Indoor GreenBean's Grows
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For what's is worth, I had very little larf off my bannan purple. Even the lower satellite buds filled in.
Yeah, that is why I'm sorta waiting for her to get the tent to herself so I can see what is what. Right now she is a little cramped in there. So while I'm tempted to just strip a lot of stuff now, I'm waiting to see if there's some "light potential" (just made that term up) for some of the other stuff. Obvious stuff, way at the bottom that will never see the light of day, has mostly been removed, for the most part. But if you see some straggler, semi floppy leaves or odd areas, I'm waiting until I can open the canopy up more so I can make the call on the final plant structure.
Thanks for the reps @hope2grow !!
My next run will be Blackstrap and Mango Smile. I'd like to run the same 2 - back to back one run no topping and the other topped. My only issue there is that after this run and the BS and MS run, I'm probably gonna be super flush with stock. So I was thinking about taking some time off after next run. But...who knows? I've been topping all of my plants for so long now. Seeing Banana do it's thing makes me wonder if it's just a waste of time, first in a couple years I haven't topped. Only reason I didn't top is because, like I've mentioned, I notice when I top in the summer the plants stay a lot more compact.
I guess maybe a better test, "better....cuz who knows", is to do a grow next summer. Same strain one topped the other not. I dunno.
olbobcat
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Yeah, I have gone back in forth a lot. Testing is almost impossible because working with seeds there is variance. I ave one Mazar at about 40 inch and one at 18 inches. I do one bend over now and spread things out as they grow. sometimes the tops are even, sometimes the main is five or six inches taller. I am definitely not growing Christmas trees. If I go back it will be FIM because I think the plants don't slow down. Sometimes you top and the plants love it and sometimes not. I do defoliate the crap out of plants, especially att about 55 days.
Speaking of defoliation, I've had that question on my mind. I've been told that removing leaves and branches that don't get any light:
1. reduces humidity from transpiration
2. increases air flow to prevent mildew
3. saves work trimming larfy lower buds later on
4. puts more energy into building big cola(s)
I'm especially curious about #4: does trimming lowers really build bigger tops? I've been getting bolder about trimming lowers, but I don't have any science to back it up.
1. reduces humidity from transpiration
2. increases air flow to prevent mildew
3. saves work trimming larfy lower buds later on
4. puts more energy into building big cola(s)
I'm especially curious about #4: does trimming lowers really build bigger tops? I've been getting bolder about trimming lowers, but I don't have any science to back it up.
Looooonnnng reply..
I think that if you ask some people they will tell you that "in nature" plants don't get defoliated. I mean, they do. But not the way that we might do it, or as thoroughly (OCD?). But I always question the nature statement, because in "nature" they aren't under "perfect" lights, in tents in the best environment possible (in our situations), fed the "best" food. Not to mention hydro. So...why draw the line at defoliation?
On the other hand, when it comes to something like a tomato, my Grandad who taught me a lot about gardening always said, grow tomatoes, not leaves. Prune those suckers off and watch the N.
And my own little analogy would be: If you were to install solar panels in your house, would you install panels in your basement where they get no light? Same applies (IMHO) to plant.
When I see HUGE fan leaves, with REALLY long stems, that tells me that the plant is pushing that leaf out to gather light and that is a waste of energy for the plant. Especially on a leaf way at the bottom of a plant that will lead to basically zero production. I would prefer the plant to push that energy to it's tops.
Anyway, I'm having a little fun because I'm fried. But you get a lot of different answers. Certainly good for air flow. And beneficial for humidity to an extent.
What I do notice is that when I cull the smaller buds and foliage from the bottom of the plant, and the interior of the plant, in a heavy veg, I get bigger tops/ fruits. I think that a given plant will direct it's energy to put out as many fruits as it can to survive (cause it thinks it's gonna breed with a male and produce seeds). But it's a limited resource in what it can actually put out. You can have 1000 tops that are smaller. Or, by removing the little stuff, it puts the resources that would be directed into those tiny buds into the bigger ones. When you remove things, it tells the plant to take that energy and put it into the productive areas to ensure it will reproduce = bigger buds = more chances to catch pollen. That's one of the reasons that I try not to train for so many tops. You will likely get the same yield with more tops/buds/fruits, just spread over a wider area. If that makes sense.
Also, when the plant has stopped stretching, unless you have an endless space to really open everything up, stuff at the bottom isn't getting much light. That's why it gets all stretchy and airy down there.
IMHO, YMMV, Hot debated topic sometimes, and all of that jazzz.
olbobcat
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I would not say bigger, but I always had the problem 2/3 of the cola was above the canopy and 1/3 did not get light and was larfy, cleaning out has caused me to have more solid overall colas. I read the study of photos and Defoliation did not affect yield, either way, double topping, and bottom lighting made the most positive difference. I trim out all the lowers and a lot of the uppers to let light down in, but some plants don't need it if they are not full of leaves. I really notice this on a Tangie grow. One plant grew shorter and full of leaves and I pulled it apart and tried to get light down. The other was Tall and sparse and had huge colas and hardly any leaves, the lower colas were big and filled out, I knew that I need to defoliate more than less at that point. I have gone back and forth on this for years and have decided that it is best for how I grow.
If you look up “fruit thinning”, there are a number of university studies that show that thinning fruits increases fruit size in a lot of species. But we may be talking about different things.
Removing leaves helps to improve air circulation, and IMHO directs energy elsewhere. Not necessarily fruit size. Though I think it does somewhat.
Removing the fruits (buds) in my experience helps to increase bud size. Fruit thinning.
And then someone else will chime in and say they do nothing, or they strip everything and get massive fruits.
I’ve double and triple topped some of my pepper plants this year and see no noticeable increase in yield.
But what @olbobcat says is true. A lot of it has to do with what works for the person doing the growing. Try it all out and see what happens is what I say. Just when I think I’ve got it all figured out, I suddenly don’t. So I try something new. A lot of it is about plant observation. What works for one plant may not work for another.
Removing leaves helps to improve air circulation, and IMHO directs energy elsewhere. Not necessarily fruit size. Though I think it does somewhat.
Removing the fruits (buds) in my experience helps to increase bud size. Fruit thinning.
And then someone else will chime in and say they do nothing, or they strip everything and get massive fruits.
I’ve double and triple topped some of my pepper plants this year and see no noticeable increase in yield.
But what @olbobcat says is true. A lot of it has to do with what works for the person doing the growing. Try it all out and see what happens is what I say. Just when I think I’ve got it all figured out, I suddenly don’t. So I try something new. A lot of it is about plant observation. What works for one plant may not work for another.
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