Hello everyone, ive been using this forum a long time to help me, but have never had to actually ask a question until now. So i have a bag seed thats female.. just flipped it into flower 2 days ago after transplanting into bigger pot, and im wondering if i should trim any of this undergrowth? ive already pulled off a few of the leaves that were practically dead at the bottom, but (as this is a very bushy plant- 15+ colas at top and much more underneath), it seems appropriate to trim the long, skinny growths underneath, and possibly the new ones that might not be big enough by the time of flower?.. I know trimming its a controversal topic, but ive been reading that the small colas will steal a lot of energy the plant would otherwise be using on bigger, better buds. Any answers are very much appreciated; and sorry for no pictures! i tried to upload one but it wouldnt let me.
Anyone? Also, when i transplanted, i went from a 1.5 gallon pot to a 3, and there's already a bunch of roots coming out the bottom! should i put it in a 5 gallon, or would that make it grow too much? I cant let it get taller than 4 feet.
Look up Lollypopping. Here google anywhere. Between 14-21 days in flower you'll wanna Lollypop all the underside. Cut off all the stems that aren't gonna get tall enough for good light penetration. And all the leaves down there too. Or you can try a full defoliation. Take off all the leaves that aren't in the buds. I've heard Day 21 or day like 40. Or even both. Never done it myself but seen some great results.
Thanks for your answer! I just looked it up a bit, and it seems that its generally agreed it should take place before flowering, and today is my 4th day in flower. Should i revert back to veg, or should i be fine? also, most of the small colas are actually at the top because of the way i topped and LST'd.. Does this mean that they will get enough light to become big? Or will these small colas stay small and produce popcorn buds? (sorry for all the questions, this is my first grow and this plant is much bigger and bushier than i was expecting!)
Don't go back to veg. I lollypop mine day 14,15 of flower every time. I've never done it in veg mode. That's useless cause you don't know how much stretch you'll get. And it doesn't matter where your buds are. The ones that get the most light will be your best colas. They'll be the tallest ones on the plant.
Defoliate a couple times thru flower too. Just to get the light into your lowest colas. Just the big fan leaves that are blocking out the lower growth.
Nothing wrong with trimming in flower... I prefer to tuck fan leaves at the beginning of flower and I also cut off the smaller branches and clone them for future grows... now later in flower once they only have a couple weeks left I'll start plucking larger fan on the higher parts of the plant that away come harvest most of my fan leaves are already gone. (That just how I like to do it). Now I know you are talking about bud sites and as I said the smaller ones I let them grow large enough to be cloned then I cut them and stick them in jiffy pellets. And I have another set of plants ready to flower come harvest. The more vegetation on the plant the better when ever mistakes are made. Just try to leave the fan leaves alone as if you have any feeding problems they'll be your buffer and if you remove to many and you accidentally feed to much it could greatly affect quality and yield. Imo But hell imo there is nothing wrong with some popcorn.... harvest the top first then let the middle of the plant go for another week then chop the middle and then let the bottom portion of the plant go another week and then harvest it... I was very surprised by how much popcorn bud I had come harvest. Much more than I woulda guessed I probably wouldn't of hit my goal without it and it got me just as high as the tops... it all gets ground up anyhow... or just toss the popcorn in with the trim and make some hash or something Robs New Journal RQS SQ#1 Clones
Thanks for your answers! Very good point with the leaves being a buffer.. I didn't think about that, and I will definitely want that, as I have experience feeding problems in the past! I think I will just tuck the fan leaves for now, then harvest when ready and let the popcorn grow! After reading about that, it seems like it's practically just extra (slightly delayed) harvest! Also darkstar, that's very true with the stretch! This is definitely a sativa, and it's gained over an inch a day since I flowered it! Thank you both for your advice!
One last questions if you guys don't mind, I'm getting a whole lot of red spots on the tops of stems holding the fan leaves, and it seems to be happening to all of them for the most part, but the rest of the plant seems healthy, is that okay?
Kind of hard to see, but it's just hundreds of tiny red spots on the top half of fan leaf beanches, but not on the bottom or the leaves themselves.. and AS I was taking the picture of the plant, this weird looking bug flew into me. I haven't looked into it yet, and hope it isn't problematic
I'm not to familiar with different types of bugs the only type I had a problem with were fungus gnats and they were dark not light colored like that... and I wouldn't worry about the plant... i just focus on the vegetation when aiming on health... I've had stems that looked like candy canes almost with just a deep red spiraling around the branch but it didn't seem to harm anything just looked neat haha though I know people say when stems change colors it tends to be a deficiency so you may want to wait for someone else to chime in Robs New Journal RQS SQ#1 Clones
Never heard of the red spots. Can't really see anything wrong either. Bugs won't mess up your stems directly. They go for the leaves. Much better to eat. Lol. But it could be a genetics thing. Sometimes weird coloring on the stems is a deficiency. But it can also just be your phenotype.