The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/pot23

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                 -+- The Merry Pranksters from Menlo Park -+-
                               10.1990.01.01.23

                 Marijuana Grower's Handbook - part 23 of 33
                               by pH Imbalance
                                  "Pruning"

                                     from

                         Marijuana Grower's Handbook
                         [Indoor/Greenhouse Edition]
                                 Ed Rosenthal


   There are probably as many theories about pruning and its effect on crop
yield as there are cultivators.  Pruning theories are complicated by the
many varieties of marijuana, which have different branching patterns and
growing habits.
   Indicas tend to grow naturally with little branching.  Most of their
energy is used for the central main bud which may develop to a diameter of 3
to 4 inches.  Branches are short and compact.
   Mexicans, Colombians, and Africans usually grow in a conical pattern
often likened to a Christmas tree.  They develop a large central bud.  The
peripheral buds and branches can also grow quite large.
   Plants regulate their growth patterns using auxins, which are hormones.
One auxin is produced by the tallest growing tip of the plant.  This
inhibitsother branches from growing as fast.  If the top bud is removed, the
two branches below will grow larger, in effect becoming the main stem.  They
produce the growth-inhibiting auxin; however, they have less of an
inhibitory effect on the lower branches.  [pH:and they could be removed too]
   Growers are often obsessed with yield per plant.  This outlook developed
because of the surreptitious nature of marijuana cultivation.  Farmers and
gardeners can grow only a few plants so they want to get the best possible
yield from them.  Traditional farmers are more concerned with the yield per
unit of space.  Since indoor gardeners have limited space, total yield of
high quality marijuana should be of more concern than the yield per plant.
   Growers have done experiments showing that some pruning techniques
effectively increase the yield of some plants.  However, the pruned plants
usually occupy more space than plants which are left unpruned, so that there
may be no increase in yield per unit of space.
   To make a plant bushy it is pinched (the growing shoot is removed) at the
second or third set of leaves and again at the sixth, seventh or eigth
internode.  Sometimes the plants are pinched once or twice more.  This
encourages the plants to spread out rather than to grow vertically.
   Plant branching can be controlled by bending instead of cutting.  If the
top branch is bent so that it is lower than the side branches, the side
shoots will start to grow as if the top branch was cut because the branch
highest from the ground produces the growth auxin.  If the top branch is
released so that it can grow upward again it starts to dominate again, but
the side branches still have more growth than they ordinarily would have
had.  Top branches can also be "trained" to grow horizontally so that the
primary bud is exposed to more light.  The bud will grow larger than normal.
Bamboo stakes, twist-ties and wire can be used for training.
   One grower trained his plants using a technique ordinarily used by grape
growers.  He built a frame made of a single vertical 2x3 and nailed 4 foot
long 2x1's every 9 inches along its length so that the horizontal boards
stretched two feet in either direction.  Then he trained the branches to the
frame.  Each branch was stretched horizontally and the plant had virtually
no depth.  This increased the number of plants he could grow since each
plant took less space.
   On the next crop he used the same system with most of his plants but set
up a chickenwire fence on a frame about 6 inches from one wall.  As the
plants grew he trained them to the fence.
   A grower in Mendocino pinches the plants at the fourth node and then
allows only four brances to develop.  She removes all side shoots.  Each
plant grows four giant buds and takes relatively little space.
   Plants which are only a foot or two tall when they were put into the
flowering cycle may not have developed extensive branching.  They may grow
into plants with only one bud; the main stem becomes swollen with flowers
but there is little branching.  These plants require only about a square
foot of floor space.  Although their individual yields are low, the plants
have a good yield-per-space unit.  A gardener with larger plants modified
this technique by trimming off all side shoots and spacing the one-buds
close together to maximize yield.
   A greenhouse grower grew plants to about three feet and then clipped the
tops.  Each plant developed four stems in a couple of weeks.  Then he turned
the light cycle down to induce flowering.
   A garden in the midwest featured plants which were trained to 5 foot
tomato trellises (the metal cones).  The grower trained the branches around
the cone and tied them to the support using twist-ties.
   Plants which are several feet tall can also be turned on their sides as
was discussed in the chapter on Novel Gardens.  The plant immediately
switches its growth pattern so that the stems grow vertically, against the
gravity and towards the light.  [pH:But, in a 0-g space, with equal light
coming from all sides, which way would the plant grow?]
   Most growers agree that plants should not be clipped once they are in a
pre-flowering stage.  By experience they know that this may seriously
decrease yield.
   Plants may grow at an uneven pace in the garden.  There are several
reasons for this.  The plants may differ genetically and be inclined to grow
at different rates, or there may be an uneven distribution of light in the
garden so that some plants receive more energy to fuel their growth.  Plants
in single containers can be moved around the garden to even out the amount
of light they get and to deal with the problem of height.  When the taller
plants are placed at the periphery of the garden, light is not blocked from
the shorter ones.  Taller plants need not be clipped.  Instead, their tops
can be bent and snapped so that the stem is horizontal near the top.  This
technique is used as far as 2 feet below the top of the stem.  The bent tops
usually need to be supported.  It is not hard to tie one end of a bamboo
stake to the main stem and the other end to the top, so that a triangle is
formed.
   Contrary to myth, sun leaves should not be removed from the plant except
late in life when they often yellow.  These leaves are little sugar
factories which turn the light energy into chemical energy which is stored
and used later.  When the leaf is removed, the plant loses a source of
energy and its rate of growth slows.  If you don't believe this, try an
experiment.  Find any type of plant which has two sun leaves opposite each
other with a small branch growing from either side.  Remove one of the
leaves and see which side branch develops faster.