so, i need to keep these plants low, and want to encourage growth on the side branches asap. they are a few weeks old. is it too early to top these?
no i wouldnt say so, with my plants i waited untill there were about 4 sets of leaves commin out and pinched off the 5th... good luck! P.S: correct me if im wrong but i think i read somewhere you can continue to pinch them and get up to 18 colas from a single plant!
is it time you think? ill move them into plastic milk jugs this weekend..is that too long? so, its okay to pinch out the little growth tops, at the very tip at the plant? you can hardly see them in these crappy pictures, but you get what i mean.
Pinching out the growing tip is a good way to make 'the plant' grow with a bushy habit, as you would with normal flowers for example like Fuchsia's. Of course they do have to be plants that grow with this type of habit. It doesn't work with trees!!!! lol So the first becomes two new grow tips, the second becomes four, third becomes eight and so on. (you can work out the maths) My fuchsias get about 32 to 40 new grow tips in a season producing a good display of flowers all year. All that really happens is the plant will become bushy and compact, usefull if the space is limited. This should in theory give you extra stems that will produce the goods...... flowers or buds. Don't rush the process tho, leave time between each 'pinch' so the plant has time to recover and doesn't end up a mass of growth from the base. Try and keep it looking neat and tidy and all should be ok. I do it quite a lot in the garden, with great results (pinching out that is!! lol) Hope this helps.
thanks alot. so just to be completely sure...do i just pull out the two tiny little growth tips...the ones that are just coming out of the center of the plant? thanks. oh yeah......will those plants be okay if i wait until this weekend to transplant them?!
do you have to pinch.. I'm sorry to ask a dumb question, but I've never grown before, and mine are really tall, but they only have like one little bit of a bud or something fuzzy grwing out of the top.. am I doing something wrong? Just wondering... ~ Terpsichore
you dont have to pinch, but you can increase yields by pinching and creating more colas. Try to minimize pinching/pruning during flowering - you should do it in the veg. growth stage. My son likes to pinch his alot creating many colas (and he has had some exceptional yields approaching 3 to 4 oz per plant), I usually just pinch mine one time when they are about 16" tall, then change the lighting to 12 on 12 dark - I wind up with two really long, heavy colas. Works for me.
your doing fine - transplant this weekend and pinch those tiny growth tips in the center as close to the stem/junction of the pair of larger leaves as possible. This will create two new stems from the center.
Thanks alot man for the positive reinforcement. I pinched the little growth tips. I don't think I COMPLETELY ripped them out of the top if the stem, but they're definately pulled off now.
I've never actually seen anybody do this, what do you guys pinch it with? A little clothes pin or what
when they r small its better to use styrlized tweezers.... plants will be ok to wait and transplant but with transplanting the sooner the better and I'd go with something different then a milk jug (just prefrence). Best of luck
preciate it man. i dont know what else i can use with my limited space though. i dont think a pot would be appropriate for this grow...and good luck to you as well.
I personally would not top the plant until it has developed at least its 5th or 6th set of nodes and then every third node or so after that depending on how short you want her to be. Topping the plant does have its benefits as far as more colas and a slightly better yield BUT the flipside is that the size of the buds will decrease from what they would have been had the plant been left unpruned and in some cases the potency might suffer as well. Also topping the plant slows the growth process almost to a halt for usually about 3 or 4 days after the cut to make repairs. So there is also that to consider. I topped a clone after she got past her 5th node and again 3 nodes later and left her alone after that. I ended up with a 4ft tall plant with abut eight tops and a decent harvest under only 240watts (about 14,000 lumens). Its really up to you and its all about preference, while I would wait for another week or so it probably would not be detrimental to the survival of the plant. The most important thing is that you cut it with a sharp clean blade (preferably a scalpel) and sterilize it with alcohol before making the cut. Also give it a very weak boost of an organic nitrogen nute with the water to help it recover. Smething like Grow Big 6-4-4 would be fine diluted to clone strength. Hope this helps and pm me if you need more info. Also read up on the FIM technique before you top to make sure cutting low is the way you want to go. Just my opinion of course take what you will from it. Good luck on your grow. Free the Weed. Plant a Seed.