bud handling??

ive got a SCROG grow goin right now, and the buds are starting to grow really well...my question is if i have some taller buds, can i pull those back horizontal under the net and let them get light down the whole bud and thicken and turn back up, or would it be better left alone, cause i figured it would help it thicken if it were layed back down and every bit of bud on the cola will get full light and hopefully thicken....i just didnt want to damage the bud too much though.....i guess my question kinda is... how bad, or whats the limit on handling buds while they're growing...whats the harms that can be brought about from handling to much...etc???

Most of the time when you tuck a branch anywhere, the leaf sets will slowly turn towards the light no matter how you arrange them. I wish I had picture of this lavendar (the actual flower, not the strain) plant I have going in my grow room. I've been turning it 180 degrees everyday, and when I wake up the next morning, the plant starts to lean towards the light. So I rotate it 180 degrees, so it's leaning away from the light. The next morning, boom, it turned itself around. The power of plants is quite incredible.

To answer your question: Would it thicken up the buds more? I honestly don't know, but I would doubt it. Although I see your logic: more surface area exposed to direct light equals bigger buds.

As long as you don't snap the branch it won't stress her much. Just be very careful. Pulling that branch down and stretching it along the screen will help out the lower buds on that branch. It will expose them to more light and they will grow bigger, but the main bud may slow down some. I did this with a bud on my last grow so that the main bud on the branch was horizontal. All of the bracts on the top facing part of the bud took off while the more shaded parts slowed down.

How far into flowering are you? Have the branches started to lignify? That's the main thing you need to worry about.

the plant i was wondering about is in its 4th week of budding, so about half way in...the stems are getting pretty solid, but not to the point to where they break when i try and move em...i pulled the bud under 2 days ago, and the lower buds on the stem have already stretched twords the light and look like they will thicken up more now that its under, but i wonder if i should just leave them alone and let the colas do their thing....im gonna leave this one under as a little test, and let all the other ones go regular.........we'll see what happens....
one more question...is it bad to touch or kinda squeeze (not hard of course) the buds while they're growing..someone told me the other day if you touch or handle your buds they wont grow any more where you handled them...i didnt think it was totally true, but i figured id try and get some more opinions on that..

I have had some successful scrogs and have found that gently tieing them down horizontally on TOP of the screen works best. It is a great way to get the most out of the scrog. I handle my buds a bunch when they are growing going in hard with my microscope to check how they are ripening. I sometimes squezze them pretty hard so that I can carry the smaell around on my fingers for a while. Best perfume ever! I have done 2 plants on a 3'x3' screen and filled it completely up by tieing them down. It also makes for a great even canopy giving them all equal light.

Right on Little Tommy thats what i needed to hear...i love nothin more than gettin that sweet ass smell on my fingers, and when that dude told me it would fuck my buds up from growin i was like "Bull Shit"!! lol.....i figured tying it on top would be better....i may go ahead and tie the others down too, that way they're all getting the same amount of light and i can get the most out of it...Im lovin SCROG growin so far.....thanx for the help

We all started somewhere. Happy to help.

Practice makes perfect mate

I have heard both sides of the argument about squeezing buds. I had a friend who did it all the time because he knew some hippies in a commune who did it. According to them it increased resin production. I don't think this is true though. When you squeeze them you crush the resin glands and they cannot fill with more THC. So you have to wait for the plant to make new resin heads and then start filling those. That is if they can make new resin glands where you squeezed them. Then again, maybe they work harder when you squeeze them and pump out more resin jst like those hippies said. I look at it like if you got punched in the arm. Your arm is going to bruise and be weak for a few days. Then it bounces back to how it was. Squeezing them might make them stronger. Kind of like building a tolerance. Who knows? I'm just rambling my ideas.

ya those hippies may have been right, cause now that i think about it, the trichomes are produced naturally as a defense mechanism for the plant, so whenever the plant senses something is threatening it, it will produce more trichomes to help defend against whatever is attacking it....some people i heard like to cut the tips of their leaves off during budding to force it to put out more trichs.....so maybe it is a good thing, but like you said there will always be those who say its good and those who say its bad, just like those who argue about CFL's and HPS's....what it all boils down to i think is personal preference and just trying new and different ideas and finding the best that work for your specific setup and needs...the only way to learn is to experiment, and we have a great plant in the marijuana plant, cause it can handle alot and responds to so many different styles and techniques, its all a matter of finding out what works for you and your specific plant and your specific needs....