Hi folks. I'm about a month in veg. Got four girls under T5 light.2 are about 10 inch's and the other 2 are about 12/14 inch's. I have tied the two tall girls down to keep them all the same hight. Dutch passion skunk 11 fem from seed. Was wondering when should I prune and what should I prune? And if I should top? I'm planning on getting a eBay grow tent kit 600 watt hps 1.2x1.2x2 MTR. Should I prune now in veg or later in flower? And should I top?And when I should top.Iv been reading some forms but they all differ somewhat. I got four pots that apple trees were in they measure 9.5 deep x 12 wide.The behr bucket is 19 Ltr( reference)Will these be ok for my space? Any info is much appreciated .Thank you
For every month the plant grows it needs a bigger pot so increase your pot size by one gallon for each month of growth.
Who says you need to trim at all . Some do and some do not , your choice . Read up and then you decide .
Hi Df was reading up on it .Most of the forms that I have been reading recommend pruning in a tight area. They are saying that the lower growth does not get light and the lower growth will not grow good buds. I don't know so that's why I asked. One form say's one thing another says something different.Kinda nervous about cutting foliage off.But thanks anyway.
you want to "lollypop" or prune the bottom parts of the branches. i dont really top more then once, and thats just to spread the hormones around (if you dont top the plant will grow straight up, topping tells the plant to let side branches grow taller). what i do is bend them over. i use cloth pots and clothspin a big fan leave to the side of the pot. then if i see an area thats cluttered i may fold leaves down or nip them off...but only if they are blocking light to a lower area, or are blocking air flow..you dont want mold. whatever you do DO NOT PRUNE DURING LATE FLOWER. it will cause the plant to use energy to repair where you pruned instead of fattening up those buds
Hi Darren. My girls are about a month old now.Is now a OK time to prune and top? If I am going to prune and top I think I need to do it now because I'm not sure if I will have room when I get in to mid/late flowering. I was going to prune some today but kinda nervous about giving them a cut. Does pruning and topping shock/stun a plant ? and If so how long after pruning should I wait to go12/12 flowering?Much appreciation for the info. Thanks a million
You won't find a lot of experienced growers topping anymore. It is an effective but old way of getting more branches to form. LST (low stress training) methods are far more effective and will yield a lot more branches/tops in less time. I like using a screen rather than ties but both work well and won't increase your cycle time as much as topping or fim methods. Pruning is not necessary at all. It only helps if you are the kinda person who will not use the smaller bud. We have tried it a few times both ways (same plants same lights) and lollypoping (taking all the lower branches off) only advantage was we had less small bud after the harvest and trimming was easier. We did not yield more large bud. We did yield less overall and had no small stuff that went into the hash bag (or gave to friends in joint form). Yes, lots of folks growing good bud using different methods. This is mainly because the plant will grow and yield inspite of bad methods. Most folks will never see the potential because of this. Not such a bad thing, a sack of killer bud is always good. This is a two plant grow under a 400 watt lamp, using a screen to train the plant to grow branches. A single plant doing the same thing.
Hi rumple. Im well impressed amazing looking garden. I think I will leave my girls alone after seeing your grow. I much prefer to leave them b seeing as I really don't know what I'm doing and don't want to stun or shock my girls. I have a T3/T4 complete spinal cord injury sever spasm I have been in my chair for nearly 20 years. I don't use any meds for spasms except this.Unfortunately my rotator cuffs are shot to hell from pushing all these years got to go for surgery to get them fixed. So the size of my buds don't matter I'm more interested in my yield .I'm just trying to get enough to get me past rehab andd back motoring again. I'm going to order my grow tent kit 600 watt tomorrow from ebay.Should have it by week end and then I'm going to switch them to 12/12. Thanks for the pics and info it is a big help.
i never top to get more branches, i always top for the hormone thing. just something a few local growers taught me i dont prune anything once the flowering phase begins, and yes it does shock the plant to top it. i mainly bend them over but like to top once to spread the hormone around..i found this for a good explination In topping, you cut the main stem at a chosen point. This causes the plant to redirect hormones to the secondary branches, causing the to grow as main branches. So instead of one main branch you can have four, six, eight, or however many "tops" that you choose. Each of these new tops will then grow its own side branches making a wide bushy plant
I always top 1 time for clones.......seems like I have the best luck with the very top clone making it to rooting first, before the side branches.do. In the old days, I LST'ed the top over with good results. Now I scrog after one time topping, And that Top clone is always used as my next mother.