First Time Grow, looking to do it right.

workngrow · Aug 23, 2021

Mostlymooses said:
I agree, you have a lot to be proud of here. This wasn't a super simple setup either and you made it work.

Don't worry too much about changing things up. You have a working formula, repeat the process a few times and get the kinks worked out before you change things.

Also topping more won't necessarily increase your bud size, taking out lower branches/nodes along the branch will. Think of it as redirecting the energy from the stuff you take out to the stuff that is left.

Something you can do to help any lower buds finish that might not be getting all the light they need is a few days before you harvest cut off all fan leaves. This will help alot of those unfinished lower buds you find get a little nicer. You can also just harvest your bigger colas and let the smaller stuff sit on the plant for another couple days to finish.

Yea I guess really that was the main consideration, just shifting the yield over to a more orderly set of colas vs the rando stem sizes that seem to happen by just doing LST and not trimming as much. Definitely a visible correlation between stem density and bud size. I left a lot of those smaller branches on there and did not prune them but I will be this time. With that theres just the consideration of filling out the canopy, etc.

When you top multiple times, how many nodes up would you top again? First pass Ive been topping the 6th node but I did not do multiple tops the first run just to keep things simpler. I am assuming you would want the branch structures as close to the main stalk as possible so probably top first node up each time for each subsequent top.

I still plan to use the scrog to assist in the flattening of the canopy. Only change this time is multiple topping and some added trimming and better environment controls. Especially now that we enter the cooler months the room is just going to be much easier to manage temp-wise. Plus having a nice dehumidifer.

workngrow · Aug 23, 2021

And thanks for the props, its taken a significant amount of energy to complete the process between the studying, lots of just flat out reading, and then all of the execution. Day to Day almost zero effort. Then harvest its just non-stop. Main goal with this run is to limit that lower end waste of time trim and/or larfy shit, undeveloped nugs. Etc.

workngrow · Aug 23, 2021

I made a batch of brownies off the trim and literally lost my mind and then passed out for a few hours. Incredibly strong. I underestimated.

ComfortablyNumb · Aug 24, 2021

workngrow said:
I made a batch of brownies off the trim and literally lost my mind and then passed out for a few hours. Incredibly strong. I underestimated.

You'll fugger the bugger out.

Mostlymooses · Aug 24, 2021

workngrow said:
When you top multiple times, how many nodes up would you top again?

Depends on a couple things, mostly what you are trying to do with your canopy. I usually wait for three or four nodes to grow then top so I can work the longer branches out to cover more canopy, taking off anything that is growing out underneath the branch once it is set in place, and usually the first node or two since it will be the smallest on that branch. If you had more plants in a smaller area though probably topping sooner would fit your profile better. It's something you will figure out your preference for over time. Some strains work better with different kinds of pruning/training as well.

workngrow · Aug 24, 2021

Mostlymooses said:
Depends on a couple things, mostly what you are trying to do with your canopy. I usually wait for three or four nodes to grow then top so I can work the longer branches out to cover more canopy, taking off anything that is growing out underneath the branch once it is set in place, and usually the first node or two since it will be the smallest on that branch. If you had more plants in a smaller area though probably topping sooner would fit your profile better. It's something you will figure out your preference for over time. Some strains work better with different kinds of pruning/training as well.

I am only running the 4, each has its own 3 feet of canopy space. So I was considering how many main 'topped' colas I could fit in that space and just trim the rest off. The system has the plants growing so quickly I am not too phased about taking a couple weeks longer in veg or whatever to top a few more times. Basically I am just considering ways to maximize a bit. If I do the same thing then that means I didnt adjust or change anything to get better, lol.

Aqua Man · Aug 27, 2021

workngrow said:
@Aqua Man Ive been doing a lot of thinking in general about the growing technique to limit smaller branches and try to boost the yield a bit per plant.

What do you think about all the mainlining/topping many times and just trimming all the other smaller branches in between doing kind of a focused grow on the 8-16 main colas? I guess not quite lollipopping but if I have space enough for 8-16 'mains' should I shoot for that or just train/scrog. Does topping that many times increase the bud swell size? (Assuming this could also be grow strategy and genetics as well.)

This past round the yield wasnt bad, some plants smaller/some larger. The best plant was about 8oz, if the others had been as big/well done they would have yielded comparably giving me a 2lb yield vs. the 1lb 2oz dried im guessing its going to be. I would like to see if a 1lb per plant in a 3x3ft space is possible though I dont see that being possible without a major shift in growing strategy and/or focusing on higher yielding genetics.

I know that trimming all of those smaller lower in between branches had mostly deformed or uncompleted buds that I ended up freezing with the trim. I guess mainly looking to eliminate/minimize that to focus that grow energy on quality colas.

Ultimately how does this rate among first timers? I think I am ready to employ some more complex methods.

So there's a pretty well know and respected dude on here named @Dirtbag well a while he shared some info on this and I have to say I really like it and will continue to do this. I do it a bit differently or maybe not but maybe he will see the tag and come in and drop some info on it for ya.

What I'm doing

Lollipop a day or 2 before flip. In hydro and coco plants recover so dam fast its not needed to even really give a recovery from this imo.

Then strip the side branches off of all the side shoots (second time I was plucking them as the plant grew and worked well for me). I leave fans for the most part but do clean it up a bit taking the oldest largest ones first. I base this on making sure I have good airflow (key to prevent bud rot), make sure no leaves are stacking and leave enough to make sure that light is not being wasted by reaching the ground.

After stretch 3 weeks I leave all the new offshoots but strip a lot of fans off as the plants will be full again oldest largest and as above. Pluck a few more fans as needed for the rest of the grow here and there and I found this eliminates almost all larf and popcorn buds without lowering yield. I can't say it increases it for sure but I can say it gives a lot more usable bud.

workngrow · Aug 27, 2021

Aqua Man said:
So there's a pretty well know and respected dude on here named @Dirtbag well a while he shared some info on this and I have to say I really like it and will continue to do this. I do it a bit differently or maybe not but maybe he will see the tag and come in and drop some info on it for ya.

What I'm doing

Lollipop a day or 2 before flip. In hydro and coco plants recover so dam fast its not needed to even really give a recovery from this imo.

Then strip the side branches off of all the side shoots (second time I was plucking them as the plant grew and worked well for me). I leave fans for the most part but do clean it up a bit taking the oldest largest ones first. I base this on making sure I have good airflow (key to prevent bud rot), make sure no leaves are stacking and leave enough to make sure that light is not being wasted by reaching the ground.

After stretch 3 weeks I leave all the new offshoots but strip a lot of fans off as the plants will be full again oldest largest and as above. Pluck a few more fans as needed for the rest of the grow here and there and I found this eliminates almost all larf and popcorn buds without lowering yield. I can't say it increases it for sure but I can say it gives a lot more usable bud.

This exactly more or less some steps I was looking for. You the man as always.

PizzaBob · Aug 27, 2021

workngrow said:
This exactly more or less some steps I was looking for. You the man as always.

Yeah he’s spot on if you are trying to get a nice sized plant with decent colas and no larf. Basically what I do after years of denial and error. On my current I experimented with leaving but cutting the “fingers” off much like with cloning on the larger leaves on very leafy strain to allow light but keep some leaf.

workngrow · Aug 27, 2021

PizzaBob said:
Yeah he’s spot on if you are trying to get a nice sized plant with decent colas and no larf. Basically what I do after years of denial and error. On my current I experimented with leaving but cutting the “fingers” off much like with cloning on the larger leaves on very leafy strain to allow light but keep some leaf.

Thats a good idea, like helping to maintain the canopy but assisting with light penetration.

I knew about the lollipopping from the studying but some folks talking about negative aspect/impacting yield etc.

Just nice to get some level of reassurance here that this would be the appropriate approach for the target results.

Main motivating reason is trim time, all that larf probably added hours of trim time. First time ever trimming buds but we talking 4 smedium plants took 2 guys basically 3 days.

Mostlymooses · Aug 27, 2021

Aqua man killed it. That's the way to go. Put that shit in a growfaq!

workngrow · Aug 27, 2021

Mostlymooses said:
Aqua man killed it. That's the way to go. Put that shit in a growfaq!

Aqua Man · Aug 27, 2021

workngrow said:
View attachment 1162121

Man I really need a new name lol

workngrow · Aug 27, 2021

Aqua Man said:
Man I really need a new name lol

Nah man you're stuck now and its surprisingly fitting. Especially if you were/are doing hydro.

Aqua Man · Aug 27, 2021

workngrow said:
Nah man you're stuck now and its surprisingly fitting. Especially if you were/are doing hydro.

I was when I started out... the name was actually because I love aquatics. Didn't know about the dam superhero when I made the account. Lol I absolutely hate super heros... except Deadpool... love that guy lol.

ComfortablyNumb · Aug 27, 2021

workngrow said:
I am only running the 4, each has its own 3 feet of canopy space. So I was considering how many main 'topped' colas I could fit in that space and just trim the rest off. The system has the plants growing so quickly I am not too phased about taking a couple weeks longer in veg or whatever to top a few more times. Basically I am just considering ways to maximize a bit. If I do the same thing then that means I didnt adjust or change anything to get better, lol.

Not always. It is a good idea to do things the same way at least 3 times to make sure you really understand it. Then you start changing things up one at a time.

ComfortablyNumb · Aug 27, 2021

The REAL Aquaman.

workngrow · Aug 27, 2021

ComfortablyNumb said:
The REAL Aquaman.

He DOES look high AF on life.

workngrow · Aug 27, 2021

ComfortablyNumb said:
Not always. It is a good idea to do things the same way at least 3 times to make sure you really understand it. Then you start changing things up one at a time.

Yea I gotcha on that. Changing too many variables too quickly makes it difficult to parse what affects the result. I just know at this point for sure I think what I did or didn't do. After taking too much off a plant early and almost killing it I just didn't take enough off later down the road, probably just for a bit of fear of causing a problem. This time ill probably just follow the rough schedule that @Aqua Man posted above. A couple of the plants yielded much lower also due to just being much smaller when they went into flowering.

Even with this run here, 5 skywalker OG seeds all same strain. The plants look fine, topped a few times already but 1 of them is just growing like a banshee vs. the other 3. So its going to make managing the height and keeping them all uniform challenging. I know that ultimately cloning the right phenos will probably eliminate that issue but you gotta have phenos to clone.

ComfortablyNumb · Aug 27, 2021

Every single grow I've ever done except 1 has had a dwarf. I don't know why. All I can figure is genetics because everything else is the same.

First Time Grow, looking to do it right.

First Time Grow, looking to do it right.

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