My plants are probably a few weeks away from harvest, they are pretty big and the top 1/4 of the plant is nice and thick and bushy and looking almost ready to be harvested. Lower down the plant is way more underdeveloped and looks like it still has another month of flowering to go. My question is, what would happen if i cut the stem 3/4 up the plant and harvested the top section which is ready. This would enable me to lower the light and get heaps of light to the lower branches which are underdeveloped. Would this kill the plant or what?
i'm sure i remember reading somewhere that the tops of the plants often mature faster than the rest and that a lot of growers actually harvest their buds as and when they mature,rather than harvest all at once,so if the trichs look like they'll suit your stone on the top third,going from what i've read(and not personal experience)i'd go for it,like you say,more light will get in to the under-developed buds and more light = more bud heh but you may want to wait and see what the general consensus says,i'm a bit of an amateur heh
Though many would disagree, taking off the top buds and lowering the light sounds like a good plan to me, but don't take more than 50% of the buds, you could put the plant into shock. Consider ScroG, or SOG for your next grow, so you can use your light more effectively, and harvest all-at-once. -mu
So by taking off the top buds, do you mean cut the stem? If i removed the buds only, the light would fry the top part of the plant when i lowered it... If i couldnt cut the stem off, i couldnt get the light any lower...
Apologies for the confusion, by buds I meant colas. You chop off the whole thing, stem and all. I meant to say "nugz". -mu
If your going to cut them part way then whatyou want to do is determine at what height you want and then cut all the branches at the same level. But of course a picture will give us a better idea of how best to advise you.
Well unfortunately i dont have pictures but basically, if i were to chop the main stem 3/4 of the way up and harvest the top part, that would make the rest of the undeveloped buds at an equal hight as the chopped stem, which would be perfect for placing the light. My only concern is that the plant will die if i chop its main stem 1/4 of the way down from the top of the plant.