Quote Originally Posted by radmichelle
ive got a 400 watt hps- 2-2.5 feet from the canopy- I've a couple other plants in there- Im wondering about cutting the small 3" branches on the very bottom or the lower secondary branching that is inside the canopy.. something about taking energy from the upper growth lol
You can if you want but given the height of your plant, I personally think your good. Now if you were flowering that same plant and it was around 3ft tall, I would recommend trimming her on up. You're running a 400 so penetration shouldnt be a problem. The two main reasons I see people thinning them out is with taller plants and air flow. The reason for the taller plants is because the tops can only be so close to the lights which leaves very little light reaching the bottom of the plant. Little light equals little growth so they trim the parts that will produce the little growth at the bottom. You have a short lstd plant under a 400 so there should be plenty of light hitting all areas with a little tucking. I try not to do very much hacking on the plants after the first two weeks of flower so if you decided to trim, you might wanna do it soon. Thats just my opinion and Im sure you will get several others.