Green Stage Pruning for light and Flowering Cycle?

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Reesche

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Hi you guys I started (x7) different plants from seeds August 11, 2019.

Since then, they are growing just fine, however I have a few questions for you...
Please look at the bottom notes...5 thru 10. Also see attachments. My main question to you is: On #8 notes below... I trim off a ton of larger leafs s that the light penetrates low enough to hit the lower branches. I have done this (4 times now). Its like giving your dog a tight haircut and then seeing him get a ton of hair again in a very short time. Is this normal? From the top of the pots they are all 10" tall.... they are not that big. I want to know now, how much longer should I let them grow (while trimming them often) before I start the flowering sequence? Thank you for you time! Reesche

Types: Amherst Sour Diesel, Nirvana Short Ryder, AK-47, Pinapple Chunk, Acapulco Gold, LSD, THC Bomb, Vanilla Kush

5. Transplant small dirt container plantings into larger pots for growing (9-10 weeks) BLUE T5’s Only (19 hours on the lights) Well, I changed all the lights out to BLUE and added the small FAN…. what a difference! The small starts are now ready to transplant into the Larger containers….. Transplanted 7 from indoor starts and 1 from the back yard 8 Total (August 26th 2019).

6. Start “Growing Fertilizer” Use the other fertilizer down stairs from (Botanical Pure Blend Pro…Grow-3-2-4 / Bloom-2-3-5). Alternate waterings with fresh water to flush the plants of fertilizer… every other time. BLUE LIGHTS

7. LIGHTS: Seeding Phase: T-5’s - 54 watts-- X8 Bulbs……Vegetive Growth: 18 hours per day.

8. You need to trim off most of the Large Leaves (During the entire Growing phase) so that the light can penetrate to the lower leaves and to build up the new buds that will eventually become the flowers. Be sure to NOT take too much off for good growth.

9. Start “Flowering Fertilizer” Flush with conditioned water when ready to rape. Change out “Blue Light Bulbs” and replace with (ALL RED bulbs) Flowering Phase: 12 hours on and 12 hours off. RED lights only. Remember, TOTAL DARKNESS when off….no light leaks!
 

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Dam Dude !--
Wait !--
Welcome to MP !-
Quit doing that ! -- Who told U that was a good idea ?-- Leave them alone except for pinching the top out once in awhile to shape them !-- Let the poor things recover and get bigger and healthy then bloom them-- The removing of fan leaves is something U do in late bloom not in veg !
 
NO! That is not normal! I second everything that Keef said. The fan leaves are the "solar panels" where the huge bulk of the photosynthesis takes place. You need those leaves. This is most likely the reason that your plants are so stunted. I would be for letting them get a bit of size and more fan leaves before I'd change to flowering. You need ventilation--you need to exchange the air in your space. Plants need a continual supply of fresh air (CO2) for proper photosynthesis. You are going to need substantially more light to flower 8 plants.

#6--You do not want to be flushing your plants every other watering. Plants should only be flushed if you have a problem.

#8--No, no, no no no, no, no, no, no no no...do not do any of that stuff.

#9--I do not flush between veg and flower and see no reason to do it. Do not rape your plants--they will not like it.
 
Thanks you guys..... so I do not flush in Green mode? Doesn't the fertilizer build up in the containers? And what happens when the plants get so dense with larger fan leaves and the insides of the plant go yellow? They are so small for the time I've put into them..... probably because of what I have done with the trimming and flushing.
 
And YES...... I do have ventilation with a fan. Should you blow the fan on them or just blow the fan to circulate the air with out blowing on them?

Thanks again you two!

Reesceh
 
They'll be fine just let them recover !-- Only time I take leaves off is if they turn yellow -- Then I strip fan leaves close the end of bloom -that is more for me than the plant - I use trim to make medicine and stripping the fan leaves makes for higher potency cannacaps in the trim !- The plant knows what to do if you'll let it !-- Do some reading Cuz and ask questions --
I'm a water pharmer so I don't know about this flushing thing -- Listen to THG she knows about this stuff !-- You'll do fine !
 
Again.... thank you Keef and HG...... I'll let them go now!

Reesche
 
IMO and everyone has one. You have over trimmed A LOT! I do what's referred to as lollipopping in the begining of flowering, look it up. I trim the bottom 1/4 to 1/3 of the plant. Basically what does not receive adequate light durring flower to not get as many small/popcorn buds and allow the plant to focus on the larger buds. I also remove a VERY small amount of upper fan leaves but exteremely selective as the fan leaves are the sole growth panels for your buds and plants. Some will turn yellow towards the end but that's the plants energy storage pumping those store nutrients into the buds that you want.

Let your plants recover, all is not lost =)
 
Scottsag420.... Well put! I guess I have to not be so intensive to the VEG stage. A little trimming at the flowering stage right?

Thank you!

Reesche
 
If your plants "are going yellow on the inside", it is something else, not the fact that you have a lot of foliage. I f you check out other people's grows, I think that you will find that they do not take off the fan leaves and their plants are not yellow inside. While there are training techniques that more experienced growers use, like the lollipopping Scottag420 mentioned, it is not something you need to think about now. Just let your girls get some size and foliage to them.

While they may need to be flushed at some point, it is not something that is done on a weekly basis. You should generally only flush (your plants) if you have a problem--salt buildups or an overdose of nutes. Ideally, the plants should be using virtually all the nutrients you are feeding them. What is "green mode"?

I think you misunderstand ventilation. You need to actually exchange the air in the space. For this you need a centrifuge type exhaust fan--out with the old (CO2 depleted) air and in with the new. You also need an oscillating fan in the space to move air around and help strengthen the stems.

I will say this again as you did not address it. You really really need more/better light for flowering. While T5s are actually my first choice for vegging, they don't do so well flowering. And 8 plants are quite a few plants. Some of the people here have good luck with the King LEDs, which are not too expensive.

Yes, they are extremely small for the time you have put into them....but they can recover. Feed them according to the instructions of the nutrients you are using. And NO trimming (at least for right now). If you want to trim before flowering, you do it a couple of weeks before flowering, not at flowering, so they have time to recover. However, you need to not trim anything for the time being. Do your plants have alternating nodes?
 
Granny....Thank you very much for your detailed descriptions for my issues!

Yellow on the inside...... perhaps the flushing is causing the yellowing. A couple days ago when I trimmed, I noticed the light/limy green of the leafs.... I will now fertilize on every watering. How do you know if the plants have too much acid in them from fertilizing every watering and need to be flushed with water?

Ventilation.... I am growing in a small room in my basement and I have a fan in the room pointing at one of the walls that like billiards game deflects on to the plants gently. I also open up the room to water them. I have cats so I need to keep them out of there! The plants have a constant temperature and air.

••• Lighting.... The 8 bank T5's were new to me the last time I grew.... 3 years ago. I am going to attach a couple photos of my last crops using the T5's....... What do you think? You can see the size of a couple of those plants in the shot where I am hanging them upside down to cure. From the T5's.

Alternating nodes..... Not sure what you are talking about......where you pinch the tops? If so, no I haven't done that yet....should I start to do that?

Thank you Granny!!!
Reesche
 

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The third pic, chopped and hanging...I’d be trimming those right now...imo, it’s going to be a pain in the a$$ if you wait till they are dry...
 
I used to grow start to finish with T5’s(one 2 footer and one 4 footer). I got pretty good results so it can be done but 8 plants is asking a lot of that little light. THG mentioned King LED’s. I have a 1200 that I like a lot. Pretty inexpensive but has good results.

Alternating nodes is indicative of a ‘sexually mature’ plant. The nodes are new branches. If they are not directly opposite of one another on a branch, that is alternating nodes.

Fresh air is very important. Duct tape the cats to the wall then you can leave the door open... ;)
 
Hi Old fogey 8... So say I have X8 T-5's and they are 4 footers.... 54 watts per bulb All GREEN and then RED.... All bulbs per fixture. I have had problems in this article but these lights are great without using a bazillion watts and dollars...usually 24" plant yeld.... all the room I can give these girls. Afordible and easy to get on line. Duct tape to deture the CATS...Precious! Thanks for your input dude! Reesche
 
Green T5’s? Did you mean blue? That is still 432 watts. My 2 LEDs combined use around 400 watts. LED’s are supposed to last 50000 hrs. Depending on your lighting scheme that is 5-10 years. T5’s won’t last nearly that long. The fixture and bulbs probably cost more that the LED lights I am using. The King Plus was around $140. The other was $80. I still use my 4 bulb 4 footer to veg under. I have three 10000 kelvin bulbs and one 10000 kelvin with UVA. The plants love the T5’s. My buds are just a lot more dense deeper into the canopy with the LED’s.
 

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