Pruning Marijuana Plants
One of the easiest ways to improve the quality of your yield is by pruning plants so they produce fewer, but much bigger buds. The genetics of your plants and your goals for harvest should determine the type and style of the trim. Recently I observed a garden in which different trimming techniques were used, depending on when the plants were ready for harvest.
Here are both branched and manicured plants.
The gardeners determined that the plants did best when the garden held about four branches, or leads, per square foot. Regardless of how big the plants grew, the size of the containers, or the growing method used, this figure did not change. In previous gardens, the growers had used a variety of materials, including a mixture of vermiculite, perlite and potting mix; coated and uncoated horticultural clay pellets; and rich potting mix.
These plants in 12" containers were pruned back to six branches; each 10 days before forcing and then 15 days after. Each branch was twist-tied to a bamboo stake.
The new garden was filled with 10 inch black containers in two trays. One tray held 44 containers in 11 rows lined 4 deep, side to side. It was lit by four 600 watt horizontal HPS lamps. The 4 x 10 foot area was lined with white polyethylene plastic on three sides and Styrofoam boards, which were easily moved around, on the fourth. The other tray held 52 containers in 13 rows four deep. It was lit by five 600 watt HPS lamps, and was also surrounded by polyethylene and Styrofoam reflectors.
The planting mix was completely organic, consisting of 10 percent each peat moss and worm castings and 40 percent each vermiculite and perlite. Rock phosphate was added at roughly 1/2 tablespoon per container.
The plants were placed in the containers as rooted clones about 6” high, with two or three sets of leaves. The original intent was to grow White Widow clones in their vegetative state under the four-light tray for about 10 days—until the Soma Jack clones were ready for the five-light system. That way, the Widows would be 18” to 24” tall when they were placed into flowering, approximately 10 days after the Jacks were planted.
That plan fell through for two reasons. First, the Jack clones were not ready on time. Secondly, there was a great demand for the clones and the gardeners decided to keep the plants in vegetative growth for an extra 20 days while taking cuttings from the undergrowth. By the time the plants were forced to flower, the Widows had been in vegetative growth for a total of 40 days and the Jacks for 20.
The plants were originally supported using bamboo stakes, but they grew too tall and heavy for them. The Widows were 3’ tall when they were finally placed in flowering. At ripening, they had grown 3 1/2 foot long stems that supported only the top canopy and were between 5’ and 6’ tall. The bamboo was eventually replaced by 6 foot wood strips and plastic-coated metal stakes, both of which worked well. The stakes were pushed to the bottoms of the containers to maximize support. Then the plants were tied to them using 8 inch paper-coated twist ties commonly used in nurseries.
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