"Bud Pinching"...there is a difference

It seems like everywhere I go there is always a misconception of what Bud Pinching is.

I see people asking about it....and I see the wrong answers given most of the time.

Bud pinching is not "topping", or "fimming"...or anything else....it is "bud pinching".

It is a technique used by the pros, been around for quite awhile.

Basically, about 3 weeks into the bud cycle you take your thumb and finger nails, and "pinch" about an 1/8" off the very tip of the buds on your plants. You don't use scissors, or clippers...you want a nice blunt trauma effect. Basically you are "smashing" the very tip of the buds.

Now, here is the key to doing this correctly...You have to pinch the tips of every single bud that is attached to the main stem. A bud is really just a cluster of smaller "budlets" tightly clustered together. Especially when the buds get a little older, and more developed.

So, you want to work your way down each bud cluster, and individually, methodically pinch the tip off each and every budlet that is attached to the main stem. It takes alot of time, and your fingernails will get sticky as hell...so keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs handy.

You repeat this about every two weeks. The process will take longer and longer to complete the bigger the buds get...but trust me, its worth it.

So, every two weeks or so, the buds will start to get a "pointy" look to them again...this is the time you want to repeat the process.

Remember...about an 1/8" or less. Just pinch the very tip, in the center...make it a nasty little blunt trauma...and the bud will start to fatten up.

Stop pinching about two weeks prior to harvest.

This technique is TOTALLY different than "topping" or "fimming"...don't get em confused.

This technique makes buds absolutely FAT as hell....and I can almost guarantee those HUGE buds...that look like cancerous tumors you see on the internet and in high times magazines...have probably been pinched...and pinched...and pinched.

Good Luck!!

or if you take a small amount outa someones bag... lol

WeEdDeMoN said:

or if you take a small amount outa someones bag... lol

Click to expand...

hahaha, thats what i thought at first!
ill be trying this in the future, i hope it's as effective as you say.
(not pinching from someones bag) the proper pinching!
thanks and post a pic??

interesting, would love to hear from anyone else who has used this technique... where's uncle ben when you need him?

sampson0420 said:

interesting, would love to hear from anyone else who has used this technique... where's uncle ben when you need him?

Click to expand...

My guess is that Ben wouldn't be too thrilled about this technique.My bet is that he'd most likely refer to it as pseudo-science, new-age plantery, or sci-fi botany.

However, I have no clue if it works, and I really don't plan on trying it until I see pictures/videos/evidence to support that it does.

ha ha, ya.......pinchin from bags is fun, and effective too!

I learned this technique from some serious cash croppers in Vegas, they do all sorts of weird shit to their plants out there. They all grow "tree-style"...using 30 gallon trash can reservoirs, 5 gallon buckets with GH Waterfarm drip emmiters, hydroton pellets....they grow Massive plants, about 7 feet tall, and the buds are insane. It's all fairly high-tech, expensive set-ups with separate insulated temp/humidity controlled rooms built inside of bedrooms.

This technique was shown to me by a guy who has attended every Cannabis Cup since 1999. He is a master of collecting information, little secrets and the latest technologies.

They also swear by using HydRx "Pot o' Gold" water tretment in their nutrient mix. Its a product that makes plants drink water faster....the plants grow fast, and huge.

Unfortunately, I am no longer growing, and probably won't be for awhile. And these guys Do Not let anyone take pics of their shit...which I can understand. So I won't be able to throw up any pics. Just have to trust me, I guess.

The strains they grew included Shishkaberry (notoriously large), Lemon Skunk, Skunk #1, Jach Herer....and some others. They are always experimenting. I grew some Flying Dutchmen POG in their setup, and it did very well. Some of their plants (especially the Shisks) have produced close to TWO POUNDS of bud per plant! That's INDOOR......which is not easy to accomplish. I was impressed, and learned alot from these guys.

i just moved back to cali from vegas and i have a bud that does a small outdoor grow and he does the same thing to his crop ive sat out there with this dude while he goes to pinching and pinching so long i have to go but one thing that is true his bud sights are trully fat..i dont know what if anything it does for the overall quality but for weight and size i think he has a point try it you may like it if not you can always do what our parent s told us not to ..lick your fingers lol peace pot prosperity..

BudPro2012 said:

ha ha, ya.......pinchin from bags is fun, and effective too!

I learned this technique from some serious cash croppers in Vegas, they do all sorts of weird shit to their plants out there. They all grow "tree-style"...using 30 gallon trash can reservoirs, 5 gallon buckets with GH Waterfarm drip emmiters, hydroton pellets....they grow Massive plants, about 7 feet tall, and the buds are insane. It's all fairly high-tech, expensive set-ups with separate insulated temp/humidity controlled rooms built inside of bedrooms.

This technique was shown to me by a guy who has attended every Cannabis Cup since 1999. He is a master of collecting information, little secrets and the latest technologies.

They also swear by using HydRx "Pot o' Gold" water tretment in their nutrient mix. Its a product that makes plants drink water faster....the plants grow fast, and huge.

Unfortunately, I am no longer growing, and probably won't be for awhile. And these guys Do Not let anyone take pics of their shit...which I can understand. So I won't be able to throw up any pics. Just have to trust me, I guess.

The strains they grew included Shishkaberry (notoriously large), Lemon Skunk, Skunk #1, Jach Herer....and some others. They are always experimenting. I grew some Flying Dutchmen POG in their setup, and it did very well. Some of their plants (especially the Shisks) have produced close to TWO POUNDS of bud per plant! That's INDOOR......which is not easy to accomplish. I was impressed, and learned alot from these guys.

Click to expand...

That's awesome man, can you show some pictures or some diagrams via crappily drawn pictures with paint or something? I really wanna try this. And when you say 3rd bud cycle do you mean of vegetative or flowering? I'm assuming you mean flowering since there's no bud on non-preflowered plants. My plants are currently in the 3rd-4th week so i really wanna try this, a quick response would be greatly appreciated man.

This DOES in fact work and it's an old trick. I learned from an older man that grows only outdoor, and he does this to most of his females. He always pinches the top off the cola, and it does seem to swell more than ones that he didn't pinch. He only does it to plants that aren't toped for some reason.

Edit : I've never done this personally, but I've seen the results of it in action, and it does work to a degree. It's not like double the size or anything, but it does noticably increase the girth of a main cola.

First time hearing of this technique,sounds interesting, definitely will try.If any one has tried this let the results be known........

Yeah, it's the 3rd week of budding......I'll try to draw a picture or something, ha ha. I actually have a Wacom tablet, and photoshop...maybe I can do it

What's up with this little guy puking up green shit? Is he ok? Will he live? Has anyone called a doctor? Or a priest, perhaps?

I can see where this could work to fatten OUT the buds, because it's basically topping the buds instead of the plant when it's in veg. You pinch the tip, vertical bud growth is stunted for a bit, and therefore the bud grow OUT rather than UP because that is it's only option at the moment. So I can see it causing buds to grow fatter and wider, rather than longer and skinnier.

What I'd like to know though is does it just make for wider buds rather than longer ones, or is it somehow magically adding MASS to the buds too? Because I think it would prob just make for fatter buds with the same mass in the end.

Who's experimented and actually taken weights from both ways on a clone strain for uniformity?

I would like to try that as well and think I understand but a picture would be awesome.

very interesting idea, would like to hear and see some more from people who have done this first hand

i totally see how this could work.. i cannot see how this would increase yield at all though. like d.c. said, it is just making them grow fat instead of longer.. to me it wouldn't worth all of the time involved. i personally would sooner have skinnier buds than fat ones because they would dry better/faster. very interesting idea though. totally makes sense

The results they were getting might have had just as much to do with the strict res topping/changing schedule, and the HydRx POG water treatment, as it did the pinching. They were sticklers about completely changing, and adding fresh nutrients weekly. That's alot of waste, and very expensive...but worth it according to them.

I do remember them stating that the pinching adds as much as 25% more mass to the bud. I'm not sure, scientifically speaking why this would occur. Perhaps it is easier for the buds to grow outward than it is to grow upward?

The buds that they were producing were just as long as any buds I've ever seen...but much fatter. So I would assume that the technique does not hinder vertical growth as much as it would seem.

One other note....if you do this, remember to pinch every single "budlet" that makes up the bud mass. For instance, you don't just pinch the very top of the kola...you pinch the tops of every single budlet that makes up the entire kola...from top to bottom.

i would'nt do this personaly, beware!!!!

unless u have a very well ventilated dryroom with humidity as low as 25-30% i would'nt try this method, for this method makes the buds shorter and a lot fatter, fatter buds are much harder to dry and are prone to budrot.

up2 u guys but it seems to me that putting all that effort it veggin ur babies for 4-5wks then 12/12 for 8-9weeks then messing them up with rott in the drying period is to much of a risk for me, il stick to the good old 'top once whilst in veg' method, works fine for me and my buds are fine.

True...its scary to try new things. I would recommend pinching at least a few buds on one of your plants to see if it works.

Who knows...maybe it only works well on big plants...indoor tree-style grows and/or outdoor? I haven't seen it done on small plants.

Nothing scary bout pinching a few buds,people tend to be very iffy when trying new things but pinching an 1/8 off a top??......what could go so wrong...hehe, anyways the way I see it is the same way as lst works,when you stress a branch you notice that branch grows a fatter nug,maybe I am wrong but thats how I see it,well I already tried it on a couple of my girls tonight,now the waiting game......

If anyone has space and is willing, try one plant and see how it differs from the rest
it would solve some questions. if i could i would,but can't until summer.