Is it okay for buds to touch?

[Kota2300]

I've tried searching everything and all I can find are people talking about while they're drying, or physically touching them with your hands while they're flowering.

My question is if it's okay for buds to be touching each other/the wall slightly? I have a straight bush in my tent along with 2 others and I feel that once it starts really budding, there's gonna be buds touching each other and the wall

 

[ColoradoHighGrower]

Just as long as you have decent airflow and good humidity (not too high during flower) you shouldn't have any problems with mold. Mold and bugs like dark damp and stagnant air conditions, like if your canopy is too dense, or your space is way too overcrowded. Don't worry about wall contact- thats normal. You want to be gentle while harvesting/trimming to avoid breaking off a lot of the trichomes, but not really a problem or something to worry about.

 

[Kingrow1]

The leaves keep them fro mully pressing on the wall and ther should always becenough space to keep buds slightly seperate.

 

[Kota2300]

So this is okay? In the first 2 pics zoom in and check out the side branching, tons of small branches everywhere, the plant is mainlined so all 8 main branches have side branching like this all around the plant, it's a fookin BUSH. It'll be okay though as long as I have good airflow?

 

[Kota2300]

Also one more question, when two leaves are overlapping for a while and they form water in-between them, is this bad? And will the same thing happen to all the leaves that are/will be pressing up against the tent wall?

Thanks for the responses so far starting to ease my mind slightly

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

you might want to do a little selective pruning. you don't need to remove a lot of leaves, but it wouldn't hurt to take a few that are laying on top of more, and thin out the under growth, little short stems that are never going to get above the canopy and get any real light can be trimmed out to improve ventilation, and stop wasted effort.
and yes, leaves that lay on top of each other will get wet, from transpiration. if you don't provide adequate ventilation, it could be a contributing factor to mold or pm.
not so much if they're against the wall, but i like to move my plants often, so the same leaves are never against the wall for more than a couple of days

 

[Singlemalt]

It's fine, a little ventilation. Think about what is a cola other than a bunch of flower buds touching. Touching a wall won't hurt but in may result in a "flattened" appearance.
Now, what about the different foods touching on a dinner plate? j/k lol

 

[MrPuffTuff]

Feed them well and they will build a natural resistance to PM. Learned about this in one of Harley Smith's videos. Makes me much less worried about the potential of having to run around and fix a problem. Prevention > cure.

To me, it looks a little crowded. I'd take the suggestion others gave to do some pruning.

 

[Coloradoclear]

In the Winter my humidity gets a little higher and a bud leaning against my reflective film is an invitation for PM to eat it. Take Rogers pruning advice.

 

[Kota2300]

you might want to do a little selective pruning. you don't need to remove a lot of leaves, but it wouldn't hurt to take a few that are laying on top of more, and thin out the under growth, little short stems that are never going to get above the canopy and get any real light can be trimmed out to improve ventilation, and stop wasted effort.
and yes, leaves that lay on top of each other will get wet, from transpiration. if you don't provide adequate ventilation, it could be a contributing factor to mold or pm.
not so much if they're against the wall, but i like to move my plants often, so the same leaves are never against the wall for more than a couple of days

It's okay to do all this pruning/light lollipopping during week 3 of flower?

 

[Kingrow1]

It's okay to do all this pruning/light lollipopping during week 3 of flower?

Just leave it, what will be will be. This plant is usually packed sardine tight in most tents.

If you get mold it wasnt a few leaves that needed clipping it was a total rethink imo

 

[Kota2300]

Just leave it, what will be will be. This plant is usually packed sardine tight in most tents.

If you get mold it wasnt a few leaves that needed clipping it was a total rethink imo

That seems like terrible advice tbh. Telling me to "let it go and if it gets mold, you should've done better" ?

Well either way I gave it a lollipop all the way around, all the small skinny/long branches that were never gonna see the light. Looks better and every main branch and it's nodes/branches are still there. I think it'll be okay.

Next time I'll have clones/seeds of the same genetics so I won't have a big sativa, bushy indica and tiny indica all messing with me. I vegged a little too long you're right with that but I didn't want the white Russians to yield a tiny amount, and if the bagseed hermies, I'll be out all that bud/potential space, since it's the largest plant and takes up half the tent.

I wanted an even canopy but with the stretchy genetics next to the short genetics, it messed me up

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

It's okay to do all this pruning/light lollipopping during week 3 of flower?

it is better to do it in stages, but if it's a good healthy plant, it ought to be fine. i like to have all my lst done before i flip, then once they start to get bushy, i'll pick out 3 or 4 of the smaller stems (which usually become clones) and a few of the worst shading leaves, and take them off, then wait a day or two and do it again, then a third time if necessary. seems to be less stressful to the plant to do it over a week or so.

 

[xtsho]

My tent is so crammed that everything is touching everything. I never trim anything. Buds touching other buds, leaves overlapping, etc... I just have a small 6 inch clip on fan pointing up at the light and the air exchange from a 6 inch 400 cfm fan hooked to a carbon filter at the top of the tent on one end with the other connected to a sealed hood and venting outside of the tent with a couple of vents at the bottom of the tent open for passive air. I never get PM or bud rot. I use a small dehumidifier if the humidity get too high. So yes it's okay for buds to touch if you control the environment. It might not be ideal but at harvest time I end up with a tent full of bud which is what I care about.

 

[Kingrow1]

That seems like terrible advice tbh. Telling me to "let it go and if it gets mold, you should've done better" ?

Well either way I gave it a lollipop all the way around, all the small skinny/long branches that were never gonna see the light. Looks better and every main branch and it's nodes/branches are still there. I think it'll be okay.

Next time I'll have clones/seeds of the same genetics so I won't have a big sativa, bushy indica and tiny indica all messing with me. I vegged a little too long you're right with that but I didn't want the white Russians to yield a tiny amount, and if the bagseed hermies, I'll be out all that bud/potential space, since it's the largest plant and takes up half the tent.

I wanted an even canopy but with the stretchy genetics next to the short genetics, it messed me up

If the difference was a few leaves between getting mold or not then your setup needs changing or face the facts you will always be just a jump away from molding your whole grow and succesive ones.

At this point your assuming a lot and using techniques you probably didnt for fear of somthing that has yet to happen... dont smoke weed bro your paranoid as fuck already, assume ive done this a few more times than just once and a guess....

 

[Beachwalker]

Also one more question, when two leaves are overlapping for a while and they form water in-between them, is this bad? And will the same thing happen to all the leaves that are/will be pressing up against the tent wall?

Thanks for the responses so far starting to ease my mind slightly

Yes, if I observe the occasional leaves that are forming moisture between them I remove one

 

[Kota2300]

If the difference was a few leaves between getting mold or not then your setup needs changing or face the facts you will always be just a jump away from molding your whole grow and succesive ones.

At this point your assuming a lot and using techniques you probably didnt for fear of somthing that has yet to happen... dont smoke weed bro your paranoid as fuck already, assume ive done this a few more times than just once and a guess....

Yeah you're wild. I've always "looked up" to you in a way since I always see you around helping people even on posts from years ago but seriously? Telling me to stop smoking weed because I'm paranoid as fuck? What's your issue?

I'm asking other growers for advice on whether or not I should lollipop/defoliate to avoid getting mold.. and you're being a dick..

Yeah, I vegged too long because I have 3 different strains/phenos and wanted to fill the canopy, oops? Don't have to essentially tell me my setup is wack and I'm bound to get mold anyway, like wtf? Surprised you didn't tell me to sell my tent and light and stick to buying it.

Not trying to be rude but it seems that's how you're treating me and all I'm asking for is advice from people more experienced than myself

Edit: not to mention this is literally my second grow ever. And last time I had very little idea what I was doing and the plants barely finished because they were in shit soil for flowers.

 

[primobozo]

Yeah you're wild. I've always "looked up" to you in a way since I always see you around helping people even on posts from years ago but seriously? Telling me to stop smoking weed because I'm paranoid as fuck? What's your issue?

I'm asking other growers for advice on whether or not I should lollipop/defoliate to avoid getting mold.. and you're being a dick..

Yeah, I vegged too long because I have 3 different strains/phenos and wanted to fill the canopy, oops? Don't have to essentially tell me my setup is wack and I'm bound to get mold anyway, like wtf? Surprised you didn't tell me to sell my tent and light and stick to buying it.

Not trying to be rude but it seems that's how you're treating me and all I'm asking for is advice from people more experienced than myself

Edit: not to mention this is literally my second grow ever. And last time I had very little idea what I was doing and the plants barely finished because they were in shit soil for flowers.

I wouldn't listen to kingrow, don't know what his problem is, but he has been acting like someone stole his penis pacifier lately. Trim enough to get good airflow, and you should be alright.

 

[xtsho]

If it helps keep you from stressing about getting mold then by all means trim them up. I have leaves overlapping that get wet. I don't do anything. If you control the environment properly, have healthy plants, etc... you shouldn't have a problem. My tent is always crammed full and I never cut a single leaf. I do use a dehumidifier to keep the humidity at decent levels for growing. I also have plenty of air exchange which is more important than a fan blowing inside the tent.

Here's an example of what my grows tend to look like. But as I said, I have the environment pretty well dialed in. Your conditions are not the same as mine. You need to do what's best for your grow environment.

By the way, that White Russian if grown properly will produce some huge cola's. Here's a couple I grew awhile back. The buds to the left and right of the bottle. I don't remember what else was in the tent but it was crammed. I was actually worried about bud rot as the buds were so dense and the humidity was getting much to high. That's when I got the dehumidifier. Good luck.

 

[Kota2300]

If it helps keep you from stressing about getting mold then by all means trim them up. I have leaves overlapping that get wet. I don't do anything. If you control the environment properly, have healthy plants, etc... you shouldn't have a problem. My tent is always crammed full and I never cut a single leaf. I do use a dehumidifier to keep the humidity at decent levels for growing. I also have plenty of air exchange which is more important than a fan blowing inside the tent.

Here's an example of what my grows tend to look like. But as I said, I have the environment pretty well dialed in. Your conditions are not the same as mine. You need to do what's best for your grow environment.

By the way, that White Russian if grown properly will produce some huge cola's. Here's a couple I grew awhile back. The buds to the left and right of the bottle. I don't remember what else was in the tent but it was crammed. I was actually worried about bud rot as the buds were so dense and the humidity was getting much to high. That's when I got the dehumidifier. Good luck.

Those are some beautiful colas lol. It seems like, in the picture at least idk about the whole tent, but it looks like you have some decent room between the colas, mine is super bushy with many of the main branches within 2-3 inches of each other, that's why I'm worrying. I'm hoping as they grow out a little more it'll space them out but idk.

I do have an inline fan in there and I get pretty good air exchange, I also have 2 fans hanging in there and I'm hoping to get a small oscillating fan to put below the canopy pointing up within the next couple weeks. Hopefully all will be well