norcal outdoor grow trim or no trim... leaves you decide, comment, which will yield

here are some pics of some bubbakush i have in five gallon buckets with a mix of scotts miracle gro soil, scotts super soil, and some garden top soil all mixed up, and maybe steer manure too. used miracle grow as my fert/nute, and then switched over to general hydro floranova gro. these were revegged plants, cloned on may 11 2012. decided to trim the hell out of one, and left the other one alone, i did however go in and clean them out about a week or two ago, trimming away smaller lower branches and some leaves. Some say to trim, others say that'll mess everything up, i guess i'll see for myself and help others decide. the trimmed plant was a little thicker than the plant i will be leaving alone, both are maybe two feet tall, lots of lsting, foliar watering and foliar feeding as well with jungle juice green gro liquid. currently feeding the soil compost tea with molasses, and good ole miracle grow bloom booster.

They look good, but after my first experience trimming, I won't be doing that again.

Imo, I would not trim any leaves at all, or branches either. The plant will start to focus it's energy on regrowing those sites and you will end up with really leafy bud. I would let nature take its course and just keep feeding them. Also, don't trim your fan leaves, as they contain vital sugars and nutrients that your plant needs, especially during flowering.

Yeah, i went against my better judgement in doing so, but i think they already have pretty nice dense nuggets/little colas and these are just two of many, ive read so much about direct sun on budsites and it had me thinking, and i eventually folded, even though one would figure leaves make the vital sugars and starches to grow, maybe they were only needed during vegging to increase the overall growth of the plant. Been doing a lot of reading, and there is always one or two people who will go against the rest and claim bigger better yields after plucking fan leaves, clearing away bottom growth. Theres also evolution taLk on plants about how nature itself does whats right for the plant, if nature intended this and that, i don't think nature intended on cloning female plants and pumping it full of nutes to grow big heavy colas for people to smoke, and if it did, where would it find support sticks, to tie branches ripe with quarter pound colas? i figure in nature the plant is more worried about propagating, more smaller sites and seeds production. for instance fruiting plants, you leave them to nature and a peach or apple tree will grow a bunch of tiny pieces, it isnt until the grower intervenes by fertilizing, prunning and thinning the crop to yield bigger and better end product. What i got from people is, we provide the nutes that are easily taken by the plants to grow this certain part of the plant, nitrogen rich nutes for vegging and then providing exactly what they need for fruiting/flowering, why fuss with the rest. I hope this makes sense, typing this up on my phone and its not cooperating. here are more pictures to show the size and different angles.

Well, I'm assuming by mentioning the use of compost teas, that you're creating beneficial fungus and bacteria within the soil. With that, you really don't need to feed nutrients. And imo it's not really good to be feeding chemical nutes along with organics of any kind. The salt-based chemical nutes can cause problems for your "soil buddies" and cause an imbalance in your soil. And by mentioning the fact that you're feeding your soil molasses, you're actually feeding those bacteria, which again, is aiding in providing the proper amount of nutrients needed by your plants. Just because you dump extra nutrients in the soil, doesn't mean your plants are going to absorb all of it. You plant will take in what it needs, as it needs it. You can cause nutrient lockout, harming your plants even further.
And, btw, I grew up on a farm with an apple orchard. We never fed anything to our trees. Man doesn't need to step in to increase yield, or the fruits. That's why there's beneficial bacteria and fungus. Nature feeds itself.
Here's some reading that should help you understand the essential function of the fan leaf. Whether or not it blocks light, it has its purpose, believe it or not: http://growersbook.com/marijuana-encyclopedia/marijuana-growing-basics/what-are-marijuana-fan-leaves-what-do-marijuana-fan-leaves-do.html

posting a pic of some blue dream that my friend had growing at the beginning of june, these pics were from about a month back too, these things went from foot tall clones into the ground around june 15th, and the pic was taken around the middle of july, miracle gro moisture control potting mix and superthrive, and our local municipal water out a hose connected to the tap, chlorine and all. mine were actually bigger than his, but i didn't take pictures of them until after i had lst'd the hell out of them.

you can see mine in the background of the last picture in the other post they are about seven feet tall with maybe close to twenty tops, many many tops. i've been a grower for years, spices have been my thing, just my first time growing pot. i've pretty much thrown everything i've learned out the window for marijuana cultivation, its been an experiment, these guys im experimenting on are the runts of my crop, i have stopped using miracle grow soil on the rest of my plants, but i still hit them with miracle gro bloom booster at full strength recommended on the box. i've pulled out all the tricks for my inaugural grow, using milk, to alcohol, good old compost, and even sweet love making music.

Why post a question in a marijuana cultivation forum, asking for advice, when you just shit on peoples' answers and advice?

i haven't shit on anything man, and if it sounded like it, although i don't see where i dissed any advice anywhere, i didn't mean to diss anyone, I even read the article you put up, which led me into another article, even though i've read over that for the last few months, im just offering a little insite im coming up with, just looking at things from different angles, just throwing some knowledge myself up into the mix. and im not really looking for advice, im trying to settle a score with myself i guess, i would never trim leaves, but i have good sources that have been telling me to do so, maybe this should have been posted under the grow journal section. I only decided to post because i have not found anything on the net relating to outdoor grow, and trimming of leaves vs letting nature take its course.

The title of this thread says you are seeking the advice of others. I offered advice. You negated my advice by stating misinformation, and stating that you are an experienced grower (albeit just spices). Spices and marijuana are completely different plants altogether. And if you're looking for anything related to outdoor growing, or any kind of growing, you need to read the threads on this forum.

i said comment, i never once said i needed advice. whats done has been done, any advice now would be overdue, it's cool though, even though i didn't ask for advice, i considered what you had to say, and i have been considering all that from the get go, its not new to me, I may have been relunctant to grow, but i've been around grows for years now, i was never a marijuana guy, i am a beer guy, but I was diagnosed with glaucoma two years ago, and i have nerve damage and problems, so i gave it a shot, i had not smoked pot since i was in highschool, that was over ten years ago, the medicine cleared my eyes up real good, and while under the effects of marijuana, for the first time in years my feet, toe, hand, finger pains were gone too. and like i was saying, im not even comparing this grow to growing herbs, because i'm doing things to these plants i would never do to my other plants. But there is one thing i do question, and its chemical nutes killing off say micro herd i haven't done a study myself, wouldn't know where to start or have the technology equiptment, but at the rate microorganisms reproduce, and with it in the this beautiful cali soil, enough of them might pull through long enough between nuting and thrive a bit. But chill out bud, I'm a cali country boy, this is in my blood. you need to reread the post title, you are getting all twisted over nothing. i know experienced growers who grow trees on farms that are the size of little houses, they trim there plants standing straight up hands reaching up for leaves and branches, but the thing is, none of them have grown or maintenanced any other way, so im just trying to do a little side by side between two plants to settle the score, for me, and anyone else who may be inclined to the possibility that going against the grain may pay off.

oh and my thing in the title saying trim or no trim, i just tried to put as many keywords in there as possible so people hopefully will land themselves here one day when searching for info like this. and on a side note, my people who are growing monster plants, which i will try to get pictures of if i make it out to their farm before they harvest are using commercial fertilizers, a plowed field, and maxsea fertilizer keeps getting tossed as well.

more pics of the largest cola on the untrimmed plant, it had a larger cola to begin with. pics of the two test plants, and my blue dream plants, lst'd and sitting nearly 7 feet tall.

We have been hip to Maxsea for a bit now. Look for DoubleJJ's Carport grow.

which max sea product is being used? my buddies say they buy them by the buckets, i only see them in 1.5 lb cans. i see one for flowers, and the other is for acid loving plants at the nursery near my house, but nothing in bulk.

http://www.maxsea.biz/

I used the 16-16-16 for veg and 3-20-20 for bloom.

Picked mine up from the local nursery but you can order it online as well.

i still have some vegging plants outdoors, i may just have to do a comparison. have you seen these in bulk quantities?

Yes I have at the hydro store. I believe you can order it online (Ebay/amazon) as well.

I think its a good idea what your doing. You just want to prove (to yourself) if trimming makes a different's at the end. The only thing I would have done different is trim a few leaves and branch's every 3-4 days...to lower the stress of cutting your girls. I will be looking forward to seeing the end results. They are looking really good..very solid ladys.

I would like to make a request. Would you mind posting a pic or two of the lower half of plants you trimmed. I want to see just how much you cut off.

Yeah, ill get some pics, i think day time pics for some reason leave out a lot of detail, im going to use the flash on them in a few minutes, ive been trolling and trailing the forum on a lot of the norcal growers and noticed you guys mentioning the hydro shop on eldercreek, and that place does seem to carry the large amounts of maxsea i was lookin for, thats where my buds get their maxsea, but they were kinda sketchy on the product, and the only other places ive seen the stuff is at the hydro shop on franklin and capitol nursery, but they are like 16 or 17 bucks for the little can , im going to have to pay the guys a visit tomorrow on elder creek.

the first four pictures are of the trimmed up plant, and then the final picture is of the one i really didn't do much but a little bottom prunning. its only been two days, but i think the plant i left alone has fattened a bit more, could just be the leaves making it look thicker. i actually did the same to another four plants, they weren't getting much sun in their location. no more until i reach a concensus or a positive result.

i think the trimmed plant took a few days to bounce back after the extreme trimming, its starting to look like its bulking up a bit now. feeding everyday with miracle grow bloom booster at about a table spoon per 3 gallons.

here is a tsunami plant from the front and back, nice large plant, no signs of flowering yet. very tall.

Ndodson79605 said:

And, btw, I grew up on a farm with an apple orchard. We never fed anything to our trees. Man doesn't need to step in to increase yield, or the fruits.

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LOL dumbest thing I have ever heard anyone say. You are comparing a tree that has its roots 20-30 feet into the ground absorbing years of composted nutrients... This guy is not growing in the ground he is growing in pots, therefore the plants would burn through any organic nutrients within 3-4 weeks... Dont add stupid shit in like that when it has nothing to do with, nor does it provide any information toward what he was asking. Especially when you dont know exactly what you are talking about. Some of the stuff you say is true but some is bullshit that makes me laugh. Get some grow books and read. Then only give out factual information to people rather than, look at me I'm so smart, bullshit. Not trying to sound like a dick but come on...