I don't think it matters much at this point in the season. My experience is that your final yield will depend on the size of your container. With 10-gallon plastic containers, I have gotten 5-6 ounces of bud per plant, and I get more from compact bushes than from tall scraggly plants. I think you could cut back a third of what you have now, and clean out the dead and dying lower leaves, without damaging the plants. Even if you shock your plants by over-cutting, they will recover long before they start to bud. You'll probably want to cut back again at the end of the month if this weather keeps up. Another thing I have done over the years, and why I like bushy plants instead of tall ones... I cut the ripe, upper buds in October and then leave the plants outside. Sometimes, if the weather cooperates, I can get another harvest in November. Here's one where I did that. I took this photo on November 10. I kept the plant going until after Thanksgiving, and got another ounce or so of bud out of it. And this was in a 3-gallon container. Having said all that... my (limited) experience with high-end strains is that they are far more finicky and susceptible to rot than the random bag seeds I always used to grow for years. I am in uncharted territory myself this year.
Yikes!!!!! Look at the yellowing in the new growth.... I took the plants indoors for 2 days since we had a 4th of july party. Do you think this is from them not being a full direct light for a couple days??
Yepper, they didn't get enough light for those couple of days chlorophyll production dropped. You probably just caused some real stress, from dark and then sunburn. You probably just effectively topped then and shocked them, I bet they start budding in 2 weeks when they recover.... Argh...
The color came back in just one day! I havnt topped them yet so I'm thinking the stress was minimal at least I am hoping fingers crossed lol.
On the up side, you were worried about getting them too big, you probably just set them back a month and it may result in a dense mass at the end.
I am hacking my poor plants to keep them from getting too lanky in their 3 gallon pots. I don't want to post photos because they look terrible. But I think they will be fine. What is growing now is not what I will smoke. The problems start after the equinox. My Short Riders are looking good though. They will be done in August.
Decided to trim down 3 of the 5, hope it turns out well since we still have about 3 maybe 4 weeks before flower begins up here
looking good man! I was just up in your part of the world over the fourth, what weird weather for that part of the country, it was effing hot.
I think you got it just right when you cut back. You might need to do it again in two weeks if you are stoking them with manure. Here are my hacked and mutilated Papayas and my Short Riders. I will only get so much from these small containers, but I can move them around easily. I should have started everything a month later than I did. I will give all these plants a good dose of organic tomato food next week, and that will be it for the Short Riders I think. I will feed the Papayas again in August and September.
So how's my washington growers doing?? My ladies are respoding great from the trimming/topping I did, they have already popped up hard! Gave a feeding of Roots Organic Buddah Bloom and HP^2 yesterday, wanted to get a slight dose of flower nutes in the soil since I know they are prepping to flower. Currently at 15 hours 43 minutes of daylight
I'm trying to decide if I will force my plants to bud early. I got a small LED light from Mars Hydro, because I live off the grid so I have limited power. I could bring them in every night and only set them out about 10 am the next day. When I go away for a couple of days, I can set up the light in a shower stall with a timer. If I started this week, I'd be about a month ahead. I'm just cutting back leaves at this point, until the days get shorter. The only thing holding me back is my tendency to space out and forget.