Plants are three weeks into flowering. Being fed everyday 4 oz. of fertilized water at 1.2-1.5 EC. Using pumice, vermiculite and peat moss mix. Was going to top down prune, but decided against it. Just gave them a nice haircut.
GDP, Durban poison, Super Skunk and grape punch. Using solar storm 880.
Some of them are finicky. Look overwatered at times and if I don’t water them the next day they look under watered. Weird because they only drink four oz. everyday. Were only vegged for a month. Anybody ever had that experience.
Top down lollipoping is when you leave the four or five healthiest colas branching out of the stem that get most light and cut the rest to get denser fatter nugs. Gives the colas more water and nutrients. Supposed to be done in third week of flowering. I have some with up to eight colas and just see it as a shame and waste to cut them off, especially since they’re getting plenty of light.
@Plant_pimp How about just using the flash on your camera. That works very well.
Just my 2 cents, People think that by removing leaves the plant will focus its energy on making buds. The problem with this thinking is that the plant does not have energy. The only source of energy is from the light. The leaves you want to remove are what process that energy into complex sugars or hydrocarbons and that is what drives growth. Those leaves are already done growing and do not need or take anything from the plant. They will not hinder the growth of a flower, but will feed the flower. Flowers are poor receptors of light and only can produce a fraction of the needed food to grow. What you feed the plant when you water doesn’t cause growth until the leaves modify those basic ingredients into the final form needed for the plant.
Now, growing indoors has the challenge of avoiding mold. Too much thick growth can make it very humid around the plant so if needed you should remove enough of the plant to keep it dry and humidity under control.
I’d try on your next grow… I do lollipop my plants… Usually…
On regular Photoperiod plants, not autoflower, I do a trim on lower under canopy at the flip to 12/12 light schedule.
I start from the top and work down leaving three or four nodes at the top of each branch… Removing the rest.
At day 20-21 after flip I’ll go in and check underneath and remove any tiny buds forming below the canopy I’ve created…I also add bamboo sticks to space out the main branches for light penetration and air flow. Also I’ll remove lower branches that aren’t going to make it any taller.
All to just get rid of larf. You could trim top buds when necessary and wait for lower to develop… But I don’t.
Also at about day 21…or three weeks… The stems will be much stiffer so be mindful of your branch manipulation as there is a greater chance of snapping. Doing so after will stress out my plants.
I leave the large fan leaves under now… As @Spiney_norman said… You need them for photosynthesis.
If they could get better yields from defol then why do they all look like this?
But this is a sensitive topic so I need to be careful as my opinions have been unpopular sometimes.
@Spiney_norman I always assumed they didn’t on grows like that for time…
I’ve done both natural and lollipop as well as somewhere in between… I personally seem to get my largest harvests lollipoping. The last grow was 12oz per tent… I usually get closer to 16oz per tent. Plus or minus… Depending on how attentive I’ve been with them.
I did two “defollipop” cuts (I’m word libbing here ) one a couple days before flipping, and one 21 days into bloom. I’m definitely curious to see how that plays out
What I really need to do is experiment with a few clones in the tent. I just placed a plant back in the 18hr cabinet to reveg it and I think I will do 4 clones and do 2 natural and 2 defoliated to a large degree. Here is what the buds looked like…
Cement Shoes from True North Seeds in Canada.
This stuff literally forces me to sleep. I mean cant keep my eyes open.
The underside was full of resin too…
) one a couple days before flipping, and one 21 days into bloom. I’m definitely curious to see how that plays out
