Are my plants too crowded? First grow, flowering in 4 days.

Chip Green

Chip Green

Well-Known Member
Steve7878 said:
already starting to flower there are little white hairs coming up, is that normal for them to flower so quick
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Those are most likely preflowers, plants can show sex even during veg once fully sexually mature. Definitely means shes ready to flower....

Looks really good man, If (when) you can bring yourself to thin out some of that foliage, theres a potential monster harvest waiting to happen. Don't be scared to snip off the "spaghetti sticks" as mentioned above...they in fact, have no real future, other than the pain in the ass during chop, and irritating waste of time trimming future....
 
S

Steve7878

Active Member
kamikaza said:
If i understand you corectly, you have planty of light available to cover the 4'x8' tent.
so if you can, why not use it? the more you grow, etc...

if you don't spread them, you must do something to stop them. 36 hour darknes is a good idea, but not enough.
to cut branches, i mean, you don't want a forest of spageti sticks towering towardes the light.
so you have to choose which of the branches is going to be your future colas, and remove small branches that "has no future"
don't cut your future colas!
by taking leaves, i mean defoliation. to stop them from growing, and to expose bud sites to light.
you can read more here - (don't be scare to cut them)
https://www.growweedeasy.com/nebulas-flowering-stage-defoliation-tutorial
https://www.growweedeasy.com/defoliation
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Thanks for that link, I read the whole thing and it really helped me understand how to defoliage properly without removing bud sites. Yes I do have lots of led light but only one 1000 watt mh/hps and I want them all to get coverage from the hid not just the led so I'm not sure that would cover more than a 4x4 space. I will definitely follow that guide though, I already defoliaged them several times but they definitely need a couple more times which I will do.
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
Steve7878 said:
Ya they are even bigger now. I just turned on the lights today after 36 hours of darkness and I couldn't believe how much bigger they got. I mean they look great but your right they are really crowded and I also worry about height. The biggest one is 21 inches and the average is about 18-19 inches. I just hope I don't run out of height. The reason I waited so long is because people said for GDP you want to wait until they are 18 inches to flower or you will be disappointed. So should I strip the top fan leaves along with the bottoms as well? When you mean cut branches you mean the ones that aren't getting light yet right? I would really hate to cut the top colas. I have a 4x8 tent but I'm only using 4x4 of it because of fans etc. on the other side but I do have a good 2 feet to the right that I could use to spread them out, I was just worried that I wouldnt get good light coverage there. I have a 1000 watt mh/hps and a 2000 watt king plus led and I have another one that I was going to add later. So do you think I would get enough light coverage for like a 5x5 or 6x6 area with that? I added new pics of the plants that I took today and I couldn't believe it but they're already starting to flower there are little white hairs coming up, is that normal for them to flower so quick?anyways thanks for all the advice!View attachment 4178617
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Dont listen to people telling you to strip them. That's silly.

Maybe remove some of the under growth that won't amount to anything. Other than that you want a full canopy. No wasted light. Leaves use light. They don't block it.
 
Kushash

Kushash

Well-Known Member
Steve7878 said:
Thanks for that link, I read the whole thing and it really helped me understand how to defoliage properly without removing bud sites. Yes I do have lots of led light but only one 1000 watt mh/hps and I want them all to get coverage from the hid not just the led so I'm not sure that would cover more than a 4x4 space. I will definitely follow that guide though, I already defoliaged them several times but they definitely need a couple more times which I will do.
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Question.
If you are going to follow the guide.
Did you read the part where it says.

When NOT to defoliate

I think one of the "NOTS" applies to you doesn't it?
 
S

Steve7878

Active Member
Kushash said:
Question.
If you are going to follow the guide.
Did you read the part where it says.

When NOT to defoliate

I think one of the "NOTS" applies to you doesn't it?
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The only part I saw that's says when not to defoliate is when you have a thin leggy sativa but mine are thick bushy indicas. What part are you referring to when not to defoliate?It's a good thing I read your post when I did because I was minutes from defoliating my plants. It makes sense since light cannot hit the lower bud sites because of fan leaves and removing them allows buds to grow further down the branch.
 
Kushash

Kushash

Well-Known Member
Steve7878 said:
The only part I saw that's says when not to defoliate is when you have a thin leggy sativa but mine are thick bushy indicas. What part are you referring to when not to defoliate?It's a good thing I read your post when I did because I was minutes from defoliating my plants. It makes sense since light cannot hit the lower bud sites because of fan leaves and removing them allows buds to grow further down the branch.
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You have great plants by the way. Very nice and healthy.
I agree with white, that you should not remove leaves.
It's your 1st grow right?
This is a copy and past from one of the two groweedeasy links you read.

When NOT to defoliate

  • Growing outdoors

  • Plant is unhealthy or slow growing

  • Strain is known to be finicky and tough to grow

  • Plant is not very leafy

  • First-time or new grower
There are plenty of references in the links saying you can do more harm than good if you do it wrong or do it for the wrong reasons.

Another thing mentioned is when you defoliate you better be capable of keeping your plants healthy to the end.
You don't know if you can keep them healthy since it's your 1st grow and you haven't reached the hardest part yet.

Good Luck whatever you choose.
 
S

Steve7878

Active Member
Kushash said:
You have great plants by the way. Very nice and healthy.
I agree with white, that you should not remove leaves.
It's your 1st grow right?
This is a copy and past from one of the two groweedeasy links you read.

When NOT to defoliate

  • Growing outdoors

  • Plant is unhealthy or slow growing

  • Strain is known to be finicky and tough to grow

  • Plant is not very leafy

  • First-time or new grower
There are plenty of references in the links saying you can do more harm than good if you do it wrong or do it for the wrong reasons.

Another thing mentioned is when you defoliate you better be capable of keeping your plants healthy to the end.
You don't know if you can keep them healthy since it's your 1st grow and you haven't reached the hardest part yet.

Good Luck whatever you choose.
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Yeah I hear what your saying, I've already defoliated twice but pretty minimal. I'll probably just stick to minimal defoliation under growth in the future and nothing too drastic. I just wanted to make sure they dont choke from being overcrowded. Like always you get different opinions, some say thin them aggressively some say there fine so I think somewhere in the middle will be the key for me and just stick to removing big fan leaves in the shade. Thanks for your input, it's much appreciated!
 
Kushash

Kushash

Well-Known Member
Steve7878 said:
Yeah I hear what your saying, I've already defoliated twice but pretty minimal. I'll probably just stick to minimal defoliation under growth in the future and nothing too drastic. I just wanted to make sure they dont choke from being overcrowded. Like always you get different opinions, some say thin them aggressively some say there fine so I think somewhere in the middle will be the key for me and just stick to removing big fan leaves in the shade. Thanks for your input, it's much appreciated!
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Good Luck!
You should do well.
Fan leaves store nutrients that are mobile and can be used by the newer growth if needed.
Think about all the beautiful plants being shown by new growers who show pictures every week until they get to mid flowering then the thread mysteriously dies. There are probably a thousand threads like that with beautiful plants in veg.
I'm sure you have seen it if you read the forums.
I'm not saying you need those fan leaves but if you run into nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium or magnesium deficiencies you might want to have a few fan leaves around.

Last point. Removing leaves helps improve yield if done properly. It doesn't help quality does it?
Removing fan leaves that would have benefited the grow by passing on those nutrients can lead to a decrease in quality.

Do you want to risk quality for quantity on your 1st grow?​
 
S

Steve7878

Active Member
Kushash said:
Good Luck!
You should do well.
Fan leaves store nutrients that are mobile and can be used by the newer growth if needed.
Think about all the beautiful plants being shown by new growers who show pictures every week until they get to mid flowering then the thread mysteriously dies. There are probably a thousand threads like that with beautiful plants in veg.
I'm sure you have seen it if you read the forums.
I'm not saying you need those fan leaves but if you run into nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium or magnesium deficiencies you might want to have a few fan leaves around.

Last point. Removing leaves helps improve yield if done properly. It doesn't help quality does it?
Removing fan leaves that would have benefited the grow by passing on those nutrients can lead to a decrease in quality.

Do you want to risk quality for quantity on your 1st grow?​
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Ya your absolutely right. I was talking about fan leaves on the bottom that are part of the undergrowth and certainly not removing all of them. Just to clean up the bottom a little and get some good airflow on the bottom end. I know when I cleaned it up last time it got rid if all the bugs I had too so that's also a plus. I definitely dont want to lose my first crop to a noob mistake so I will be cautious and I appreciate all the advice that I've been getting from veteran growers on this site, it's really helped a lot and I'm sure I will have a lot more questions in the future lol.
 
Kushash

Kushash

Well-Known Member
Steve7878 said:
Ya your absolutely right. I was talking about fan leaves on the bottom that are part of the undergrowth and certainly not removing all of them. Just to clean up the bottom a little and get some good airflow on the bottom end. I know when I cleaned it up last time it got rid if all the bugs I had too so that's also a plus. I definitely dont want to lose my first crop to a noob mistake so I will be cautious and I appreciate all the advice that I've been getting from veteran growers on this site, it's really helped a lot and I'm sure I will have a lot more questions in the future lol.
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There are many opinions on defoliating.
Here is a link to an author's opinion. Click this #166 to read.
 
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