trim questions

bubblegumwidow

Active Member
Hey all, I have some trim questions regarding my babies. first off I want to make clear my intentions. I have 14 plants(number will reduce during sexing) and they are mostly short, heavy, top cola producers(bubblegum, mazar) and I am not interested in topping but I was wondering about trim techniques for lower branches to help encourage heavier top bud production. I have never trimmed before(just let them grow) so I am not sure when and exactly where to do so for desired results. they are 6 weeks from seed with the taller ones being about a foot tall now. here are some pics of my babies and a pic from my high times calender of some NL5 where they trimmed lower to produce heavy upper(just as a reference to what I would like to achieve). If anyone can help I would be entirely grateful thanx!:twisted:
 

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There's nothing to trim at the moment, they all look like good sea of green single cola plants. I'd leave them as they are and put them into 12/12 now.

Congratulations by the way, nice crop.
 

bubblegumwidow

Active Member
There's nothing to trim at the moment, they all look like good sea of green single cola plants. I'd leave them as they are and put them into 12/12 now.

Congratulations by the way, nice crop.
Thanks man. I checked them last night and I saw a set of female preflowers on the tallest. I am putting in my hps and switching friday. When do you think I should trim? I know that in my setup the lower levels will get little light and waste energy.
 

DownOnWax

Well-Known Member
If you are going for the sea of green method then there really is no reason to manually trim any of the leaves.

When the plants start to crowd each other then the lower leaves will begin to die off naturally because of the lack of light. Then it is time to just collect any drying/ yellowing leaves. All the fan leaves produce energy for the entire plant. Trimming excess leaves will put the plant into slight shock and increase the flowering time dramatically.

Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all and the plants know a lot better than we do what it needs to produce to it's potential.
 

M Blaze

Well-Known Member
Im a big trimmer of my plants and I usually like to trim between 1/4 to 1/3 off the bottom of my plants so they can focus all of their energy on the main colas.

Heres a few pics of some of my trimmed plants at the younger stages and you can see the results of them in the later stages in the current grow link in my sig.





 

South Texas

Well-Known Member
Yes for M Blaze. The fan leaves are not soley there for the photo thing. That is not there main purpose. Find the answer to that, & you have your solution. Anybody? The key lies within the traits of a fig tree, and lot's of other plant life.
 

M Blaze

Well-Known Member
Yes for M Blaze. The fan leaves are not soley there for the photo thing. That is not there main purpose. Find the answer to that, & you have your solution. Anybody? The key lies within the traits of a fig tree, and lot's of other plant life.
Sorry but im pretty wasted right now so I dont know if your agreeing with my trim methods or not? lol
 

bubblegumwidow

Active Member
thats what im talkin about. lovin the feedback. m blaze that is exactly what I was trying to understand. plus pics. dam man you arent growing pot plants, you are growing pot trees! thanx for the input and plus rep! will probably trim lower 1/4 in a week more of flowering(should help aid in watering of my crowded garden too) one last question should anyone feel inclined to answer. I have seen people apply some sort of goo on the stalks where they have trimmed lower branches. dont know why(maybe to fight off bugs from fresh wound?) my question is, is this necessary and if so what the hell is that stuff? I mean if not then more power to me for not having to spend more $ than I already invest in my one true hobby. hope to hear back!
 

South Texas

Well-Known Member
M Blaze, I wholly agree with you. My conclusion is that the fan leaves, like the lower leaves on a Fig Tree, is mainly there to keep the Sun from drying out the shallow feeder rooting system. If the lower branches is cut away from a fig tree, it will die. If we don't allow the soil to dry out, use plenty of compost, there is no need for the fan leaves, which will allow more light throughout the entire plant. That's just my opinion.
 

Brick Top

New Member
The large fan leaves are the most efficient solar collectors plants have. They are also factories where sugars are produced along with various chemicals that plants need for growth and production. Any loss of large leaves will be detrimental to the overall growth/production of plants.
 

M Blaze

Well-Known Member
I only trim the lower leaves and branches so I dont really touch any of the top leaves. If a big fan leaf is shading too much then I kind of supercrop them so they bend around are not in the way.
 

neno

Well-Known Member
well i dont know guys...1 always trim the bottom part of the girls to encourage bushy top growth...its also a good technique to use when you want to encourage a runt plant to have a possible chance at growing...but thats just in experience.
 

M Blaze

Well-Known Member
well i dont know guys...1 always trim the bottom part of the girls to encourage bushy top growth...its also a good technique to use when you want to encourage a runt plant to have a possible chance at growing...but thats just in experience.
Exactly that^^
 

bubblegumwidow

Active Member
well i dont know guys...1 always trim the bottom part of the girls to encourage bushy top growth...its also a good technique to use when you want to encourage a runt plant to have a possible chance at growing...but thats just in experience.
Thats what I always thought but brick top is not the first person to tell me what he said either. I have the jorge cervantes DVD's and that dude says trimming any fan leaves will deduct from total end product. but in my case with the size my plants will be(3 foot at most prob) I think quality over quatity might be in order. especially when crowded. here are some new pics...what do you think. and by you I mean everyone
 

GypsyBush

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys!

MB...

I do SOG lollipops...

The rule I follow is to trim the lower 3rd and anything that grows more than one inch..

Anything that would become a branch comes off...

Here is what Al. B. Fuct said...

Al B. Fuct said:
Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
Mr. Ganja


The idea is to grow only the top cola of a naturally growing plant with none of the lower branches and the small buds those branches produce. All branching, pretty much everything on the lower 1/3 of the plant, is snipped off in about wk 2 & 3.







 

S0uthernSm0ke

Well-Known Member
i would tuck any growth thats shading a potential flow-producing branch then make your decision as to how many branches you want, accompanying your main cola. also, i like to clip any internodal growth 2-3 weeks before the flowering 12/12
 
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