When should I flip mainlined Kosher Kush to flower?

[OkieKush]

I really enjoy Kosher Kush but it's really difficult to find properly grown Kosher Kush around in the dispensaries. I decided to grow it myself to see if I can do better with it.

Kosher Kush is supposed to stretch like crazy during flower so I decided I would try mainlining to keep the height down as much as I can before I flip to flower.

This is the first time for me growing Kosher Kush and the first time I've tried mainlining. I let the plant grow to the 5th node. I then topped it at the 2nd node. I know that the general recommendation is to top at the 3rd node but the KK had stretched up so much that the 3rd node measured 7" above the soil level. I wanted to keep it as low as possible so I chose to take the chance of stunting the plant and topped it at the 2nd node. The KK had no problem with it. I had the normal delay in growth after topping but it bounced back fine.

I decided to train it out to 8 tops (V8) in a 10 gallon mesh container.

Since I haven't grown KK before, and reading how much it can stretch (up to 200%), I'm a little concerned about keeping it out of the lights.

Do you think I should flip to flower now or let it veg just a little while longer?

 

[growsince79]

Now

 

[OkieKush]

Okay, I'm going to let it rip. I'm keeping a mother of the KK so this grow is mainly to learn the strain. I'll post update pics occasionally in case anyone is interested.

 

[OkieKush]

Day 7 of Flower (F7)

The stretching is starting to ramp up.

I decided not to use the orange tomato cage. It was getting in the way when I watered. Besides, I think the branches will beef up and be strong enough to support the weight of the buds later on.

 

[OkieKush]

Day 14 of Flower

The stretching continues.

Budlets are already forming and it's starting to smell.

So far, I like the mainlining technique. Most all of the training happened at the beginning so now I just sit back and let it do its thing.

On day 20 I will be doing the schwazzing defoliation.

 

[growsince79]

Don't know why you would defoliate unless it's seriously over crowded. Looks to me like you have plenty of room.

 

[s0nsh1n3]

I could see defoliation/schwazzing being beneficial, just from previous experience.
- you'd open up more places for light to penetrate all the way down to the lowest buds
- it allows for even better airflow
- it just seems to work well

As long as your plant is growing vigorously, I would do it
This is what I follow:

What is Schwazzing & What Does Defoliating Cannabis Do? | Grow Weed Easy

"Schwazzing" is a time sequence for defoliating cannabis plants in the flowering stage. By defoliating at Week 1 and Week 3 of flower, you can dramatically increase your yields!

www.growweedeasy.com

I feel like it let's you get more buds that are fully developed, rather than some mid-low canopy buds that arent fully formed.

It's up to you of course :)

 

[OkieKush]

I’ve done schwazzing in past grows and I feel it increased my yields and the density of the buds.

To be fair, I have not done a side-by-side experiment. I do plan on doing that soon with clones from the same mother.

 

[growsince79]

I’ve done schwazzing in past grows and I feel it increased my yields and the density of the buds.

To be fair, I have not done a side-by-side experiment. I do plan on doing that soon with clones from the same mother.

I would like to see that. But my point is -if the plant get plenty of light because its not overcrowded (yours is perfect), why remove the leaves. I find the best buds grow in the shade. Better resin and way better terps imo. I say defoliate if you must, but not because you think it will improve yield. I will never sacrifice quality for quantity. Outdoors or when you have plenty of room indoors-no way.
You have 8 baseball bats there if you just cut the suckers. GL man

 

[OkieKush]

I hear ya brother.

One of the reasons that I enjoy growing cannabis is it’s one big, fun experiment.

I need to replenish my Skywalker OG supply so maybe I’ll do the schwazzing side-by-side experiment with it. It’s a nice stretchy strain. Should be fun.

 

[growsince79]

I hear ya brother.

One of the reasons that I enjoy growing cannabis is it’s one big, fun experiment.

I need to replenish my Skywalker OG supply so maybe I’ll do the schwazzing side-by-side experiment with it. It’s a nice stretchy strain. Should be fun.

That would be awesome to see. What would the parameters be? How many sqft and veg time ya thinkin?

 

[OkieKush]

I am currently an amateur grower, so I don’t have much room. 4x4 for flower and a 2x4 for Moms and clones.

In the flower tent I have an Optic 4XL light.

Just like this grow, it will be a 100% organic, reused soil grow.

I use roots organics Terp Tea grow during veg and roots organics uprising bloom during flower. I usually top-dress at the beginning of veg with alfalfa meal, ground mung bean sprouts, and worm castings.

Veg time will be approximately 1 month for each clone.

The flowering will be conducted in two 10 gal mesh containers.

Watering during flower will be 1 gallon of water with a 1/4 tsp of Recharge and 1/4 tsp of epsom salt every watering, every other day. They like it best when you get on a routine. If they don’t like that then I’ll change the routine to every third day.

I’ll mainline both plants and make sure I rotate each plant at every watering

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

You did a beautiful job on that mainlining I love the way it looks when they are all bent and tied down like that. I need to start doing it like that. I watched a bunch of youtube videos too. Up to this point I have just used the standard topping technique. I pinch off the tops and bush it then let it go through the trellis. The mainline looks strong as hell. Like little tree trunks at the bottom freaking dope. I gotta step up my game.

 

[OkieKush]

You did a beautiful job on that mainlining I love the way it looks when they are all bent and tied down like that. I need to start doing it like that. I watched a bunch of youtube videos too. Up to this point I have just used the standard topping technique. I pinch off the tops and bush it then let it go through the trellis. The mainline looks strong as hell. Like little tree trunks at the bottom freaking dope. I gotta step up my game.

Thanks. Just like you, I watched a lot of youtube videos on the subject and I read lots of articles. It is easier than I thought it would be though.

You should try it. I'd recommend you only use the method on strains that stretch quite a bit. On non-stretchy plants, I'll keep using the method you spoke of with topping to get the canopy even as possible.

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

Thanks. Just like you, I watched a lot of youtube videos on the subject and I read lots of articles. It is easier than I thought it would be though.

You should try it. I'd recommend you only use the method on strains that stretch quite a bit. On non-stretchy plants, I'll keep using the method you spoke of with topping to get the canopy even as possible.

OK cool thanks for the tip. I run a bunch of OGs the real old school funk. Thats my jam I grew up on it and it was the standard on the streets back in the day. The OGs stretch a ton Im gonna give it a shot. Thanks again!

 

[OkieKush]

OK cool thanks for the tip. I run a bunch of OGs the real old school funk. Thats my jam I grew up on it and it was the standard on the streets back in the day. The OGs stretch a ton Im gonna give it a shot. Thanks again!

No problem. Looking forward to seeing your OG grows.

 

[OkieKush]

I had to raise my light again. The Kosher Kush has grown 4" in the last couple of days. I think it is slowing down though.

And, I admit it, I screwed up this mainline.

I know you are supposed to clear out the lower suckers. I should have listened to @growsince79 . (I'm still going to schwazze though ) I decided to start clearing out the fan leaves below and discovered a nicely-spaced bed of budlets covering the entire interior of main colas. I thought about it and decided that I'm going to let them grow. I know it will probably reduce the weight I would have gotten in the main colas but I really don't care. It's going to be more trimming though, which sucks after the first 30 minutes.

Then I started thinking about the difference in distance from the light between the top of the tall colas and the lower bed of buds below. I thought it might be a problem. I checked the PAR at both levels and it's good. My COB LED light has pretty good penetration.

Anyway, the schwazzing is happening in a couple of days (day 20 or flower). I'll post before and after pics.

So, the weird thing is I now have a cannabis plant that looks like a birthday cake with candles on it.

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

I had to raise my light again. The Kosher Kush has grown 4" in the last couple of days. I think it is slowing down though.

And, I admit it, I screwed up this mainline.

I know you are supposed to clear out the lower suckers. I should have listened to @growsince79 . (I'm still going to schwazze though ) I decided to start clearing out the fan leaves below and discovered a nicely-spaced bed of budlets covering the entire interior of main colas. I thought about it and decided that I'm going to let them grow. I know it will probably reduce the weight I would have gotten in the main colas but I really don't care. It's going to be more trimming though, which sucks after the first 30 minutes.

View attachment 1058407

View attachment 1058408


Then I started thinking about the difference in distance from the light between the top of the tall colas and the lower bed of buds below. I thought it might be a problem. I checked the PAR at both levels and it's good. My COB LED light has pretty good penetration.

View attachment 1058409

View attachment 1058410

View attachment 1058412


Anyway, the schwazzing is happening in a couple of days (day 20 or flower). I'll post before and after pics.

So, the weird thing is I now have a cannabis plant that looks like a birthday cake with candles on it.

I think your being too hard on yourself. Yeah it may not be the perfect mainline but man your plant is looking really healthy overall. When that shit starts filling in its your gonna have nugs all over the place man. Its gonna be a beast! You can always try to tie down the candles on that birthday cake so that you can drop the light lower. The the Cob will be able to punch down to the top of the cake

 

[Flexnerb]

I had to raise my light again. The Kosher Kush has grown 4" in the last couple of days. I think it is slowing down though.

And, I admit it, I screwed up this mainline.

I know you are supposed to clear out the lower suckers. I should have listened to @growsince79 . (I'm still going to schwazze though ) I decided to start clearing out the fan leaves below and discovered a nicely-spaced bed of budlets covering the entire interior of main colas. I thought about it and decided that I'm going to let them grow. I know it will probably reduce the weight I would have gotten in the main colas but I really don't care. It's going to be more trimming though, which sucks after the first 30 minutes.

View attachment 1058407

View attachment 1058408


Then I started thinking about the difference in distance from the light between the top of the tall colas and the lower bed of buds below. I thought it might be a problem. I checked the PAR at both levels and it's good. My COB LED light has pretty good penetration.

View attachment 1058409

View attachment 1058410

View attachment 1058412


Anyway, the schwazzing is happening in a couple of days (day 20 or flower). I'll post before and after pics.

So, the weird thing is I now have a cannabis plant that looks like a birthday cake with candles on it.

What does the stem rub smell like? I have sour kosher from crocket..

 

[OkieKush]

I think your being too hard on yourself. Yeah it may not be the perfect mainline but man your plant is looking really healthy overall. When that shit starts filling in its your gonna have nugs all over the place man. Its gonna be a beast! You can always try to tie down the candles on that birthday cake so that you can drop the light lower. The the Cob will be able to punch down to the top of the cake

I may do that. Bringing the candles down
would help.