Took down the SHP 1 , DHP2 and DHP3 this morning. I have to go to an appointment in a bit so I was able to come home early and exercise the dogs & process pictures as I’m waiting.
Also a picture of SHP 2
And a Trip Sun lower because it always catches my eye.
Fun
On the suckers topic, this was one of the first posts I read here… I have heard that fruits can not bloom if you mess with them too much, but also I’m fairly confident I actually caused my kiwi to not flower this year by not cutting it back enough. Science remains a giant mystery to me.
It’s one of those topics where people get really passionate and it continues to devolve as people discuss it, it would seem. In the link you posted is a prime example
If I was a betting man I’d say they have also never grown fruit trees or had a vineyard over a period of time.
I’ve noticed for certain genetics under artificial lighting that buds that do not receive adequate light often lack chlorophyll, are extremely airy, leafy and just overall undesirable. Removing the problematic bud sites hasn’t really been adverse enough in my experience to make me rethink this approach. I actually haven’t noticed any negatives in doing so.
It should probably be noted that cannabis would fall more under floriculture and is a complex flower with leaves. In a controlled ag environment using artificial lighting the light penetration isn’t always as good as with natural sun light as well. There are so many variables at play that I feel it’s a bit naive and speaks to inexperience when people try to paint with such a broad brush. My take is adapt your growing style to the conditions you are going to grow in. You can’t always apply outdoor growing techniques to a controlled ag setup and vice versa.
I’ve known non cannabis people who grow tomatoes with some ultra controversial pruning methods that would defy all theory and conventions, but at the end of the day they get abundant harvests producing high quality tomatoes that taste good. I grow tomatoes a completely different way and get good results as well. It’s a highly vigorous vining crop after all… Cannabis is similarly very tough and adaptable.
It seems like there just can’t be a way that defoliation or pruning the lowers hurts cannabinoid or “terpenoid/flavanoid” production just based on seeing a big grow doing all that then consuming the production which is just insanely high in both. I don’t hold that as definitive proof but it makes me confident that it’s safe in that aspect, from my own experiences.
The thing I worry about, probably because I was never good at training plants, is herms. Again not definitive but there is one grow that gives out a few seeds every ounce, killer stuff same clone source as everyone else, but it’s heavy heavy defoliation. And I’m not complaining, I collect the bagseed for that moment when you want to buy a lottery ticket lol.
Yeah I think you can view that issue from both sides. From my perspective if a plant freaks out from being pruned it’s just too sensitive for my garden and I continue sorting through genetics. Others say if you remove the lowers and larf then you’re less likely to have herm issues. I’d also feel like I don’t want something so sensitive that I’m forced to prune to avoid intersex issues.
I remember listening to a podcast where I think Paul Wheaton was describing how even on Sepp Holzer’s Krameterhof the workers all walk around with pruning sheers in their back pocket, even though a big part of the draw and philosophy is not pruning anything.
I definitely agree, for my purposes messing around with difficult plants before knowing their potential is not realistic.
The “production vs experimentation” debate oddly seems like more of a point of contention for the home grower. These big commercial outfits are experimenting a lot from what I’ve seen, maybe a symptom of lower prices. But yea in the process more bagseed seems to show up, and particularly with the OGs (you can’t find a good run of the Deadhead cut anywhere in Portland ever) just immature toxic seeming smoke.
Home growers experimenting is probably how we got so many advancements, and I want to participate, but I just need that sensi right now lol.
Once we get past personality we’re all just people (at different levels of skill) who get value from the plant. Next year that will be breeding/experimenting for me but right now it’s pure production mode no finicky girls welcome.
I actually said the exact same thing that OldUncleBen said (and I’m gonna assume that Jorge Cervantes also said in the video Ben posted, but I’m not gonna watch it to find out haha) in the post you quoted on some thread a while back, about leaves powering plants/flowers. I don’t do enough (or any, really) defoliation to know whether or not fewer leaves means fatter tops or whatever; I just let the plants grow. I always plan on doing some defoliation, but I don’t wanna do it any less than two weeks before I flip and it seems like “flip day” always sneaks up on me. By the time I realize I haven’t defoliated, it’s too late haha.
I do know that our bougainvillea was looking a little rough for the last six months or so and after I told the yard guys to chop it back some, it totally exploded, looks unbelievable now, just a wall of purple everywhere. Same thing with the big ol’ rose bush we have in our backyard. On the rare occasions when the yard guys actually do their job and prune it, it explodes with new flowers, doesn’t matter what time of year it is.
I realize that roses and bougainvillea aren’t cannabis, I’m just sayin’…
Didn’t you say that you thought one of the reasons for the herms on some of the 88G hybrids you were growing could’ve been the result of heavy defoliating in flower, @syzygy?
Anyway, I watered today and looked for some of those suckers, but I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for haha.
does all that noise really matter when it kicks in? lol im too high i just dont care anymore.
I forget exactly when but I think around week 1 of flip I hacked the plants back to almost nothing because they were already rootbound at that point. I remember commenting on it when I did it in my other thread that they may freak out on me as a result. It’s hard to say what the cause was without running them as cuts multiple times to eliminate variables. There were also some light interruptions.
I usually don’t defoliate unless a leaf is unhealthy, restricting airflow, or blocking a bud site of a nearby plant (spacial issue). Also in a scrog setup I think it’s completely reasonable to defoliate under the screen and remove small branches or suckers that would never make it up to the screen. Lots of considerations though as always, we don’t all have the same growing environment and a closet or tent has different environmental considerations than a full room or greenhouse.
I’m with shade though I don’t really care about any of this, grow however you want haha…
Was going through old folders (around 2018-2019~) and found an image of how I was going through pollen chucks for a while. These are 5.5" .24 GAL pots.
Lots of forced defoliation by the end, but you get a good peak into what the buds are like.
Goji F2
Space Monkey selfed seed
GF F2 x Goji OG
GF F2 x Goji OG
So 1 GALs are a step up for me…
Rethinking what I may do with the clones, still not sure. Probably want to do a few of them in at least 3 gal pots.
heh, speaking of defoliating and herms, I did trim all the lowers on that Bubba like two weeks into flower. Week before balls 
Ya I usually try to limit pruning to a week or two before flipping unless I’m really familiar with the genetics. I know my SSDD and Space Monkey for example could handle it and I’ve done it many times before with both of them.
That said, I’m completely open to changing grow styles on any of these cuttings based on advice from people who have run them.
I’m even considering not running all 6 initially and just doing 4 larger pots - tk / bubba / pinesoul / lav jack
Irene is substantially slower and I won’t be able to take cuttings for a while. Assuming the cuttings root I know it will take a while for them to get established so timing may be a problem.
I’m not that hyped on the C91 - I do want to try it but If I need to limit plant count to 4 in order to increase pot size (3x3 tent - probably closer to 35"x35") then that is the one I would eliminate. I was even looking at those Octopot sips to reduce moisture related stress…
I’m open to any and all thoughts as always.
The TK you just need to really stay up on crushing/pinching her internode spacing every couple days. Even in veg. The more you do it the more she’ll bush out. I’ve flipped her with 5 nodes on 3 branches and still netted 2-3 ounces, but the bushier the better. Shes just hard to get that way unless you stay on top of her. Otherwise she’ll get tall and lanky real fast. Even the internode spaces at the bottom of the plant will stretch out if untouched.
The chem91 is supposed to be just as strong as the TK is, but much more of a narcotic high than up and sociable. I’ll find out for sure in a couple three weeks.
Good info, thanks! I don’t care too much about yield as much as having a moderately healthy plant at the finish without too many intersex issues. I think I was told Pinesoul is hard to keep happy and it’s definitely giving me the impression it would be happier outside in a 400g+ smartpot.
Here are some shots of the clones today
First Lav Jack
New Lav Jack
Pinesoul
Triangle Kush
Bubba Kush (new and old both look good , so this is the first one)
Chem 91 sva
Irene
Yeah, for the TK at least, the crushing and such is less about yield and much more about having a manageable plant to grow 
Otherwise you can easily get a 4ft+ tall plant with only a few branches that all have 6-8inch internode spacing between flowers, if she’s really happy and you’re not touching her. The 91 grows really similar so I’ve been doing the same to her.
Girls are looking good! 
I’m by no means the most skilled when it comes to taking cuttings but figured I’d quickly detail my process seeing as it’s time to do it and if I somehow manage to mess it up I can at least show higgins that I made a good attempt and don’t take the generosity for granted. I usually have a pretty high success rate whether I’m taking cuttings in an aerocloner, rockwool, rapid rooters, straight water, or whatever other method.
I always clean the area I’m going to be working in and setup everything before I begin in order to minimize the chances of mistakes.
I also find a container to put plant waste in. I take the cutting off of the plant and then further trim the cuttings over the trash bin. Having plant matter all over the workplace can in some cases lead to labeling errors. Once trimmed I set the cuttings from the variety in a jar of water to wait for the next step. One strain at a time, bleaching the shears between rounds and labeling the row before bringing out the next plant.
I also use a centrifugal vial for rooting hormone. I probably should, but don’t replace the gel after every use. I do discard the remaining powder after every use. Both are IBA rooting agents so it doesn’t really matter. Today I used the powder.
Take out of water , dip , label, on to next plant until the tray is filled…
Lightly spray with water & inside of dome - place under weak 20w strip light and forget for 7-14 days. I also usually take a picture of the tray just in case a label falls off for whatever reason.
Mothers post cutting - I left more than I usually do just as another layer of precaution.
If anyone has any habits they’ve developed that they think may be useful I’d be interested in hearing about them. Doubt this simplistic post helped anyone, I think we’ve all kind of found our groove with rooting by now but this gives me a good post to reference to others if I’m ever asked I guess.
Good call @minitiger & @SmackyMcSmackers - didn’t take long for people in the b thread to start casually mention that they are selling their pollen chucks.
Some shots from this morning - Dhp calyxs are really starting to degrade, thinking about pulling it
Day 60-65 I think on all the og x 88 stuff. Trip Sun is a few weeks behind I believe.
Im thinking the same timing on electric cowboy - day 50 here and theyre looking very close. 60-65 for sure should be good.
Yeah, it definitely has the smell and look as if it’s done in person. Maybe a bit past given how the calxes are deteriorating. REJ trichomes seem a bit more clear so I’m going to wait a bit on that.
Everything looks so nice 
The trich heads on your DHP are looking like they are plus size 
