one main colar with no popcorns on the side, just enough room for leaves

Maybe 12/12 from seed to get them that small

I remember seeing a picture of someone with a whole closet full of a one cola tiny plant but I can't find it again i forget where I saw it :\

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heheh, yeah, the "bud on a stick" sea of green style. I love seeing those kinds of SOGs as opposed to fewer widely-spaced fat bushes SOG.

Usually started as clones, flowered as soon as roots have developed enough for the clone to start growing again. Bunches of those suckers all together like 3-4 inches apart. mmmmm.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jashbery

dear herbie - thanks for the info and pics! i've only done three grows, so i'm wondering if you can expand a bit...it looks like you pruned many, if not most, of the side branches....my dream would be -- given that i have a very small space to grow no more than 3-4 plants -- to prune off practically everything except the main cola and maybe 2-4 side branches near the top...do you do this? (it looks like you do). if you do this, at what point during flowering do you do this...you suggested around the middle of the flowering period, so I'm guessing 4 weeks in? and finally, do you cut near the base of the main stem?

looks like you prune off a whole lot of plant material. do you dry it out and make butter / oil or something out of it?
best
jash

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Thanks, glad you got something out of it. The reason why I trim in about the middle of the flower period ( 4 weeks or so) if because that's when I can see where the flowers are coming out. At that point I remove the ones I know are not going to develop into feasible material. I can tell by size, location, and stem thickness whether it will materialize or not. So I cut those in favor of upper flowers.

I think that MJ yields best from 4 total colas ultimately. And you can see from the end results it works well. The pic at harvest is a plant that suffered a HUGE Mg deficiency and almost died. I revived her and lost a bit of time, but she's going to yield over a pound dry.

No, I don't actually save and reuse that material, although I guess I should bubble hash it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Revanche21

That's kind of what I wanted to do, little plants with one main colar with no popcorns on the side, just enough room for leaves

Maybe 12/12 from seed to get them that small

I remember seeing a picture of someone with a whole closet full of a one cola tiny plant but I can't find it again i forget where I saw it :\

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That is just a SOG grow. Basically you stuff your plants in and let the plants veg for 1 week (after rooting and transplanting) then switch the lights to 12/12. You'll get what you are looking for.