Different Pruning Techniques

         When your plant gets about five to seven nodes tall you can prune it in order to change the hormones in the plant where it will change its growth pattern from straight up to more of the side branches going outward. Most growers do some sort of pruning as this usually increases the yield of the plant and the plant bushes out more. When growing indoors, you want to utilize the most room in your space horizontally and pruning is an excellent way to do that. I will cover some of those methods here today.

TOPPING METHOD

        Above is an example of a topped clone. Basically, you pinch off the top of the main stem and the two nodes start to replace the one main node. This usually stunts the plant some but if the plant is healthy enough it will recover pretty fast. It's better to make sure that your plant is healthy and growing at a good rate before topping. The plant diverts its hormones now to lower nodes and you will begin to see lower growth the plant will still get taller, and you will see more of a bushy plant. This is good when you're trying to fill in the extra horizontal space in your grow area

Low-Stress Training

                                    AN EXAMPLE OF LOW-STRESS TRAINING

        With low-stress training instead of cutting or pinching the main stem your bringing the top of the main stem below the rest of the nodes by bending it downward. By doing this you change the plant's hormones to divert to make the other nodes start to grow out. In the photo above you can see that some duct tape was used to pull the main stem tip downward and hold it there.  The tape is on a fan leaf but it is enough to cause the lower nodes to stretch and grow towards the light. Some prefer this method because it saves time and doesn't stress the plant as much. I personally do more topping than low-stress training. I don't mind the slowdown in growth that happens for a few days to a week. It allows time for other plants in my grow to catch up in growth or the delay helps for other purposes such as a room in the flowering room.

SUPER CROPPING TECHNIQUE

                              AN EXAMPLE OF A SUPER-CROPPED PLANT

    Supercropping is useful to increase yields but is a little more risky and it causes more stress on your plant. Above you take a branch and gently snap the branch far enough to bend it 90 degrees so it looks like a right angle. When the plant heals, it will be harder right at the bend site and will make the branch stronger and able to hold more weight. Also, the bend will allow lower nodes to get more light. This is one of my favorite techniques to use. Some strains do not respond well to super cropping and the only way to know is to try it. It takes a level of faith to break a branch and believe it will heal. Sometimes a branch won't recover and heal up well. If this happens then I wouldn't recommend proceeding with other branches. On occasion, I will accidentally bend a branch too far and will lose a branch but I find 95 percent of the time I'm successful. So if you're not comfortable trying this then it's fully understandable.

     These were just a few of the pruning techniques but I would say the main ones I have heard of. I often use a mix of topping and super cropping. You will learn with experience and practice. Happy Pruning!

Soil/Dirt/Hydro. Which one?

 

    I grow organic and some in Coconut fiber, not hydro. Hydro will give you excellent yields. It also grows faster. I like the flavor of organically grown cannabis. I have grown in hydro a few times because I wanted fast growth and big yields, but the taste was not good. There was a harshness in the smoke. Soil is the most forgiving of the three methods. Hydro is the least forgiving, in the sense that if you don't have the right level of nutrients, the deficiencies in the plant will appear faster.

      With soil, you can have all your nutrients in the dirt or container and only add water throughout the process. I like to transplant from a 1-gallon pot to a three or five-gallon pot and put some dry amendments at the bottom of the container. It will enable extra nutrients that the roots can utilize the food from the bottom as it pleases once they reach the bottom. You can also top dress or put dry nutrients at the top of the soil. You can buy dry amendments online or at a local hydroponics shop. They have nutrients specific for the vegetative state and flowering stage. I like to use dry amendments from the Down To Earth brand because they have everything I need. There are a lot of other great dry nutrients.  

    Using the all-organic dry nutes allows the bacteria in the organic soil to break down the nutrients for the roots to utilize is a more natural approach. You can also use spikes in the organic soil to allow the roots to access more nutrients. 

 

    Another thing I like to do is add mycorrhizal fungus to the roots when I transplant. This fungus attaches to the roots and helps the plant intake nutrients. It's like adding a bunch of surface area in the root zone to assist the plants' ability to get food. Having the Mychorrizal fungus also helps prevent transplant shock and increases the ability to handle drought better.

Using coconut coir is the middle of the road between soil and hydro. As its name suggests, it's from the outer fiber of a coconut. You can get it online or at any hydroponic store. It's a great medium to use. My yields are usually better with coco coir. You can get a decent smoke when using it. The downside to me is using synthetic nutes and measuring nutrient amounts and PH levels of your nutrients. Some people have been able to mix soil and coconut fiber. With adding topdressing and adding other amendments. People have been getting good yields and quality somewhere between soil and coco. I have tried and found myself having nutrient problems by using straight coco and top-dressing. Experimenting is up to each individual.

    Another benefit of coco coir is you have fewer pests and bugs in the garden. The same goes for hydroponic. Organic soil tends to attract more fungal gnats and other bugs but there are ways to prevent that in soil. When growing with Coco, my environment is cleaner overall and less messy. Coco is a form of hydro called passive hydro. You will end up watering more because it will dry out faster. So you will do more work mixing nutrients, checking nutrient levels, and "ph" ing the water. The roots will get more nutrients and oxygen, leading to faster growth and bigger yields. The plants are being fed differently than by organic because the roots will just drink the nutrients provided verse having the bacteria and fungus work together helping assist the plant feed more naturally.

                      The outer part of the Coconut is used for Coco Coir

    Hydroponic is unique in that you grow the roots directly into a bucket or container full of water and use an oxygen bubbler to enable the roots to get plenty of oxygen. You add nutrients continually as the plant uses them up and you need to regularly use a meter so you can measure the levels. You also have to measure the ph of the water. You need to keep the water at the ideal ph level. The plant can absorb the maximum nutrients and oxygen for faster growth and better yields.

    Another form of hydroponics is called Aquaponics. In an aquaponic system, there is a fish in a tank, and their waste is pumped to the soil where the plants can utilize the feces from the fish. People are getting good results with that because it is a self-sustaining environment. Just keep the fish alive. The fish poop will provide the nutrients for the plant to thrive.

    These are the main ways to grow cannabis. I prefer to use the organic method. There are several ways that you can grow cannabis. Many swear by using hydroponics. Enjoy growing whichever way you choose how!

                                Mycorrhizal Fungus Powder

     This product has both soil and coconut coir