No, lower budsites DO NOT need light to develop! Get educated.

Yesterday I posted at least 6 photos in response to a member taunt claiming that I am like he and can only get yellow popcorn buds at the bottom.....a member who practices defoliation, of course. Truth is not welcome if it isn't your brand of "truth" so those photos of proof (that a plant doesn't require light at its budsites to develop) were deleted by a mod in Oscar's thread. I digress......

My indoor gardens are very crowded - crammed plants, leaves over leaves, leaves over budsites. I grow fewer large plants, bushes rather than hassle with more smaller plants that require more maintenance and time. In spite of the heavy shaded canopy the lower nuggets sometimes develop with more bulk than those above them. So, let's try this again hoping a RIU mod keeps his stinkin' fingers off the delete key.

Here is my original avatar taken many years ago. (Scanned Polaroid, we're talkin' OLD here.) Those aren't headlights at the bottom!









Deep in the dark abyss of my canopy, something's happening. In fact, notice the lower collection of nuggets is wider with more bulk than above them.





Uncle Ben

Why do you men have to be so fucking stupid! You contradict your self retard enough said.

None of these are lower budsites?? In every pic I see an apically dominant cola? Am I wrong?

If lower budsites don't need light to develop, then what DO they need to develop?

Also, two of these pics are identical, with slightly different coloring... Why not show a pic of the whole plant? Or of the bottom buds/branches?

Thanks for your post UB.
I'm curious as to yield and quality with your method.
Would you be willing to put together a concise outline of your approach? I'm thinking maybe 4-6 critical concepts that you could offer the community: type of plant (I believe you do a c-99 from seed?), veg time, height when you bloom, nutrients (jacks right?), lighting and enviros, and yield.
I think this would be a great addition to RIU. I hope you consider this if you have the time of course.

Thank you

a senile fungus said:

None of these are lower budsites?? In every pic I see an apically dominant cola? Am I wrong?

If lower budsites don't need light to develop, then what DO they need to develop?

Click to expand...

1. Took the time to show both the upper and lower part of the plants.

2. They need good care. It's just that simple. Don't try to confuse or complicate such a simple process.

.

killemsoftly said:

Thanks for your post UB.
I'm curious as to yield and quality with your method.
Would you be willing to put together a concise outline of your approach? I'm thinking maybe 4-6 critical concepts that you could offer the community: type of plant (I believe you do a c-99 from seed?), veg time, height when you bloom, nutrients (jacks right?), lighting and enviros, and yield.
I think this would be a great addition to RIU. I hope you consider this if you have the time of course.

Thank you

Click to expand...

It's quite simple - learn what makes a plant tick, don't use cannabis specific foods or methods use conventional ones, don't push your plants. Give them support but do not push. The following is my basics, and old school basics are what's important.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/uncle-bens-gardening-tweeks-and-pointers.267989/

It's a tropical foliage plant that flowers like all tropical plants, treat it as such.

Yield? 4 - 10+ oz dried bud per plant. Depends on the genetics. I love sativas - quality over quantity.

Uncle Ben said:

Yield? 4 - 10+ oz dried bud per plant. Depends on the genetics. I love sativas - quality over quantity.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link UB
i know you may feel you are banging your head against a wall. I understand that you, and others, believe the plant does not need as much light as people assume. This makes sense to me; years ago an old grower (also an arborist) described to me how he grew his plants under trees due to choppers. He gave the plant NO direct light yet they finished fine. I have not verified this method but a guy here on riu named doublejj (?) does something similiar I believe with a car port?

A few brief questions if you would:
How many plants do you run per 600w or 1000w?
At what distance from the plant is the bulb? or does this vary according to stage of veg/bloom?
How big a root mass would you consider to be ideal for soil or a soil medium like sunshine4 or pro-mix HP if I were to do a 6-8ft tree (sativa dom strain-Malawi)?

The reason I am zooming in on yield is obvious but I appreciate your view on quality. Who cares if you get 2# under a 600w if it's crap right? At the same time we all hope for our personal grail when we pheno hunt. lol

Thank you

Hi uncle Ben. I have read the tweeks and pointers thread. Good stuff there.

I have adopted the " Uncle Ben style" of growing.

1. Flushing is for toilets
2. I only remove leaves after I harvest.
3. I keep them green and healthy till harvest.

Your knowledge and insight has helped me become more a more productive grower while saving me tons of money and work.

Thanks for all you do for us.

Polo

killemsoftly said:

Thanks for the link UB
i know you may feel you are banging your head against a wall. I understand that you, and others, believe the plant does not need as much light as people assume. This makes sense to me; years ago an old grower (also an arborist) described to me how he grew his plants under trees due to choppers. He gave the plant NO direct light yet they finished fine. I have not verified this method but a guy here on riu named doublejj (?) does something similiar I believe with a car port?

Click to expand...

True. See my Plant Moisture Stress thread in Plant Problems. I discussed lighting.

How many plants do you run per 600w or 1000w?
At what distance from the plant is the bulb? or does this vary according to stage of veg/bloom?

Click to expand...

This will give you a good idea of my setup - https://www.rollitup.org/t/spin-out-for-chemical-root-pruning.9114/

I start with a 400W MH and bring in a 600W HPS when the time is right.

How big a root mass would you consider to be ideal for soil or a soil medium like sunshine4 or pro-mix HP if I were to do a 6-8ft tree (sativa dom strain-Malawi)?

Click to expand...

5 gal. conventional, 3 gal. root tip pruning system - chemical or air/light. Look at the RootMaker system

The reason I am zooming in on yield is obvious but I appreciate your view on quality. Who cares if you get 2# under a 600w if it's crap right? At the same time we all hope for our personal grail when we pheno hunt. lol

Thank you

Click to expand...

Light is just part of the equation. It's about balancing out all factors. Now, a piece of advice. After you've lurked, asked questions and become thoroughly confused and a bit disgusted, STOP, throw it all out the window and grow your plants like you would a normal tomato and such. That avatar JH was one of the highest yielding and certainly the densest colas I've ever grown, and it was done in a closet under a 250HPS hung about 18" above it using Miracle Gro plant food. It was grown along side another sista (or two, don't remember). It was truly a weird plant. Not only did the cola expand, but it actually imploded on itself, meaning that buds continued to develop WITHIN the cola. It was like the bud development developed from within causing the cola to expand inside out. I swear you could have used it for a baseball bat.

Good luck,
UB

Your a joke.

polo the don said:

Hi uncle Ben. I have read the tweeks and pointers thread. Good stuff there.

I have adopted the " Uncle Ben style" of growing.

1. Flushing is for toilets
2. I only remove leaves after I harvest.
3. I keep them green and healthy till harvest.

Your knowledge and insight has helped me become more a more productive grower while saving me tons of money and work.

Thanks for all you do for us.

Polo

Click to expand...

You're welcome, thanks for the kind words.

Easy peasy,
UB

Hazydat620 said:

Your a joke.

Click to expand...

A simple request if you wish to post in my thread - you must use proper English and attempt to spell correctly. It's a credibility issue ya know.

It's you're a joke, not your.

Hope that helps.......

Back to the subject at hand. I too have noticed that even without defoliation my lower bud sites develop just fine. Sometimes even better than the top. They seem to be more resinous and just as "pretty" as any other part of the plant.

Everyone seems to be looking for a " trick" to increase yield. My " trick" is to let the plant do what it is supposed to do. All I do is give it what it needs to be healthy, it does the rest.

those are all tops.....

All that I know is that on my plants, if the bud site is buried under a bunch of leaves, it will never blossom like my buds that are directly exposed to light, and I'm not talking about popcorn (which I actually save for 1 hitters in my vape). At the latter end of growth, like 4 weeks left until finish, I chop all leaves that are covering bud sites. I want all the energy available going to the bud, not the almost useless leaf above it. I have done this for years, and it has helped to eliminate all those sickly looking yellow buds in the middle of the plant that never get enough light, like in a packed situation that I also grow in. But, that being said, whatever seems to work for you, cool, as long as you are satisfied with the results. These plants are at week 5 of bloom, and are 9 week Holy Grail Kush.

this is a knuckle head thread . ok so you short plants the bottoms don't get pop corn buds. what about when I flower a mother plant I no longer want to keep cutting clones off of . and its 5 foot tall in veg . will that get pop corn buds on the bottoms ? even under a 1000 watt light ? SHIT YEAH . so we need to trim those little bottom branches off and the bottom buds are the ones to get molds and issues first . this guy above knows very thing . I should never trim I need to get EDUCATED

Welcome to the Master Gardener's Club.

Polo, Mel Frank via the U. of Miss. lab results revealed that lower buds can and often do have more THC than the upper cola area. That's gonna be a big blow to this community who can't let go of their paradigms, but it's true.

Folks, if you are getting popcorn buds at the bottom, genetics aside, it's because the "energy" aka the plant resources is being directed to the apical dominant part of the plant. It's a hormonal issue, not a lighting issue (which is an easy excuse for not understanding what's really going on). I've explained this a thousand times and most still don't get it. I expect that, because they do not have the experience and education I do when it comes to plant processes.

Now, if you do want to kick it up a notch, do a double harvest. Find the point where the heavy cola transitions to your popcorn buds. Cut out and cure your top. Put the plant back under the lights to bulk up. The lower part of the plant will shortly become dominant, auxins will collect at a point that is now the apical dominant location of the plant, and if you bothered to save any leaves you should get an oz or more.

Uncle Ben said:

A simple request if you wish to post in my thread - you must use proper English and attempt to spell correctly. It's a credibility issue ya know.

It's you're a joke, not your.

Hope that helps.......

Click to expand...

I know it pisses you pompous fucks off too much to not do it. Still doesn't change the fact that your a joke, and your "advanced" techniques are really just basic's that you find in any beginners guide to cannabis. Why would you only want 4 tops, when you can have as many as you like. those aren't "lower" buds in those pictures, that's lower side branching on a main cola. You are probably the most basic grower on RIU UB.