To prune or not to prune

I'm 3 weeks into flower tomorrow on my first attempt at mainlining with Critical Kush.

I didn't prune it when switching to 12/12 but should I still tidy it up tomorrow being day 21 of flower as I would normally with plants/not mainlined? If so am I right in saying you get rid of any grow below the tops/main heads?

Mainlining in flower?

lilroach said:

Mainlining in flower?

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No it's already been mainlined when in veg.

I'm 21 days into flower tomorrow.

I didn't prune when I switched to flower.

Should I do it tomorrow like I would normally a plant that hasn't been mainlined?

Leaves serve a purpose. Leave them.

I watched a tutorial on mainlining last week and they pruned the plant just before flower and got rid of all but the tops.

That's why I'm asking will it be OK to do this 21 days into flower like I would a normal/unmainlined plant?

hotstepper said:

I watched a tutorial on mainlining last week and they pruned the plant just before flower and got rid of all but the tops.

That's why I'm asking will it be OK to do this 21 days into flower like I would a normal/unmainlined plant?

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There are plenty of people doing a prune job/bottom clean up at day 21 in flower. There having some awesome results as well. Not trying to start a shit storm. There are many styles of gardening.

Mainlined Critical Kush 21 days into flower up close -

The flash makes it look yellow in places but it's healthy and doing well.

Nugbucket's in his Main-Lining Tutorial prunes just before flowering.

My question was will it be OK to tidy it at 21 days and get rid of everything apart from the top heads?

If you ask a scientific mind this question they'll tell you, without actually telling you usually, that nature gets it right every time, and nature knows better than we do. they're half right. we are nature. nature is doing the exact same thing we are doing. pushing every edge of every envelope trying to learn and grow faster, and faster, and faster. we're all, every living organism, trying to get through a maze as quickly and efficiently as possible. ITELLIGENT people understand that we don't even know what we're racing through the maze after. there's no metaphorical cheese......except for personal happiness. this is probably one of the main stemming reasons that the rest of the slightly-uncivilized world loathes the united states' unrelentless striving for more, more, more. they see us as simply selfish. now we are at the forefront of the evolution of our species, psychologically and physically, and they don't like playing second fiddle AT ALL. ahem....pardon me.... and the SMART people understand all of this and can still find reasons to make our little existence meaningful enough to try as hard as they can to succeed amidst all the turmoil in this fold in time of human history. phew....so preachy huh. anyway, if you haven't figured it out yet, all i'm trying to say is.....

you're never going to learn anything about plants until you've learned everything about yourself. cut any leaf you want off.....take chances. just remember what you did so you can compare it to the results. be alert and aware to what your plants are telling you. do research. keep posting on riu. don't listen to scientists. they assume they know more than you about everything.

don't top the heads. why would you think to do that? you should be cutting/thinning all the bullshit on the inside and underneath. it's all that shit that causes you problems and will make your job harder in post-production.

I didn't say to top the heads! Nugbuckets gets rid of everything below and just leaves the tops. It's a scary thought doing that but I get the plant will use all its energy in producing from the top bud sites then. I just wondered if after 21 days instead of doing it on the turn of flower would be fine. Would you leave the very tops and get rid of the lot yeah?

I too don't want to start yet another thread about defoliating or pruning.....no-one is going to change anyone's mind on that matter.

I am of the non-pruning camp. While I don't mainline, I do use Uncle Ben's topping that has a similar growth pattern. I have found that "junk in the middle" is a treasure of fruitful branches.

Here's a pic of one I have going now. Take a peak at what's going on in the middle:



And here's how it turns out:



It's up to you what you do.

hotstepper said:

I didn't say to top the heads! Nugbuckets gets rid of everything below and just leaves the tops. It's a scary thought doing that but I get the plant will use all its energy in producing from the top bud sites then. I just wondered if after 21 days instead of doing it on the turn of flower would be fine. Would you leave the very tops and get rid of the lot yeah?

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Tough to guess exactly what you should do....that's your job But anything that isn't going to get big enough to get any kind if light ever should be trimmed out before that bloom really gets going. You're on the edge, but I'd say go for it. All that duff on the inside ends up being what you see problems on too (mildew, mites, etc.).

Thanks all!

jimmyconway8 said:

Tough to guess exactly what you should do....that's your job But anything that isn't going to get big enough to get any kind if light ever should be trimmed out before that bloom really gets going. You're on the edge, but I'd say go for it. All that duff on the inside ends up being what you see problems on too (mildew, mites, etc.).

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Please refer to my second picture....notice all the leaves on the table. That's the only time I pruned that plant and harvested it 20 minutes later. I'm sorry, but your statement "nothing is going to get big enough to get any kind of light ever......" is incorrect....in my opinion.