Thanks man! Okay here goes:
1) This is only my 4th grow so I am experimenting with all kinds of shit - my last two grows I have trimmed the undergrowth because it just put out pretty worthless buds since the light wouldn't penetrate the canopy to reach them that well. I am thinking of adding some side lighting to see if I can't reach those lower regions. But the trimming has definitely worked. Lollipopping them like that does allow the plant use the available energy to bulk up the larger buds. So I do recommend it, especially if you don't have gnarly lights.
2) The bamboo sticks are there for me to tie branches to so I can get them arranged in a way that gives them fairly equal light; I also go through and take out or trim back any fan leaves that are covering lower bud sites that would otherwise receive good light and develop. The bamboo is cheap, available at any home, garden or hydro store, and super easy to work with. I do want to work in a ScROG system soon, but I need a larger tent first. I do a lot of training on my plants due to the limited height, so these bamboo sticks allow me to keep the height down while making sure light is getting to everything.
3) I have cloned in soil and rockwool. Both worked, but these are in rockwool and are looking great - remember that a lot of their vigor comes from the plant they were cloned from, so make sure you clone from a plant that is strong and healthy. I am building a aero cloning machine which will be better - but I do think the rockwool works great - only tradeoff is that it usually takes about 10 days+ to root, whereas people get roots on aeroponic cloners much faster - usually within a week or so - so that is the way to go if you can swing it, lots of plans online to DIY or you can find one at your local hydro store.
Great questions man! I am learning as I go. I just keep reading, researching and trying everything I can to grow these incredible plants to their fullest potential.
Stay tuned and I would love to hear of you experiences and what you have found works for you.
I have an Arjan's Ultra Haze #1 in there as well which is turning out to be something special - 3 of the 4 clones you see in the pics above are from this plant. I also have a Chemdawg that I have vegged for a while and a C99 waiting to go into flower. Dude, I need a bigger tent soon