Need light directly on buds?

[gchristo]

Great site, great posters, and great advice

In order to max yield, do buds need direct light? I ask because my plants are extremely bushy- 14"-16" tall, and 14" - 20" in diameter. They are healthy lush dense plants that seem almost impregnatable to the 400 HPS flowering them. Stems 3/4" diameter, 10 leaf sets, and almost no stretch. Will/should I tie the fan leaves back to increase potential, and /or yield?

2 grow areas. Veg room: 28" w x 29" d x 48 " tall. 2 @ 4 bulb 24" T5's.
Flower room: 40" w x 29" d x 68" tall. 400 HPS PL w/ air cooled reflector ( 246 cfm exhaust fan). Passive intake via vents in base of cabinet. Drip irrigation w/ 12 gal res w/ airstones for each cabinet. Continuous circulating fans each room. Temp 65-80F. Humidity 50 - 85% (reducing w/ additional exhaust in veg box). Flower room 50 - 70 RH. Ph 5.2- 5.8.
Rockwoolcubes on rockwool slabs. Increasing nute strength after being cautious during first 3 weeks. Read too many "FRIED MY PLANT" posts!!!!
BLZ bud and Power skunk strains.
1/1/09 germed
1/5/09 sprouted
1/27/09 alternate nodes
2/1/09 transferred to flower room.
2/4/09 White pistils and flowers

Numerous bud sites on top 6" of main stem, and buds on every branch node.

PS. I lurked here for 2 months reading every post back to 1/1/08! Outstanding site!

Thanks in advance.

 

[ShecallshimThor]

yes most ppl here believe its way better to tie leaves out of the way

 

[gchristo]

So I should tie the fan leaves to stem so they get max amount of direct light and not be shaded?

Not to be obtuse, but why haven't I seen others' tied back? I don't want to trim, but I am wary that I might break or damage either the buds themselves, or the fan leaves or stems.

 

[pcduck]

I pinch during veg, but do nothing during flower. Besides take clones once in awhile.

 

[UKgirl420]

ive tucked one or two fan leaves behind each other ,,,but never tied em back ,,,

 

[Sir_Tokie]

The fan leaves are like little solar panels they absorb all the light that makes the plant and buds grow i personaly never remove or tie them back because to me that would be like taking the power source away from the plant JMO...take care..

 

[Growdude]

Leaves need light not buds.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Leaves give energy to the plant, the plant grows buds, removing leaves or tying them back to let the buds get light is in fact taking energy away from the plant, less energy = smaller buds.

Plants grow big buds and small buds, its how it has done this for thousands of years.

Giving the lower buds more light will not give you a plant covered in big cola's.

Let all the leaves get as much light as possible, this will be make your buds bigger.

Your plant will often mature from the top down, simply harvest in sections.

eace:

 

[gchristo]

Growdude, HIE --- your answers were spot-on as to the question I was trying to ask. Thanks. As I said, great advice

 

[BBFan]

Gchristo- good advice from growdude and HIE- Sounds like you did your homework- most people don't post complaining about bushy plants!
How many plants do you have in your flower box? Your humidity seems a bit high too- anything you can do to bring it down a bit? Also- what are your walls lined/painted with?
Sounds like your doing great though- good luck to you.

 

[gchristo]

Flower box has 4 plants. 2 BLZ Bud Fems, and 2 Power Skunks. Veg box has 1 Lowryder AF 5 weeks old. Germed same time as BLZ and Skunk. Got rid of a male lowryder. Will keep the AF in the veg box for full term. Germing 4 AK47 AF, and 4 more lowryders. I'm assuming a 50% m/f ratio on the new germs, so I'm keeping the #'s down to a manageable level???!!!. Walls are mylar. Yes the humidity is a bit of a problem. Grow boxes are in garage (not heated, but well insulated ) and temps in there are anywhere from 45 F to 65F depending on outside temps. We had 18F last night outside and 3" snow. Unusually cold this winter here. Global warming- right!!! Had to purchase small elec space heaters for boxes to keep temps above 60, but that reduced my ability to keep exhausts running full time. The exhausts are on temp controls set to 78. In a few weeks the outside temps should rise to 50's, 60's so heaters go away, and I will run exhausts on timers (15 min every hr).

This is my first grow, and I realized that I should have stayed with one strain, or 2 max, but inexperience and RichyB's (sp??) AF grows made!!! me throw a few AF's into the mix. Now I realize that combining AF w/ non-AF confuses the situation, but I might as well get dirty right away. I figure my single lowryder will mature in 3-4 weeks max, and then the germed seedlings will mature in another 50 days or so, which will coincide with the maturation of my BLZ Bud and skunk.

After those I will try some Alaskan Ice and Blueberry.

Thanks for the encouragement BB.

Cheers

 

[maineharvest]

ive never heard of anybody tying their leaves back. You want the leaves to get the light, not the buds.

Show us some pics

 

[BBFan]

gchristo- Based on everything you've said- I'm sure you're going to end up with a much better than 50/50 M/F ratio. My worst germ rate was only 25% male- 1 out of 4- and I'm betting you'll get at least that.
Good luck with your grow- stay safe!

 

[gchristo]

Thanks BBFan :aok: , I hope so, but then again space is at a premium. 6 plants is probably my capacity the way I'm set up, but we will see.

Maine Harvest, I'm not ready to send any pics yet. A little paranoid about visible evidence, so until my comfort level rises a bit, I'm content to read, drool over others' grows, and work my newbie grow in stealth mode.

Re the leaves, in the last few days, either the buds and shoots have grown, the leaves have slowed their spurt, or the input here has relieved my concerns, because the buds seem much more visible now, and it looks like I was just experiencing some rookie jitters!!