To prune or not to prune

[Nectarivorous]

Day 38 since seed. Really happy with growth since topping a week ago, have had to cut a few older fan leaves as they get crowded and the plant starts to let them drop and they hit the Coco.

Someone suggested to me that taking all the old fan leaves off that have some nutrient damage and are drier will help the plant. They are not getting a lot of light due to foliage above and being older and yellow anyway I think get rid of them. They are certainly blocking airflow.

I know there's the solar panel argument, but surely once it's shaded and no longer getting proper light it's time for it to go?

 

[SSgrower]

Yes, the argument is there, I cut fan leaves blocking bud sites in every grow. My plants have taken it well, the trimming and seem not to stress but if you cut more than a 1/3 of your plant it will suffer. You should be finished trimming by week 3-4 of flower stage and have the plant trained and ready for the last 4-6 weeks of flower. Someone else can jump in here and elaborate,Cheers! SS

 

[Nectarivorous]

Yes, the argument is there, I cut fan leaves blocking bud sites in every grow. My plants have taken it well, the trimming and seem not to stress but if you cut more than a 1/3 of your plant it will suffer. You should be finished trimming by week 3-4 of flower stage and have the plant trained and ready for the last 4-6 weeks of flower. Someone else can jump in here and elaborate,Cheers! SS

Thanks mate. I was a little more thinking about the big fan leaves on the low nodes, I know they can contribute a lot to the plant. Mine had some Mg deficiency damage from early days, and were basically completely covered over by new growth so I took a couple off. Have taken off stuff at the top that was blocking bud sites. Literally only about 5% of plant though. Think they're looking ok... Fingers crossed

 

[Greenjourneyman]

Yes prune. But not yet. Let your plants double in size.

 

[Nectarivorous]

Yes prune. But not yet. Let your plants double in size.

Thanks mate. Certainly not looking to do a huge prune but I'm taking off fan leaves that are blocking a lot of sites. If it's just one site and I can tuck it I do. With the lower, older fans I find as soon as they get crowded out and are no longer giving more than they're talking the plant seems to let them droop and just be finished with them. Does that sound right?

 

[Grapefruitroop]

Agree with journeyman....let em gro bigger....then prune.
Yours seems to be very indica so prolly you will not to need to cut a lot....

Heavy pruning is what flowers growers do to ensure bigger and better flowers...
I was always skeptic about cutting fan leaves and also lower buds that still recieve direct light but from the experiment im dooing it seems the opposite...
Heavy pruning can give you more yield or even the same but for sure is gona save you a lot of work during harvest and the trimjob....
Brutal lollipopping seems the way to go....
I just finished to prune mine keeping in mind how annoyng were all those B-Buds

 

[smokedareefer]

Defoliate side by side comparison small trees

It was suggested to me by a fourm member to do a side by side comparison. My system 13 gal rdwc , current culture Tangerine tonic a clementine gmo cross. I grew 4 of these out the last round and the day i flipped them to flower i cut clones from what i considered the best of the 4. Here she is...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[Edinburgh]

You prune for 2 reasons to improve airflow to prevent mold or to get your branches into the light, they look pretty thick if mine i would give a light haircut to improve airflow, but there yours not mine if you do go light for now.

 

[Nectarivorous]

You prune for 2 reasons to improve airflow to prevent mold or to get your branches into the light, they look pretty thick if mine i would give a light haircut to improve airflow, but there yours not mine if you do go light for now.

Interesting to look at back left and front right. They have had the same treatment but front right was planted a week later, so everything has happened a lot sooner on that plant. Both look prolific but in very different ways. I'm giving myself a lot of space and time as a new grower to learn what works for me, but all the advice really helps. Guess I will see the difference between one that is pruned back and topped as soon as it gets four nodes and the one that waited another week. Both seem to have a lot of tops. Forgive me for I have sinned... My little snapped top not gonna make it. Plenty more sites underneath but lesson learned...

 

[Imzzaudae]

Hello. First off, really nice job so far! Your plants look very happy. I also mainline. Yes it's time to do a little cleanup.
Begin at soil level. You have main stalks, Then Sub stalks growing off the main stalks. Remove the circled suckers 2/3 of the way up each stalk and the sub stalks. There is not enough light down under the canopy. They are suckers. Let the plants grow a bit then nip each branch off at the node just past your tie down hooks. Keep the branches pulled down. As the next 2 branches form they will be soft enough you can squeeze them and bend them where you want them to grow. Tie them down as well. Let them grow 3 nodes then do it again. Always keeping the bottom 2/3 nice and clean no suckers. When you have 16 main branches let them reach for the sky. From then on. Let the plant grow wild for 30 days. Each of those branches will grow suckers and small branches off the sides. After 30 days. Remove the suckers. Leave the sub branches growing on the stalks and remove the suckers from them. Just leave the top 1/3 with nice green leaves and a top. Keep in mind 1 of those plants will be filling that tent very soon. In the end, Each of those stalks, sub stalks and sub sub stalks will have grow a nice cola on the top for you. When you switch to 12 and 12. Clean the stalks off to the bottom of the top most bud on each stalk, sub and sub sub stalk so light can get at the growing buds forming. Take it one step little at a time. See picks. Hope this helps. I see your doing hydro. I start my plants indoors in worm castings. Then transplant them into 1/2 - 55 gal drums of home grown worm castings / home made soil. The pictures are older grows but should help you see what I mean. These days I grow monsters 3 times the size of the plants pictured outdoors.

 

[Nectarivorous]

Hello. First off, really nice job so far! Your plants look very happy. I also mainline. Yes it's time to do a little cleanup.
Begin at soil level. You have main stalks, Then Sub stalks growing off the main stalks. Remove the circled suckers 2/3 of the way up each stalk and the sub stalks. There is not enough light down under the canopy. They are suckers. Let the plants grow a bit then nip each branch off at the node just past your tie down hooks. Keep the branches pulled down. As the next 2 branches form they will be soft enough you can squeeze them and bend them where you want them to grow. Tie them down as well. Let them grow 3 nodes then do it again. Always keeping the bottom 2/3 nice and clean no suckers. When you have 16 main branches let them reach for the sky. From then on. Let the plant grow wild for 30 days. Each of those branches will grow suckers and small branches off the sides. After 30 days. Remove the suckers. Leave the sub branches on the stalks and remove the suckers from them. Just leave the top 1/3 with nice green leaves and a top. Keep in mind 1 of those plants will be filling that tent very soon. In the end, Each of those stalks, sub stalks and sub sub stalks will have grow a nice cola for you. Just take it one step at a time. See picks. Hope this helps.

View attachment 1160193

That's amazing thanks for the big up and for taking the time. Question though, given what you said about one of those plants filling the tent would it still be wise to do the second and third toppings? Was gonna do it to the one remaining shoot on my big girl anyway to replace the one I snapped off Give the others a chance to catch up anyway.

I am basically letting those little ones grow a stalk so I don't damage the branch when I cut them. I've taken about 5-10 % of all fans in the tent today before giving them a soak. See pics, I've cut away fans underneath and on top in the middle to allow light down into the canopy and help airflow. Any good?

Appreciate your help man. Just double checking on that double topping thing.

 

[Nectarivorous]

I also mainline.

Actually didn't realise that's what I was doing. Just saw the sense of topping, mathematically, and most advice said go node four. So I did and the above happened to my shoots. From there it made sense to just prioritise the top. I used to be the number one rose pruner in a large area of my city so from there it just made sense to direct branches and nodes into a bowl for maximum light capture and air flow.

 

[Nectarivorous]

Hello. First off, really nice job so far! Your plants look very happy. I also mainline. Yes it's time to do a little cleanup.
Begin at soil level. You have main stalks, Then Sub stalks growing off the main stalks. Remove the circled suckers 2/3 of the way up each stalk and the sub stalks. There is not enough light down under the canopy. They are suckers. Let the plants grow a bit then nip each branch off at the node just past your tie down hooks. Keep the branches pulled down. As the next 2 branches form they will be soft enough you can squeeze them and bend them where you want them to grow. Tie them down as well. Let them grow 3 nodes then do it again. Always keeping the bottom 2/3 nice and clean no suckers. When you have 16 main branches let them reach for the sky. From then on. Let the plant grow wild for 30 days. Each of those branches will grow suckers and small branches off the sides. After 30 days. Remove the suckers. Leave the sub branches growing on the stalks and remove the suckers from them. Just leave the top 1/3 with nice green leaves and a top. Keep in mind 1 of those plants will be filling that tent very soon. In the end, Each of those stalks, sub stalks and sub sub stalks will have grow a nice cola on the top for you. When you switch to 12 and 12. Clean the stalks off to the bottom of the top most bud on each stalk, sub and sub sub stalk so light can get at the growing buds forming. Take it one step little at a time. See picks. Hope this helps. I see your doing hydro. I start my plants indoors in worm castings. Then transplant them into 1/2 - 55 gal drums of home grown worm castings / home made soil. The pictures are older grows but should help you see what I mean. These days I grow monsters 3 times the size of the plants pictured outdoors.

View attachment 1160193

Also sorry one more, should I not be afraid to trim those low node big fans once they are dark and dry and papery and largely crowded out? Cheers!

 

[weed_weasel]

Day 38 since seed. Really happy with growth since topping a week ago, have had to cut a few older fan leaves as they get crowded and the plant starts to let them drop and they hit the Coco.

Someone suggested to me that taking all the old fan leaves off that have some nutrient damage and are drier will help the plant. They are not getting a lot of light due to foliage above and being older and yellow anyway I think get rid of them. They are certainly blocking airflow.

I know there's the solar panel argument, but surely once it's shaded and no longer getting proper light it's time for it to go?

I only remove fan leaves that turn yellow, I think that is true that they are no longer helping the plant and are just a waste of the plants resources. If they are green and healthy then leave them alone.

 

[Imzzaudae]

Your looking pretty good so far. Be careful with Nitrogen. 1/4 strength for the next 30 days. After that 1/2 strength for it's lifetime. Watch the PH 6.0 is the sweet spot. PH 6.0 is very very important! Keep fan leaves in the top 1/3 / canopy section of stalks only. Fan leaves shaded under the canopy don't get light and do not do the job they are supposed to do anyway.

 

[Nectarivorous]

Your looking pretty good so far. Be careful with Nitrogen. 1/4 strength for the next 30 days. After that 1/2 strength for it's lifetime. Watch the PH 6.0 is the sweet spot. PH 6.0 is very very important! Keep fan leaves in the top 1/3 / canopy section of stalks only. Fan leaves shaded under the canopy don't get light and do not do the job they are supposed to do anyway.

Why the warning on nitrogen do they look high? Or is that always after topping? I've been doing 5.8 in and getting 6.3 out?

 

[Nectarivorous]

Fan leaf from third node of big girl. Totally crowded out and still bearing the scars of bad Mg lack in early life. I've noticed when I remove one of these all the leaves around lift up, and move across to fill any spaces. Reckon it's pretty clear that they're just a drain on the plant's ability to produce new tissue. There'd be a derivative they use to work out the changeover point where they start to use more than they give. Smarter people than me though.

 

[Imzzaudae]

Why the warning on nitrogen do they look high? Or is that always after topping? I've been doing 5.8 in and getting 6.3 out?

I water with rain water. It's 7.0 so I'm fussy on 6.0 in my plants. Sounds like your doing a fine job.! A lot of growers overlook the PH factor. Most nutrient suggestions on bottles are for fully grown plants. That's why I suggested 1/4 strength. Then 1/2 strength. I forgot you where doing hydro and likely checking ppm. I use Luster Leaf soil test kit a couple times a grow and test every watering can I water with. I use 1TBS white vinegar to 7 L water to achieve 6.0. Weighting for a new batch of test strips. Should be in the mail any day now. You asked about pruning. It's your grow bud. If you want to stop at 2. That's all good. You will have a pretty nice plant. No matter what your going to have a very full tent. You could veg 3 outside the tent and flower inside one at a time.

 

[Nectarivorous]

I water with rain water. It's 7.0 so I'm fussy on 6.0 in my plants. Sounds like your doing a fine job.! A lot of growers overlook the PH factor. Most nutrient suggestions on bottles are for fully grown plants. That's why I suggested 1/4 strength. Then 1/2 strength. I forgot you where doing hydro and likely checking ppm. I use Luster Leaf soil test kit a couple times a grow and test every watering can I water with. I use 1TBS white vinegar to 7 L water to achieve 6.0. Weighting for a new batch of test strips. Should be in the mail any day now. You asked about pruning. It's your grow bud. If you want to stop at 2. That's all good. You will have a pretty nice plant. No matter what your going to have a very full tent. You could veg 3 outside the tent and flower inside one at a time.

Oof if only. Space is very limited, to give you an idea I have to squeeze on all three sides to get around the tent in that tiny room. It's brilliant because it makes it really easy to control the environment but not a lot of room. Best bet is I've got just enough room to keep a mother under a 300w and have room to do 2x autos under the 18/6 with her. Got a little space with a CFL I can do my clones. Bit hard to veg the girls outside, I live 3km from the city and have about five direct neighbours so they wouldn't last

Read a bit more on what you were saying about N, what I was reading was saying for the sort of plants we're trying to grow, the bare minimum of N prevents node stretching and helps keep them stocky. I will be using slightly less and more Calmag as I am using RO due to very hard water here. Use fulvic and silica every water as well, seems to do the trick.

Gonna top that one shoot on the plant where I snapped the other one off. Let the others catch up. As this is first run I just want to fill the canopy as quickly as possible so I can get my medicine. Won't rush anything but I'm tired of smoking this shit they sell around here that they grow with all that carcinogenic shit. This stuff will be the best stuff going in my city when I'm done goddamn it

 

[Imzzaudae]

I'm small town. Close to Sarnia On. I grow my worm Castings and make up my own soil. See if you can get a hold of a couple of Tweed, Baker Street seeds. Try them some time.
Wow is all I can say. The small plant in flower is a clone off a big one I got in the ground late.
Fertilizer companies are in the business of selling fertilizer, They suggest per portions for fully grown plants. These little guys can't eat that much so N builds up in the soil and becomes a problem. That's why I cut it way back on younger plants. Well I must go water and put my babies to bed.