Cutting lower buds off

What are peoples thoughts on cutting the lower buds off to produce bigger top buds... And does it work
.thanks in advance

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A lot of people will say yes and no to a question like that

Short answer, yes, cutting off the lower popcorn buds will allow your plant to send more energy to the top buds to help them do their thing. Will you see a notable difference? Maybe, maybe not - depends on the plant I guess.

If its something you have been thinking about trying, I would *really* suggest reading the mainlining post on this website. Basically, you prune and train your plant to build a 'manifold' as they call it. You go from roots, to the main stem, to a manifold or bulb where only tops come out of. The idea is all the nutrients go directly from the roots to that manifold, then evenly disperse upwards to each individual top.

Im going to try it on my next grow, the results they show are amazing. Plus I really like training my girls xD a little extreme bondage might be right up my alley!

Check it out! https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-main-lining-thread.542308/

Thanks for the reply topped my girl a long time ago she is.now 4 weeks into flower but didn't tie down or train so just wondered if this would help but as you say it's really down to the plant itself.... Great link on mainlining and definately will be giving it ago in the future

Thanks for the quick reply

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No problem, glad it helped goodluck with your girl!

In general, and very roughly speaking, you are going to get a certain amount (weight) of bud per unit of light.

This is just my opinion. But if you trim some lower stuff in veg state or before you have serious flowers I don't think you are losing much. Once buds of any size have formed I think you are making a mistake to trim off any bud.

i.e. your overall yield is going to depend on the amount of light you have and how well you use it. Personally, trimming popcorn bud and using it does not bother me. Seems to be as potent as the big top buds. Other people hate trimming and have different opinions.

I think that trimming the lower buds helps "put the energy to the tops" and it also makes trimming a lot easier. Last year I was kicking myself for leaving so much popcorn bud. Takes so long to trim and dries to almost nothing. Anything that looks weak and scraggly gets chopped. Its tough to do now, but I will be glad I did it later. And I think you will get the same weight, just all in the tops rather than spread out into tiny nugs.

bud nugbong said:

I think that trimming the lower buds helps "put the energy to the tops" and it also makes trimming a lot easier. Last year I was kicking myself for leaving so much popcorn bud. Takes so long to trim and dries to almost nothing. Anything that looks weak and scraggly gets chopped. Its tough to do now, but I will be glad I did it later. And I think you will get the same weight, just all in the tops rather than spread out into tiny nugs.

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Do you suppose this goes (ridding lower buds and branches) for outdoor plants with plenty of sun as well?

I do it with my outdoor plants. I get limited sunlight in the afternoon so the backsides of my plants are very trimmed up. I usually go on how good the branch is growing. If its a thick healthy stem its good, but if it isn't keeping up with the rest as far as thickness its not getting good sun.
And with my grilla grow, I only get sun from "10-2" when the sun is high in the sky, so I practically trim the whole bottom halves of the plants, especially on the insides just because I know they wont be shit.

seems to do better when trimming, helps with airflow too.

bud nugbong said:

I do it with my outdoor plants. I get limited sunlight so I practically trim the whole bottom halves of the plants, especially on the insides just because I know they wont be shit.
seems to do better when trimming, helps with airflow too.

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Do you ever trim the bottom branches during flower when you have a better
idea of what is going on with the visible buds in terms of production?

I do with my outdoor plants, very early during preflower. I just clean up some of the little sucker bud/branches low and deep in the plant. Plants get so bushy outdoors that losing some of the lower stuff lets them ventilate better. Just my opinion and tech, everybody is different.

Milovan said:

Do you ever trim the bottom branches during flower when you have a better
idea of what is going on with the visible buds in terms of production?

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Im at the beginning of week 3 (estimate) and I just trimmed a bit a couple days ago, but that will be it. they are starting to really put out buds and I don't want to stress them out. I try to start early and just trim a handful once in a while. Especially the bottom half, I rarely trim anything in the top half.

Usually we trim off the lower branches and leaves after first week of flower and sites show.

This is strictly to increase the size of the top flowers and remove branches not receiving light. Its in our experience that yields are the same. Just more smaller or more larger nugs.

I pull a whispy lower flower or two, only after all trichs are mostly cloudy. I only pull a couple, and hang upside down until crispy. Then I smoke them just to test potency, or if Im out of smoke and need a hit!
Instead I have learned to not pick lower buds. I harvest all the tops first. I
hang them for a week then jar them to cure. I LEAVE the bottom buds and let them mature an extra couple weeks. With the main colas gone, the lower buds will take up all the water and light, for higher quality. Waste not! I also save the sugar leaves in a brown paper bag for cannabutter.

Milovan said:

Do you suppose this goes (ridding lower buds and branches) for outdoor plants with plenty of sun as well?

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No. Just let your outdoor plants run. They will shed leaves when they are done with them.

Always left my outdoor girls to do what they wanted lol. Some indoor strains I have grown produce huge buds from the first set so I am reluctant to cut anything.