Removing nodes in preflower - is it worth it?

[Death The Cultivator]

I usually prune the thinner branches before it fully goes into flower tbh. But I have been rethinking a lot lately, as we all do.. to better ourselves as growers. I did a bit of pruning on my strawberry nuggets in flower which is a second time for me really. She is quite larfy but I’m certain it’s down to too much nitrogen left in the coco. So I will be switching feeds to lower nitrogen and more pk from now on and hopefully I’ll still see some density. Most plants I grow are dense but this grow has been troublesome with Mephisto genetics. Yes great bag appeal, but some of these shorter strains I bought have been a right pain in the Ass. Any fastbuds I grow often have a nice stretch and not so tight internoding. Yes my fastbuds tester above has been showing vigorous growth for a while so I’m assuming that’s her stretch. It’s hard to keep track of vertical growth when you lst a lot. She was pretty tall to begin with and I let her get a little height before training her again. She would have been much taller by now f I didn’t. I taken off some weaker branches, and pinched a few weaker ones to see if it will fatten them up. If not, not too bothered tbh. I just like to come here and share my experience and knowledge with people, and gain knowledge and experience from others here. Excellent community full of some excellent growers


Here’s my baby now. I fed her sensi grow for a change. Any time I use that it can be easy to get too much nitrogen in there especially incorporating b-52 also. I prefer using sensi bloom from start to finish. However, I’m thinking of trying Remo Nutrients. Their flowering nutrients have like 1% nitrogen so it’s much easier to reduce nitrogen using that, and the price of a full starter kit costs the same price as advanced nutrients base feed and big bud additive.

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Here’s my strawberry nuggets with excess nitrogen I suspect. The late transplant stunted her for sure

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I don't see an N problem personally. If you believe there is build up then you need to do a flush with a surfactant like Cocowet and the correct pH/EC solution. Push through several gallons of water and make sure you are getting adequate runoff every time.

I've done things like only using them bloom formula from Botanicare but truth be told, companies really do spend a lot to formulate these products. I personally enjoy using MaxiGro and MaxiBloom for a few reasons. It's pretty simple, one is for seed-week 3 of flower while the other is strictly for flower plus the price point is pretty good.

It could have been the genetics or that particular seed that just didn't like something in your environment but I wouldn't assume it to be excess nitrogen. I've grown several strains repeatedly over the years but I have seen even in clones that a weak veg can cause issues in flower. It really pays off to follow the manufacturers instructions because it's one less variable to consider when done right.

You can totally do a bottom prune a week before going into flower to keep it clean down low and eliminate any subpar growth. The other pruning events happen at day 10/21 to minimize stress.

 

[MrAutoGrower]

I don't see an N problem personally. If you believe there is build up then you need to do a flush with a surfactant like Cocowet and the correct pH/EC solution. Push through several gallons of water and make sure you are getting adequate runoff every time.

I've done things like only using them bloom formula from Botanicare but truth be told, companies really do spend a lot to formulate these products. I personally enjoy using MaxiGro and MaxiBloom for a few reasons. It's pretty simple, one is for seed-week 3 of flower while the other is strictly for flower plus the price point is pretty good.

It could have been the genetics or that particular seed that just didn't like something in your environment but I wouldn't assume it to be excess nitrogen. I've grown several strains repeatedly over the years but I have seen even in clones that a weak veg can cause issues in flower. It really pays off to follow the manufacturers instructions because it's one less variable to consider when done right.

You can totally do a bottom prune a week before going into flower to keep it clean down low and eliminate any subpar growth. The other pruning events happen at day 10/21 to minimize stress.

The leaves have a velvet touch to them. Any time that happens and I see dark green, it tends to lead to clawing and more spotting. I don’t have spotting yet, but with coco I know I can reduce nitrogen and up the P K and within a few feeds most of the excess nitrogen is gone. But, I did have a plant (jammy Dodgers) that had no spotting but clawing and dark green and for some reason I couldn’t get her out of it. I had been using Sensizym which is a high quality enZyme cleaning solution which can be added to your feeds; however I ran out of it and jammy Dodgers wasn’t getting the best treatment. Bare in mind that my run off for strawberry nuggets was around 700 ppms and I had been feeding daily around 370 ppms so that tells me there was a bit of salts causing build up. The bud development slowed down too. So the florakleen should hopefully rid more salts and I can start with fresh nutrients.

Ive seen Bill ward using maxibloom and it does interest me; but when I tried to get it in the uk it proved difficult

 

[Bob's Auto's]

That was an interesting read. especially the different opinions about usage of N during flower.
My two cents worth... N is needed during flower as without it they won't be taking up much P or Calcium, but give to much N and you reduce yield because the plant wants to build more branches. Look at the N as the nuts a chipmunk collects during summertime. The more nuts he finds the more hiding spots he creates (and forgets, but I digress). So use as much N during growth as the plant is willing to accept and dial it back during flower in preference for bud building.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

The leaves have a velvet touch to them. Any time that happens and I see dark green, it tends to lead to clawing and more spotting. I don’t have spotting yet, but with coco I know I can reduce nitrogen and up the P K and within a few feeds most of the excess nitrogen is gone. But, I did have a plant (jammy Dodgers) that had no spotting but clawing and dark green and for some reason I couldn’t get her out of it. I had been using Sensizym which is a high quality enZyme cleaning solution which can be added to your feeds; however I ran out of it and jammy Dodgers wasn’t getting the best treatment. Bare in mind that my run off for strawberry nuggets was around 700 ppms and I had been feeding daily around 370 ppms so that tells me there was a bit of salts causing build up. The bud development slowed down too. So the florakleen should hopefully rid more salts and I can start with fresh nutrients.

Ive seen Bill ward using maxibloom and it does interest me; but when I tried to get it in the uk it proved difficult

That tells me that something wasn't being taken in by the plant. So, in the commercial facility I was at we used a surfactant to minimize salt build up and I use that personally as well so those issues don't happen. Yucca, Cocowet, Aquagro L all work very well. I've never had to use an enzyme cleaner in Coco personally or commercially(7 rooms doing 1000lbs, 2000 between veg and flower plants).

How did you measure your runoff? When I check I use RO water ran through the pot to get several cups then I test it. Is pH in line? How often and how much do you water? Pot size? N shouldn't be accumulating like that especially if you're following the manufacturers instructions. How is your water quality?

@Bob's Auto's We essentially ran Flora trio but the last three weeks we cut nitrogen to force the fade. Personally, I don't believe we grew them until they were fully ripened due to owner pressure for strict timelines but beyond week three there was a reduction in N and an increase in P/K.

 

[GreenBean]

I need to look at my Floraflex later, I’m printing right now. I think B1 is 14 N and B2 is 0? To be mixed together.

I did have the spotting issue with Nuggets. But as I think I’ve mentioned, I see that issue with the strain regularly. I thought it was a magnesium deficiency/lockout. I was able to stop it, not reverse it obviously, with a little epsom.

 

[MrAutoGrower]

That tells me that something wasn't being taken in by the plant. So, in the commercial facility I was at we used a surfactant to minimize salt build up and I use that personally as well so those issues don't happen. Yucca, Cocowet, Aquagro L all work very well. I've never had to use an enzyme cleaner in Coco personally or commercially(7 rooms doing 1000lbs, 2000 between veg and flower plants).

How did you measure your runoff? When I check I use RO water ran through the pot to get several cups then I test it. Is pH in line? How often and how much do you water? Pot size? N shouldn't be accumulating like that especially if you're following the manufacturers instructions. How is your water quality?

@Bob's Auto's We essentially ran Flora trio but the last three weeks we cut nitrogen to force the fade. Personally, I don't believe we grew them until they were fully ripened due to owner pressure for strict timelines but beyond week three there was a reduction in N and an increase in P/K.

To be quite honest with ya how I measure the ppms is in the run off. My water source comes from the tap, but my tap water is no more than 60 ppms. It is usually around 37 ppms. It’s not a complete accurate way to check run off, but it gives me insight to an extent. I only have around 5 grows under my belt, quite the noob in terms of experience. Each time I complete a grow I learn so much more. I spent a few years learning and watching people grow on YouTube constantly before I attempted my first grow. It’s all fun and games when you have the knowledge there in your mind, but that knowledge is useless without experience.

I’ve been watering this girl daily with around 2L (half gal). She doesn’t dry up by morning, so I usually feed again. Once every 24hr lately but I usually do twice when I get the time. This helps with salt build ups and refreshes oxygen. This time around I used 3gal pots, instead of 16L pots. I’ve noticed that when I use b-52 (bunch of b vitamins concentrated), that it can be easy to see symptoms of too much nitrogen (clawing, dark green with clawing or spotting or all three). These advanced nutrients are pretty potent so I suppose it can be quite easy to overfeed them. My environment lacks too though, it’s tough to keep humidity in check with my poor extractor fan. I’m awaiting a new one. Humidity is around 60 today though but I’d prefer it in the 45-50 range

 

[Bob's Auto's]

@Bob's Auto's We essentially ran Flora trio but the last three weeks we cut nitrogen to force the fade. Personally, I don't believe we grew them until they were fully ripened due to owner pressure for strict timelines but beyond week three there was a reduction in N and an increase in P/K.

Thanks for that view into how a professional grow works.
All of a sudden I feel lucky that I can choose to let the plants stay another two weeks to ripen fully.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

To be quite honest with ya how I measure the ppms is in the run off. My water source comes from the tap, but my tap water is no more than 60 ppms. It is usually around 37 ppms. It’s not a complete accurate way to check run off, but it gives me insight to an extent. I only have around 5 grows under my belt, quite the noob in terms of experience. Each time I complete a grow I learn so much more. I spent a few years learning and watching people grow on YouTube constantly before I attempted my first grow. It’s all fun and games when you have the knowledge there in your mind, but that knowledge is useless without experience.

I’ve been watering this girl daily with around 2L (half gal). She doesn’t dry up by morning, so I usually feed again. Once every 24hr lately but I usually do twice when I get the time. This helps with salt build ups and refreshes oxygen. This time around I used 3gal pots, instead of 16L pots. I’ve noticed that when I use b-52 (bunch of b vitamins concentrated), that it can be easy to see symptoms of too much nitrogen (clawing, dark green with clawing or spotting or all three). These advanced nutrients are pretty potent so I suppose it can be quite easy to overfeed them. My environment lacks too though, it’s tough to keep humidity in check with my poor extractor fan. I’m awaiting a new one. Humidity is around 60 today though but I’d prefer it in the 45-50 range

So what are your temps like? You'll have to use RO or distilled water to get an accurate picture of the EC and pH. What is your input pH and EC? Output ppms hardly matter imo, they can be helpful but when problems arise the best thing for Coco is to run a strong amount of volume through the container. If a 20l poor pot goes bad on me then I'm running 20l minium of adjusted water back through.

The way I water is everyday until about week 5 of flower then every other day until harvest.

What is your temperature like? 60% is easy to work with if your temps hit around 80f.

 

[MrAutoGrower]

So what are your temps like? You'll have to use RO or distilled water to get an accurate picture of the EC and pH. What is your input pH and EC? Output ppms hardly matter imo, they can be helpful but when problems arise the best thing for Coco is to run a strong amount of volume through the container. If a 20l poor pot goes bad on me then I'm running 20l minium of adjusted water back through.

The way I water is everyday until about week 5 of flower then every other day until harvest.

What is your temperature like? 60% is easy to work with if your temps hit around 80f.

My temps are around 24c. I added a small additional light in to beam inside an unfinished plant just to try mature those buds up a bit. When that light is on, it can go up to 26c. But usually my temp is 22-24c. Input ppms vary but no more than 420ppms lol. Usually around 400 tops. I rinsed her with florakleen last night and today she seems to have developed more leaves. She seemed to have somewhat stalled in flower so I’m hoping now that with her regular feeds and higher p k that she will put on more weight and jump start the development again.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

My temps are around 24c. I added a small additional light in to beam inside an unfinished plant just to try mature those buds up a bit. When that light is on, it can go up to 26c. But usually my temp is 22-24c. Input ppms vary but no more than 420ppms lol. Usually around 400 tops. I rinsed her with florakleen last night and today she seems to have developed more leaves. She seemed to have somewhat stalled in flower so I’m hoping now that with her regular feeds and higher p k that she will put on more weight and jump start the development again.

Environment sounds perfect. I'd keep pushing volume through until you see improvement