Need help finding the best trimming option

[Splitter]

My plants have been vegging for around 5-6 weeks and they are over a foot tall. I've read that you should trim your plants before flowering to increase the yield. I still have atleast 3 to 4 weeks left to veg before I switch my light cycles. What should I do? I'll include picture but please excuse the lighting, its my first grow and I'm not sure if I should top or lollipop.

 

[mysticepipedon]

I would not trim any leaves off those little girls. They are a little on the sparse side. The lowest leaves could be removed, but I wouldn't mess with the top 4-5 nodes.

The point in trimming leaves/defoliating is to expose growing points to direct light and to increase airflow through the canopies of bushy plants. These two are not bushy and have plenty of air flow. If you want to do something for these girls, give them more light.

 

[PipeCarver]

My plants have been vegging for around 5-6 weeks and they are over a foot tall. I've read that you should trim your plants before flowering to increase the yield. I still have atleast 3 to 4 weeks left to veg before I switch my light cycles. What should I do? I'll include picture but please excuse the lighting, its my first grow and I'm not sure if I should top or lollipop.

No cutting of any solar panels yet. they need all they can grow at that stage. I've topped these twice, they're 6 weeks old I got violent with them yesterday and bent them over to spread them out and keep short. Vegged under t5 fluorescent lights and I keep the lights within a few inches of the plants. ....I have trimmed a few leaves off after I bent them over to expose some lower shoots to light but my plants have enough bush to allow me to do that without effecting their growth....let em grow and give them more light.

 

[Splitter]

No cutting of any solar panels yet. they need all they can grow at that stage. I've topped these twice, they're 6 weeks old I got violent with them yesterday and bent them over to spread them out and keep short. Vegged under t5 fluorescent lights and I keep the lights within a few inches of the plants. ....I have trimmed a few leaves off after I bent them over to expose some lower shoots to light but my plants have enough bush to allow me to do that without effecting their growth....let em grow and give them more light.View attachment 1180789View attachment 1180790

What kind of fertilizer are you using? I haven't put anything in the soil yet and mine are around 4 weeks old.

 

[GreenMtnGuru]

Step 1: Collect change from couch and car floor. Acquire proper nursery pots.

Step 2: Give son back his paw patrol pail.

Step 3: Plan on upgrading light before flower. Your slow growth and lack of side branching is most likely due to low-wattage output. Don’t be afraid to drop that blurple to 10-12” over those girls. They appear to be healthy, but it’s tough to tell without natural light.

 

[Aqua Man]

pruning should be done on a required basis. It's not just prune and you get better yields.

While it can increase yield in certain cases thats not always the case.

1.Prune to maintain an even canopy to maximize light and photosynthesis.

2.Prune to ensure you are getting adequate airflow through the plant.

3.Prune to renove growth that is not beneficial to the plant. That will take energy from the plant with little to no benefit in return (Small offshoots that won't amount to anything but popcorn or larf, bigger old fans that are blocking new growth, fans low in the canopy that are not getting light etc.)

4. do not prune ANY leaves that are healthy and removing them will allow light to go right through the plant and be wasted. (The whole point is to keep the healthiest, most efficiently photosynthesizing leaves while removing foliage that is impending them to maximize photosynthesis)

you don't just prune because some guy on YouTube is regurgitating things he doesn't understand.

 

[Madbud]

I think the op is asking about topping, yes, pinch out the top set of new leaves to make two branches.

 

[mysticepipedon]

I think the op is asking about topping, yes, pinch out the top set of new leaves to make two branches.

He also mentioned lollipopping, which seemed to be the part that alarmed most of us.

 

[PipeCarver]

What kind of fertilizer are you using? I haven't put anything in the soil yet and mine are around 4 weeks old.

I use General Hydroponics 3 part system. At this stage I give them 5 ml = 1 tsp / 5ml / 5ml. + 2 ml ph / up per gallon every second watering. I start feeding them after their initial watering in the solo cup dries out and I feed .5ml/.5ml/.5ml/ per gallon still in the solo cup after about 1 week....then to 1ml then to 3 ml then to 5 ml where I'm at now I'll bump it up up 7.5 ml for all 3 nutes just into flowering then I back off to 5/5/10 + 5 ml Kool Bloom though weeks 3 -4-5-6-7 then water water