How to avoid the popcorn nugs?

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Green Giant

Green Giant

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OK farmers, this is my second harvest and I got a lot of popcorn nugs. I have searched the forums for help but cant find a solid answer.

Specs

Strain = Sour Chem and OG Kush (the SC had some nice tops but more popcorn after that, as well did the OGK) I think I vegged the OGK too long and it stretched too much.

Lighting = Veg 1 1K MH and two 8 bulb T5's. Flower 3k HPS

Temps 74-81* lights on and 70ish* lights out.

Nuets = GH go pack

PH = 6.0-6.1

Feed = WTD feed, feed water on a two day cycle.

This run I'm in now looks a little better, but not great.

What to do?

Thanks.
 
LexLuthor

LexLuthor

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Sounds like a great setup, how close do you keep the lights to the canopy?? Also, do you train your plants i.e., topping, supercropping, lst, scrog, ect.??

IMO training your plants to keep an even canopy and the light as close as possible (without damaging leaves) is the key to minimizing popcorn nugs and increasing yield.
 
caregiverken

caregiverken

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Shaving the girls legs is a big help too. Figure out what will turn into a popcorn and what will be a good nug. Take the popcorn off and let the girls put that effort into nugs


im new at this...But Im pretty sure Cort Nailed it ^^ ^^Right there.
thats what ya gotta do if you dont want popcorn..

Prune the small stuff early.
 
Cort

Cort

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IMO training your plants to keep an even canopy and the light as close as possible (without damaging leaves) is the key to minimizing popcorn nugs and increasing yield.
Do this, AND shave the legs.

Pretty much, any nug not getting a full measure of direct light will be sub a+ level. Train your girls so as much as possible is getting good direct light and remove the rest.

There used to be some great stickys on the basics of lst/hst and lollypopping that I cant seem to find right now.
 
LexLuthor

LexLuthor

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Cort's right, I forgot to mention you have to remove the lower growth (about the bottom 1/3) to concentrate the energy towards the top branches where they receive the most light.
 
dankworth

dankworth

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Make a scrog. Metal screen with "wings". Tie branches if necessary to metal screen.
6-12" above that put a horti-trellis so colas lean but are supported by horti-trellis.
Shave like these guys say.
 
MitchyNugz

MitchyNugz

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everyone has put up some great info on how to avoid the popcorn nugz......you want to top your plants so you have multiple heads then a couple weeks into flower you want to clean all the bottom branches and leaves not recieving light and have your multiple tops on each plant recieve all the energy and growth that would have went into the under canopy that recieves no light at all!

here is a pic of some shaven girls

001
 
iCultivate

iCultivate

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Removing the buds which are going to become popcorn too allow energy to be directed to the main colas is sound advice.

-- iCultivate --
 
The Joker

The Joker

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I've just finished 3 runs with the General Organics and I'm done. High yielding plants become low yielders using the GO, no matter how much you trim. Buds that would have been fat colas become small seperate buds even if you pistil whip. I even trimmed again 2 weeks after the flip. Substituting budswel for their bloom booster was a big improvement in flavor, smell and yield. I have grown a blueberry cut for four years and the worst quality buds I've had yet were with general organics.

Flower your plants shorter. I decided to go SOG.
 
Green Giant

Green Giant

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View attachment 224252View attachment 224253
Sounds like a great setup, how close do you keep the lights to the canopy?? Also, do you train your plants i.e., topping, supercropping, lst, scrog, ect.??

IMO training your plants to keep an even canopy and the light as close as possible (without damaging leaves) is the key to minimizing popcorn nugs and increasing yield.

The Kush got way too close to the lights, I lost some of my tops to light burn. No I have not topped these. This is the first time running OGK, I did not know they would streach so much.

I have some more in veg now, I will start to top and train them before I go into flower.


Shaving the girls legs is a big help too. Figure out what will turn into a popcorn and what will be a good nug. Take the popcorn off and let the girls put that effort into nugs

How late in flower can I shave them?

Make a scrog. Metal screen with "wings". Tie branches if necessary to metal screen.
6-12" above that put a horti-trellis so colas lean but are supported by horti-trellis.
Shave like these guys say.

Do you have any pictures of this? I think I know what you are talking about, What is the "wings" you talk about?

Here is a few pictures of what I have in flower now. First two is of the OGK the third is of Sour Chem.
6 9 12 006
6 9 12 007
6 9 12 001
 
dankworth

dankworth

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I'll try to remember a pic of the trellis in the next week here, still under construction.
 
Cort

Cort

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Your popcorn looks to be caused by the light being way far away from the plants and the girls not being trained to have an even canopy. Had you opened the girls up a little with some LST and put that light lower, each of the branches would have become a cola.

There are many other tricks to minimizing stretch, but best to keep it simple for now. Ill be the first to tell you, I am no pro. Just as a tip, you can use your sacrifice clones as practice for lst, topping, fiming etc.
 
LexLuthor

LexLuthor

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After you top the ones in veg let the 2 new branches grow out a few inches then tie them down so they grow horizontally. IMO thats the easiest way to keep them from getting too tall, then you could top them again after they grow about 5-6 inches, if you want to. Good luck.
 
sanvanalona

sanvanalona

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I have not seen big colas off of og, more often than not its very nice dense popcorn nugs......I get a few tops but you may just want to try something else, if you can get a legit sour d maybe give that a wack cause they will produce like you want. Also, I have noticed that be it trellis, bamboo, or twist ties giving branches support or just straight laying down branches will also increase the bud size.

I assume the second photo is the og, that is how she looks more or less. It is what it is with the legit cut (or if you have seed it is obviously og dominant), part of why she still fetches such high dollars in the market, is not only because of the amazing flavor but because of yield too.
 
Green Giant

Green Giant

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I will do some LST today after I transplant my clones. Hows the best way to keep the canopy the same height? Topping? If it is topping, if you know of a good link or how to do it, that would help. I have topped a couple of my clones, but havent had the nerve to cut off the top of one of my ready to go ladies... Just seams like I'm cutting off best part.
 
LexLuthor

LexLuthor

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@Green Giant: I know how you feel when it comes to topping, I've felt that way before, but like albany said you will be rewarded. If you wanna make sure your doing it right go on YouTube and search "how to Top a cannabis plant", sometimes it's better to watch someone do it compared to just reading about it. Thats how I learned to Top, I watched it on YouTube multiple times and now I always Top my indoor plants, I just Topped my 2 outdoor plants on Friday just to keep them short and bushy. Topping is my favorite training technique because it's so easy and it gives you great results.

Oh yeah, to answer 1 of your questions, yes IMO topping is the best way to keep an even canopy, but, thats only when you tie down the branches. I think I explained it in an earlier post, after the new branches grow 2-3 inches tie them down so they grow horizontally, when you tie them make sure you don't break the branches, be careful and get them sideways after a couple days of pulling them down little by little, if you need to. After they get around 6 inches you could top them again (if you want) and keep those branches growing sideways (horizontal). I hope I explained that clearly.
 
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