can u cut / trim a plant whie in flower?

now what happens if you do? cause mine needs trimming but it already started budding. i didnt trim it before because i like fan leaves for flower im talk ing about the lower part of the stems and the branches that branch off like an inch from soil.

I like to cut the lower stuff off a couple weeks before bud starts so it has time to heal up. I trim 1 time during bud and it is around 10-14 days after bud starts. I get rid of side shoots to promote single cola.

I would trim as little as possible during flower and as early as possible if you are going to. I am no expert, by far, so any trimming might impede things.

Any cutting/pruning/trimming of anything is going to stress out your plants to some extent. I'd say it is more about weighing the pros and cons. If a branch is getting little to no light, it will develop little to no bud and the energy the plant used up is now wasted for almost nothing. If it isn't getting light it isn't worth keeping. That doesn't mean go hacking at your plant willy nilly. However if there are branches with bud sites that are very underdeveloped (compared to the rest of the plant) get rid of them and look into a method of getting rid of them before flowering your plants. That way when you do flower in the future your plants will be much more efficient =)

The main time I do any trimming, especially close to flowering, is when foliage is so dense it obstructs ventilation.

I trim as needed when needed.

Here is the progession that my prior employer used.

Move plants to flower room, within first week lay down a Hortitrellis screen and tie down using velcro plant tabs, understory everything that was not going to reach the screen and then let them flower as normal.

OK all you trim trim cutting fools....
IF you must...
However, I think it is a really bad idea to trim in flower while stretch is going on...
Like the first 21 days in flower... no trim... you're trimming it while it is growing it's fastest... not logical...
I also do not trim the last 10 days before I put them into bud, cause I want a healed plant....in bud...

I would want to ask the question, trimming a bud site off, is removal of bud from plant, do you think these cut bud sites energy re-locates the bud growing hormones to the remaining bud sites? Potentially making the fewer remaining bud sites larger? Or would the remaining buds be the same and you just have fewer....

Sand4x105 said:

OK all you trim trim cutting fools....
IF you must...

Click to expand...

Thats the beauty of gardens, you can do anything you want. Ive dabbled with the idea of getting a reindeer and making some neat artwork.

Ibex's next plant




I trim off the lower growth because I personally dont want to trim it or deal with popcorn, hurting the plant or not I value my time trimming and after 10-12hrs, aint no one got time for popcorn.

I believe that it makes the exposed budsites bigger as the plant is wasting photosynthesis energy growing something that its not even getting light to. But it really all comes back to I aint got time for popcorn.

Sand4x105 said:

OK all you trim trim cutting fools....
IF you must...
However, I think it is a really bad idea to trim in flower while stretch is going on...
Like the first 21 days in flower... no trim... you're trimming it while it is growing it's fastest... not logical...
I also do not trim the last 10 days before I put them into bud, cause I want a healed plant....in bud...

I would want to ask the question, trimming a bud site off, is removal of bud from plant, do you think these cut bud sites energy re-locates the bud growing hormones to the remaining bud sites? Potentially making the fewer remaining bud sites larger? Or would the remaining buds be the same and you just have fewer....

Click to expand...

I am experimenting with this right now. I am not sure if you are getting as much bud on the main cola as you cut off the side, but it seems to make the top cola much larger. I do this so I can pack more plants in the closet.

Sand4x105 said:

OK all you trim trim cutting fools....
IF you must...
However, I think it is a really bad idea to trim in flower while stretch is going on...
Like the first 21 days in flower... no trim... you're trimming it while it is growing it's fastest... not logical...
I also do not trim the last 10 days before I put them into bud, cause I want a healed plant....in bud...

I would want to ask the question, trimming a bud site off, is removal of bud from plant, do you think these cut bud sites energy re-locates the bud growing hormones to the remaining bud sites? Potentially making the fewer remaining bud sites larger? Or would the remaining buds be the same and you just have fewer....

Click to expand...

Any energy that was used to grow what you cut off, and anything in the branch you cut off will obviously be wasted. However, each branch you take off means a few things for the plant. It no longer has to worry about that part of growth (except for healing the cut) any efforts that would be used to keep the popcorn going will now be redirected to other places (such as budsites that are getting sufficient light) and the plant will grow to show that. So obviously the earlier you trim your plant the better. It is still helpful to your plant to get rid of popcorny branches. The longer you let those branches grow, the more time and effort the plant has to put in to maintain and develop the branches. Hence why I chop what won't get light.

When indoors, doing a lollipop to the bottom third of the plant to eliminate the larf is a good idea. I usually do it after the second week of flower. (day 12 to 15)
This is also when I bamboo stake and start tying the branches hortizonally to keep down on the vertical stretch and to help keep a more even canopy.

At this point the bottom 2 feet are too far from the light source and take energy from the tops, so it has to go. Also aids in better air flow.
Only exception are indica's that didn't stretch much if any in flower or were to short to begin with. (usually growers first run on new ones that should have been vegged longer)

The hormones will move to the top branches that last week and force more inter branch growth in stretch and flower.

Another reason to get them tied in week 2 is the horizontal tops will turn verticle in the last week of stretch. And the length of the horizontal branch the shoots will turn up and form many tops.
Call it canopy management using lollipoping and bondage. You know, pinch her nipples and pull her hair.