Pro Tips to Maximize Yield
Under-Pruning Your Plants
Pruning the underside of your plants during the very early flowering phase will allow your plant to re-distribute its energy into branches on the top of the plant instead of dispersing energy to the lower branches that will ultimately not contribute to yield. This allows only the buds that are directly underneath the light to receive all of the energy and nutrients that the plant has to give.
When done correctly and during the right time frame of the plant’s life, this will significantly increase the yield of the plant even though cutting off branches and lower bud sites may seem counterproductive. The plant can only produce so much bud and it depends on factors like maxing out the root zone which is contingent on the size container your plant is in, maxing out your light, and feeding the correct amount of nutrients at the correct times. If you don’t prune your plant up then you will have small buds form at the base of your plant on the lower branches. These small bud sites are called a variety of things like scrag, larf, wisp, etc. Once harvested, dried, and weighed, they amount to nothing of substance and lack the potency and bag appeal of the larger buds from the top of the canopy. If they are removed then the top buds get denser and bigger by default by harnessing the full scope of the root zone and nutrient uptake.
The other, and equally as important benefit, is that this process decreases the amount of foliage that pests and molds can live on. It allows better airflow through the canopy and in your environment which can dramatically decrease the likelihood that powdery mildew will develop.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. “I wish I would have pruned these up higher.” It takes a fine-tuned eye and dialing in one specific strain to really get a good handle on how high to lollipop your plants. Every strain is different, some that are leafier than others will require more manicuring because the leaves will shade a lot of lower branches and bud sites. Some that stretch a lot during the first two weeks of flowering will need a lot of pruning to compensate for how big the plant will become. Others will just be more prone to pest and mold issues and will benefit from pruning to reduce the likelihood that they will hurt your overall plant health.
How to
Starting as early as the vegetative plant stage, you should be keeping the bottom ¼ of your plant bare and free from leaves and node sites. This keeps your soil and container free from having leaves and debris fall into it. As debris and dead leaves settle in your container they can very quickly begin to mold. Especially in humid environments.
Beginning this process in the early stages also has a similar effect to the bloom phase by promoting the top growth of vegetative plants to grow faster. This can promote quicker veg times, get you into the bloom cycle faster, and ultimately make the job of doing it easier by not having to do all of it all at one time.
It is easiest described as lollipopping your plant and it is a term that is used to describe the look of the branch after the process. The basic idea is that you trim up the branch until it is bare except for the uppermost part of the plant which creates your canopy. Canopies are the highest yielding when they are about 12 – 18 inches tall and very thick, which gives you a baseline and an idea of how much foliage to leave up top. It is easier to know how much foliage to leave as opposed to how much foliage to remove. Some plants are much taller than others based on the grower and the growing style so removing the bottom 18 inches of foliage could be a lot or a little and is relative to the plant.
Remove the little node sites all the way up the main stalks and remove any of the very small branches that don’t seem as if they’ll reach the top of the canopy or bear any weight. If they don’t look like they can hold the weight of a large bud, they probably can’t. It is better to start on the lighter side, take a second glance, and do it again. You can underdo it easier than you can overdo it so take solace in that. It can be done in stages.
The first stage can be done the day or two before you flip your lights into flower, then again about 2 weeks into flower after your plants have undergone most of their stretching cycle. It can be stressful for your plants in this stage, but any time before your buds start to actually develop is an acceptable time. The benefit of doing another once-over at about week 2 of Flower is that you will see exactly which bud sites and branches have made it to the top of the plant and will become your dominant buds. After you really start seeing the development of hairs (pistils) you will do more harm than good to your plant if you do any training or manicuring after that time. Stress that can lead to stunted growth and seeded crops can be a byproduct of these processes too late in the game.
Just as a point of clarification, auto-flowering strains need very little or no pruning, they are best left to their own devices so as not to stunt or stress them in any way.
If you are hoping to clone any of the plants to keep genetics or to have plants for the next harvest, this is a great opportunity to get the clippings. It’s an important process to experiment with to refine your growing skills and even the most skilled and experienced will often suffer regret for not doing quite as much of it as they should have.
It’s a common frustration that can resurface each time you introduce a new genetic, a new growing style, and even a new light to your repertoire. It’s an art form in and of itself and its mastery is absolutely necessary to hit the absolute maximum yields under your lights indoors.
For a step-by-step guide to cloning your cuttings visit growdepotsupply.com.
Happy growing everyone, I hope this gave you a good enough idea of what it should all look like when done correctly.
Olivia Sobelman has been a cannabis grower for 10 years and was part of a team that won the US Cannabis Cup Awards three times. Sobelman and her husband, Tyler, own and operate The Grow Depot Hydroponics Store in Mid-Missouri. Fast becoming “The Plant Doctors,” the Sobelmans’ mission to educate and destigmatize cannabis is at the root of their business. Grow depot offers access to free consultations for patients and growers, both in-person and by phone, to diagnose and mend many issues in the garden. Visit Grow Depot for grower tutorials, past articles, and to learn more about the services they offer and their contributions to the cannabis community.
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