why grow so much plant just to lollypop

[Kipn]

im new ish to growing indoors 3 grows under my belt. i read allot of people veg there plants super big for 4 ish weeks then put them in a scrog and lollypop the bottom half of the plant so all the energy goes to the tops and there isnt pop cored buds . my question is why is this the normal thing when in my eyes having more plants vegged for less time eg 2 weeks just until each plant has several tops then flipping is less waste of time because then you don't remove 30/50% of the plant. am i missing something to why people do this. over allot of smaller plants

 

[Silvio Dante]

I am not particularly knowledgeable with lolly-popping as I have always refused to do it to my girls - I have a mantra of natural growth is best. I do not like to interfere with the plant too much, but perhaps that is to the detriment of my final yield as there is plenty of science to back up the practice.

I stick to a 4 week vegging period from seedlings as in week 3-4 of the veg you get mass growth compared to weeks one and two. The end result when you flower from a larger veg is naturally a massive bush compared to a reasonable sized flowering plant. I much prefer longer vegging periods for huge bastards at the end.

At best I remove dying off lower shade-leaves when they are ready to be pulled away from the stems with minimal effort, and that is all I do - no lollypop, no scrog etc. I hardly ever get any popcorn bud anyway... so it seems to work for me? Pretty amatuerish approach by my own admission though, with my last yield only 2.5oz per plant on a 4 pot set up going for the bush (crap strain though)

I have far better hopes this time for the lot I have on the go now and stick to my guns... I don't think hacking up the plant does that much good for it or impacts the final yield that much. I expect others will disagree and I would like to be proven wrong to be honest.

 

[Kipn]

I am not particularly knowledgeable with lolly-popping as I have always refused to do it to my girls - I have a mantra of natural growth is best. I do not like to interfere with the plant too much, but perhaps that is to the detriment of my final yield as there is plenty of science to back up the practice.

I stick to a 4 week vegging period from seedlings as in week 3-4 of the veg you get mass growth compared to weeks one and two. The end result when you flower from a larger veg is naturally a massive bush compared to a reasonable sized flowering plant. I much prefer longer vegging periods for huge bastards at the end.

At best I remove dying off lower shade-leaves when they are ready to be pulled away from the stems with minimal effort, and that is all I do - no lollypop, no scrog etc. I hardly ever get any popcorn bud anyway... so it seems to work for me? Pretty amatuerish approach by my own admission though, with my last yield only 2.5oz per plant on a 4 pot set up going for the bush (crap strain though)

I have far better hopes this time for the lot I have on the go now and stick to my guns... I don't think hacking up the plant does that much good for it or impacts the final yield that much. I expect others will disagree and I would like to be proven wrong to be honest.

i dont like the idea of removing plant matter unless need. personally i prefer doing some lst thats about it and run several small plants but haven't yet tried just growing one big plant as i dislike veg time. i guess it depends on the lights penetration on how thick one can grow the plant . i only run from seed if i want to try something new clones seam to work better for the two week veg with 1 month root establishment although i have nothing to compare to apart from what ive done. i cant decide whats quicker and less wasteful. growing a big plant are you still harvesting with in 3 months

 

[reallybigjesusfreak]

I was super big into cutting off lower stuff, not really lollipopping, but similar, just heavy foliage removal. I'm not touching them this time, its an experiment. Gonna see how it goes this time. If I get a lot of popcorn nugs...well, good thing I love hash.

 

[coreywebster]

im new ish to growing indoors 3 grows under my belt. i read allot of people veg there plants super big for 4 ish weeks then put them in a scrog and lollypop the bottom half of the plant so all the energy goes to the tops and there isnt pop cored buds . my question is why is this the normal thing when in my eyes having more plants vegged for less time eg 2 weeks just until each plant has several tops then flipping is less waste of time because then you don't remove 30/50% of the plant. am i missing something to why people do this. over allot of smaller plants

The defoliation in a scrog and in lolly popping are different things.

But why less plants vegged longer over many small plants? For one reason, plant count matters to a lot of growers. Many legal guys have a limit. Easier to set up a constant supply with less big plants than it is to do your limit one after another.
For many of us illegal growers plant count dictates the legal consequences.

A proper SOG set up will out yield pretty much anything in a given space. But growing 64 plants vs 4 plants in 16 square feet is not everyone's cup of tea for various reasons.

Im sure there are other reasons, such as plant maturity but its plant count that steers me in the direction I grow.

 

[Silvio Dante]

The defoliation in a scrog and in lolly popping are different things.

For one reason, plant count matters to a lot of growers. Many legal guys have a limit. Easier to set up a constant supply with less big plants than it is to do your limit one after another.
For many of us illegal growers plant count dictates the legal consequences.

You are bang on the money, and in the context of UK growing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or "Couldn't Prosecute Satan" has very clear sentencing guidelines on the cultivation of cannabis, for info:

When prosecuted for growing cannabis (which is only ever on the decrease as the national focus is now on "County Lines" and gang controlled drugs at long last) the sentencing guidelines are split into the arbitary class A,B and C, and then the role that you have paid (leading, significant or lesser) and number of plants. Nearly all individual growers fall into the "Lesser" category. The number of plants are:

Category 1:
cannabis – operation capable of producing industrial quantities for commercial use

Category 2
cannabis – operation capable of producing significant quantities for commercial use

Category 3
cannabis – 28 plants;*

Category 4

• cannabis – 9 plants (domestic operation);*
  
  Hilariously, showing how out of touch the judiciary is, they assume a yield of 40g per plant.
  
  This is before Case Law and mitigating factors are taken into account. Magistrates courts are reluctant to grant domestic bust warrants, as Case Law now recognises that domestic operations are deemed "not in the public interest" to prosecute.
  
  In a local context, I know of a 10 plant grow that was busted by the police (obviously ran his mouth off being the big I am) and all they did was take the plants away, left him all the equipment and didn't even caution him.

 

[coreywebster]

You are bang on the money, and in the context of UK growing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or "Couldn't Prosecute Satan" has very clear sentencing guidelines on the cultivation of cannabis, for info:

When prosecuted for growing cannabis (which is only ever on the decrease as the national focus is now on "County Lines" and gang controlled drugs at long last) the sentencing guidelines are split into the arbitary class A,B and C, and then the role that you have paid (leading, significant or lesser) and number of plants. Nearly all individual growers fall into the "Lesser" category. The number of plants are:

Category 1:
cannabis – operation capable of producing industrial quantities for commercial use

Category 2
cannabis – operation capable of producing significant quantities for commercial use

Category 3
cannabis – 28 plants;*

Category 4

• cannabis – 9 plants (domestic operation);*
  
  Hilariously, showing how out of touch the judiciary is, they assume a yield of 40g per plant.
  
  This is before Case Law and mitigating factors are taken into account. Magistrates courts are reluctant to grant domestic bust warrants, as Case Law now recognises that domestic operations are deemed "not in the public interest" to prosecute.
  
  In a local context, I know of a 10 plant grow that was busted by the police (obviously ran his mouth off being the big I am) and all they did was take the plants away, left him all the equipment and didn't even caution him.

Its a great bit of info there, I often check to see if anythings changed. It also tells you how many weeks wages you can expect to be fined. lol.

I also know of a few people who have been busted and left with the equipment. I know a guy who was caught with 100s, a whole house, he only got CS and a small fine, but a few years down the track and they seized is house under the proceeds of crime act or something similar.

I know people who served time in the 90s for smallish grows, the same people caught today would get a £200 fine and small amount of CS. Its crazy. In Durham they wont even bother to look into a suspected grow unless the grower is upsetting the public by stinking out the whole area. Unfortunately I don't live in the Durham and every police force has its own policy.

 

[Silvio Dante]

I know people who served time in the 90s for smallish grows, the same people caught today would get a £200 fine and small amount of CS. Its crazy. In Durham they wont even bother to look into a suspected grow unless the grower is upsetting the public by stinking out the whole area. Unfortunately I don't live in the Durham and every police force has its own policy.

You are absolutely correct and I know that Dorset, Essex and Somerset & Avon Police also do not actively seek it.

I have been told by the Police & Crime Commissioner of Essex himself "We have absolutely no interest in that. We expect 3 seperate complaints about smell before we'll even send an officer round to knock on the door to have a friendly word, but no warrant and no power to caution at that point"

It may also interest you to know if you don't already that UK police forces have actually lost their powers to stop and search somebody on the smell of cannabis alone as probable cause (established by collapsed case law). Too many cases of people being ejected from festivals and subjected to search and detainment for the smell of weed where they genuinely haven't got any on them, it was somebody else walking past etc.

A smell alone is not probable cause. The officer who told me that said it is a problem for them as it was their chief way of getting knives off the street - the chances are some stinky weedy person in the street also has other drugs and weapons on them is quite high. Good news for recreational growers and smokers, but a double edged sword for the forces.

How sweet it is to be so far on the inside you're above suspicion. That's what it is to be Silvio Dante

*I should also say that the legalisation of cannabis is quietly making its way through Parliament:

https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/legalisationofcannabismedicinalpurposes.html

 

[coreywebster]

You are absolutely correct and I know that Dorset, Essex and Somerset & Avon Police also do not actively seek it.

I have been told by the Police & Crime Commissioner of Essex himself "We have absolutely no interest in that. We expect 3 seperate complaints about smell before we'll even send an officer round to knock on the door to have a friendly word, but no warrant and no power to caution at that point"

It may also interest you to know if you don't already that UK police forces have actually lost their powers to stop and search somebody on the smell of cannabis alone as probable cause (established by collapsed case law). Too many cases of people being ejected from festivals and subjected to search and detainment for the smell of weed where they genuinely haven't got any on them, it was somebody else walking past etc.

A smell alone is not probable cause. The officer who told me that said it is a problem for them as it was their chief way of getting knives off the street - the chances are some stinky weedy person in the street also has other drugs and weapons on them is quite high. Good news for recreational growers and smokers, but a double edged sword for the forces.

How sweet it is to be so far on the inside you're above suspicion. That's what it is to be Silvio Dante

*I should also say that the legalisation of cannabis is quietly making its way through Parliament:

https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/legalisationofcannabismedicinalpurposes.html

Cheers for the extra bits of info there man. I had no idea about the probable cause on smell had changed.

God damn it though, I need to move to another county!!

 

[Silvio Dante]

Cheers for the extra bits of info there man. I had no idea about the probable cause on smell had changed.

God damn it though, I need to move to another county!!

Knowledge is power, and the best thing a grower in the UK can do is inhale the criminal statute book to know exactly where and how to tread The chances are by now the vast majority of UK police forces do not actively seek it on a domestic level, but it isn't something they will publicly announce of course!

Play it safe and keep it green

 

[Kipn]

The defoliation in a scrog and in lolly popping are different things.

But why less plants vegged longer over many small plants? For one reason, plant count matters to a lot of growers. Many legal guys have a limit. Easier to set up a constant supply with less big plants than it is to do your limit one after another.
For many of us illegal growers plant count dictates the legal consequences.

A proper SOG set up will out yield pretty much anything in a given space. But growing 64 plants vs 4 plants in 16 square feet is not everyone's cup of tea for various reasons.

Im sure there are other reasons, such as plant maturity but its plant count that steers me in the direction I grow.

that makes cents i guess a few weeks weg time isnt worth that problem