Pruning is a simple process of cutting off unwanted shoots, branches and leaves. It can boost cannabis growth and encourage larger, denser buds.
Several different methods can be used to prune plants, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Understanding which technique is right for your cannabis strain will help you achieve bigger yields.
Apical Pruning
Apical pruning is a technique that allows growers to control the growth and development of their plants. This technique is particularly useful for controlling the height of a plant and also for increasing the production of flowers.
The aim of apical pruning is to remove some superfluous parts from the plant and focus the resources and nutrients in order for them to be used better. Basically, the same way that cutting split ends and brittle parts in your hair will make it stronger, pruning is a very natural and simple method that helps the plant to focus its resources and nutrients on the parts that are most productive.
Moreover, pruning is essential for maintaining the proper size of your cannabis plants during veg and flowering. By keeping a cannabis plant at a certain height, you can control the amount of light and the quantity of nutrients that it receives.
If you do not prune your plants, they will continue to grow in a way that is more than likely to reduce your yields. This is because the lower areas of the plant do not receive the proper amount of light they need to produce buds. Similarly, the center stem of the plant can become too tall and obstruct the light source above it.
As a result, the lower branches of the plant will not get the energy they need to produce strong and fat buds. Consequently, they will produce smaller and less developed buds that are more than likely to be insignificant.
When it comes to growing marijuana, apical pruning is essential to optimise growth and the quality of your harvests. It is a simple procedure that is not only easy to perform, but will help you to obtain a much larger crop of flowers than you would have if you did not prune your plant.
However, it is important to know that some types of genetics will react more negatively to apical pruning than others. Sativas and hybrids are typically more tolerant to this pruning method, which will enable them to recover quickly from the process and begin growing upward again.
Lollipopping
Lollipopping is a pruning technique that aims to improve cannabis yields by physically removing parts of the plant that don’t receive enough light exposure to develop buds. This suboptimal growth usually occurs on the bottom of cannabis plants where they become shaded by the upper canopy. These areas produce smaller buds that fail to achieve the same size and density as those in the higher parts of the plant.
By removing these lower buds, lollipopping encourages the development of top-tier bud sites that will produce larger, more nutritious and high-quality harvests. It can also boost a plant’s production of trichomes, which are responsible for cannabis’s potency and flavor.
The right time to lollipop your cannabis plant depends on a number of factors, but the general rule is that it should be done around week 3 in flower. This is because most strains will begin to display multiple bud sites along shoots during this stage, and by cutting them off early, you’ll help your plant focus on developing the highest-quality buds.
This technique combines well with methods such as Screen of Green (SCROG), Main-lining and the Sea of Green (SOG) method, and is an excellent way to increase your yield potential while improving bud quality and appearance. SCROG, for example, is all about promoting an even canopy for optimal light coverage and homogenous growth that can improve your crop’s yield and the quality of its buds.
When used in conjunction with other techniques, lollipopping can dramatically boost your cannabis yields. It also helps to control pests and diseases by removing excess foliage that can block air flow within the canopy.
To perform this technique, you’ll need to use a pair of quality shears or weed trimming shears. First, start by removing any branches that are too short to make it up the plant’s canopy.
Next, remove any leaves that are attached to the branch that’s being removed. Do this for about the entire length of the branch, allowing about a third to remain bare.
Depending on your set up, this may involve a lot of follow-up trimming, but it’s an effective way to improve the health and performance of your cannabis. However, you should remember that this is a fairly stressful technique, so it’s important to choose the right moment and avoid doing it too aggressively.
Main-lining
Main-lining is a very simple, but extremely effective, pruning technique. It is an excellent way to increase yields on your cannabis garden without needing a lot of time and effort.
The basic concept of main-lining is to manipulate a seedling plant during the vegetative phase of growth into developing a manifold or Y-shaped stem. This enables the plant to distribute its energy equally between its roots and all of the colas it forms. This results in better, more uniform growth, and larger bud clusters.
This method can be used with seeds and clones, but it is usually best applied to seedlings because the seedlings tend to grow more evenly than clones. It is important to choose a seedling that is healthy and strong and capable of withstanding the manipulation that main-lining requires.
Once the seedling has 5-6 nodes, it is time to start applying the main-lining process. This can be done with sterilized scissor or plant shears and soft plant ties.
First, you will need to top the newest growth tips on all of the main branches. This is a crucial step that can make or break your main-lining success.
Topping these new growth tips will help the plant develop a center hub for energy distribution and a larger, more stable canopy structure. It will also create a more even amount of nutrients for the rest of the plant to absorb.
After topping, you should remove all fan leaves from the bottoms of the new growth tips. Some growers prefer to leave them as they can be helpful with generating energy, but this is up to you.
Next, you will need to top the main branches a few times to ensure that they have a solid base. This will allow for easier tying down and less overall canopy maintenance later on.
Main-lining is a very effective pruning technique that will produce large, juicy buds. It is a great addition to any grower’s toolbox and should not be overlooked. However, it is not the highest-yielding training technique, so it is a good idea to use it sparingly and only when you have plenty of plants that are ready for it.
Crushing
There are a number of different pruning techniques that can be used to improve cannabis yields. Pruning is important because it helps plants develop healthy and robust buds that can produce a large harvest of weed.
Ideally, pruning should be done during the vegetative stage of the plant’s growth cycle. This way, your plant will have ample time to rest and grow larger leaves that can lead to bigger buds.
Aside from removing dead or dying leaves, the goal of this technique is to promote a plant’s ability to absorb light for photosynthesis and promote airflow within the canopy. This can improve the quality of a marijuana harvest and result in better terpene profiles.
Crushing can be a simple but effective method to boost cannabis yields. The key is to pick the right time and use a good pair of pruners.
The first step is to identify the growing (apical) tip of the plant and snip it away. This will leave two side shoots that can replace it, giving your plant an increased cola count and the chance to produce more flowers.
You can also trim off fan leaves that are too large or dense. These can hinder airflow and sunlight penetration to other parts of the plant, limiting chlorophyll levels and inhibiting overall growth.
Another method is to pinch the bottom and interior leaves of the plant using a sharp pair of pruning scissors. This will promote a plant’s ability to absorb more sunlight and reduce the risk of pest infestation.
This is a technique that can be combined with the ScrOG method to further improve the plant’s potential for higher yields. It can be performed in weeks 3 and 4 of the plant’s bloom cycle, which is a great time for pruning when there’s not too much danger of damage to the buds.
Topping and fimming are other popular methods of pruning that have become common in the cannabis community. These are high stress training methods that have the potential to increase a plant’s total cola count, but can be dangerous when used too often or for too long.
