Need some help, first legal grow

My buddy is growing 2 clones legally with his med card. Hes got them under (2) 4ft t12 fixtures, temps are around 78-82 and are on a 20-4 light schedule. The clones are doing awesome. When he got them though the bottom set of leaves were all rusty burned (only on the tips though) and dont look as good as the rest of the plant. He was thinking of cutting them off and putting rooting gel where the wounds are and planting it deeper in the soil to show less stem. i know guys do this to keep their plants smaller as well. Another reason he wants to do this is because he want more top growth and not little popcorn nugs on the bottom. Should he do it? He's looking to transplant them in about a week. Theyre 7 inches tall right now.

The plant on the left is a reserva privada og kush and already smells, swear to god lol, and he was looking to cut the bottom leaf. the right plant is "da purps" and he was going to cut both the bottom leaves.

he could surely do that and it not be a problem.. as you said, plenty of peps do the same to keep their plants a bit shorter, so i don't see an issue with his doing the same m8..

keep as many leaves as you can, they're a secondary source of energy for the plant, and theyre essential for making food so keep as many as you can. even if they have a nasty burn, if the burn stops progressing then leave the leaf alone. the only time you should defoliate is when leaves arent getting direct light.

crazyhazey said:

keep as many leaves as you can, they're a secondary source of energy for the plant, and theyre essential for making food so keep as many as you can. even if they have a nasty burn, if the burn stops progressing then leave the leaf alone. the only time you should defoliate is when leaves arent getting direct light.

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i am usually always preaching keep the leaves as well, but in this instance, removing one or two leaves in exchage of getting more roots, i don't see an issue doing so and it's pretty much a write off imo.. the removal of leaves will be balanced out by new root growth, no harm, no foul...

racerboy71 said:

i am usually always preaching keep the leaves as well, but in this instance, removing one or two leaves in exchage of getting more roots, i don't see an issue doing so and it's pretty much a write off imo.. the removal of leaves will be balanced out by new root growth, no harm, no foul...

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yeah its on the lowest node too, no harm would be done but its better off to not mess with them as much as you can, whenever your touching the plant your breaking some roots.

id have to agree about not cutting much but hes going to go ahead and cut them anyways. Hes going to veg them until june 15th, so about a month, do you guys think he should put them in a 2 gallon pot for vegging?

besides they are still in dixie cups and look like they need to be re-potted pronto

I transplant from party cups to 1 gal pots, veg for one month, transplant to 2 gal pot for one month, then transplant to 5 gal for two months of flower. I used to flower in 3 gal pots but my plants became root bound after 30 days. I also put mine into flower at 18 to 20 inches which is taller than most seem to do it.

you can keep from going rootbound by breaking root endings, people can veg plants up to 2 feet tall in a party cup. sounds ridiculous but its been done plenty of times. i would suggest a 3 gallon, once she bigger than 2 feet id be more comfortable with a 5 gallon.

since hes going to veg until middle of june(1 month) i think hes going to get 1g smart pots. what do you guys think?

420greendream said:

since hes going to veg until middle of june(1 month) i think hes going to get 1g smart pots. what do you guys think?

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if you break the root endings by poking holes in your soil, yes you could veg in a 1 gal but the root system will be restrained, bigger the pot the better.

so you think 2gallon would be better?

420greendream said:

so you think 2gallon would be better?

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less transplants=less stress. thats how i was taught at least.