Overcrowded scrog 3 weeks into flower.

Hey guys, 4 weeks since flip and this cupboard is overcrowded as fuck.. Leaves are touching and creating water between them in places.
Is there anything I can do with these at this stage? I don't even know how to not have overcrowding like this, they're just so bushy.

Am I going to have any problems leaving them as they are? The light only really hits the tops as its so dense.

Thanks!

Get some light pruning done, it's necessary.

As above get in there and clean that up before you end up with pm etc..

budman111 said:

Get some light pruning done, it's necessary.

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zypheruk said:

As above get in there and clean that up before you end up with pm etc..

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Honestly I don't know where to start.. I feel like cutting off good healthy leaves is such a bad idea.. And there's a shit load that I'd have to cut to clear it out.
I have a heap of air change and air movement.
I'd like to get a bit of light going through the canopy though.

If it is too wild do a hard defoliate, leave only tip leaves.
I'm considering hitting my sea of green table, as it is a jungle.

ANC said:

If it is too wild do a hard defoliate, leave only tip leaves.
I'm considering hitting my sea of green table, as it is a jungle.

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Yeah, it's pretty jungle like.
Like I said though, I don't like removing healthy leaves
What do you mean by "tip leaves" ?

This madness was 4-inch tall clones with 3 days worth of rooting 3 weeks ago...

goatlicker said:

Yeah, it's pretty jungle like.
Like I said though, I don't like removing healthy leaves
What do you mean by "tip leaves" ?

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the leaves at the end of each branch that are still smallish and growing, leave em.
Strip every fully formed other leaf.

ANC said:

the leaves at the end of each branch that are still smallish and growing, leave em.
Strip every fully formed other leaf.

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Ah I got you..
That's a shit load to prune, mines so thick...honestly It would be half a pound of leaves if I trimmed them all.
Isn't that bad for them?

Yeah, I've pulled bucket fulls when stripping leaves... There are about 40ish plants on there.
Go buy a brick of butter or two and let it all simmer in a pot with about an equal amount of water

Last time I ran a scrog, I only defoliated part of the table. The Yield was a tiny bit lower than the average over the non-stripped side, but the flowers were denser and so much faster and easier to trim.

ANC said:

Yeah, I've pulled bucket fulls when stripping leaves... There are about 40ish plants on there.
Go buy a brick of butter or two and let it all simmer in a pot with about an equal amount of water

Last time I ran a scrog, I only defoliated part of the table. The Yield was a tiny bit lower than the average over the non-stripped side, but the flowers were denser and so much faster and easier to trim.

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When all of the focus of growth is focused on the buds your fingers will thank you at trim time. Really nice scrog ANC. Nice strip light too.

goatlicker said:

Ah I got you..
That's a shit load to prune, mines so thick...honestly It would be half a pound of leaves if I trimmed them all.
Isn't that bad for them?

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Pruning is necessary indoors to stop PM/molds, Dew sticking leaves together and better airflow so on, plants indoor can live happier than a plant outdoors with fewer leaves.

ANC said:

Yeah, I've pulled bucket fulls when stripping leaves... There are about 40ish plants on there.
Go buy a brick of butter or two and let it all simmer in a pot with about an equal amount of water

Last time I ran a scrog, I only defoliated part of the table. The Yield was a tiny bit lower than the average over the non-stripped side, but the flowers were denser and so much faster and easier to trim.

Click to expand...

gwheels said:

When all of the focus of growth is focused on the buds your fingers will thank you at trim time. Really nice scrog ANC. Nice strip light too.

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budman111 said:

Pruning is necessary indoors to stop PM/molds, Dew sticking leaves together and better airflow so on, plants indoor can live happier than a plant outdoors with fewer leaves.

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Alright, so i went ahead and pruned a fair few leaves off... basically topish ones blocking the light to the bottom and overcrowding area's.
I feel like I've trimmed so much, pretty much a half plastic shopping bag full.
I hope they don't hermie or anything now
There's still a lot that could be trimmed up so that the light reaches everything but that'll take away most of the leaves on the plant.. which i don't think would be ideal?
It's definitely made a wee bit of light get to the lower plants now though.
Pictures anyhow..

I still see too many large leaves there. It will bounce back in 3 or 4 days from the small ones you leave behind. If you leave it like that, anything below the tip cola will be soft and larfy. You'd be amazed at what these girls can bounce back from.

What ANC Says.

I was about to say not to defoliate alot of leaves especially in flower. Its ok to pluck 4-6 every day or every other day. If you prune off too much this can cause the hormones to shift and the plant can hermy on you and you definitely dont want that in flower.

ANC said:

I still see too many large leaves there. It will bounce back in 3 or 4 days from the small ones you leave behind. If you leave it like that, anything below the tip cola will be soft and larfy. You'd be amazed at what these girls can bounce back from.

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budman111 said:

What ANC Says.

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Yeah, but the photos don't show how much lights actually getting around and under everything.
They're a lot better than they were.. i don't really want to cut anymore as i don't want hermies.

Thegermling said:

I was about to say not to defoliate alot of leaves especially in flower. Its ok to pluck 4-6 every day or every other day. If you prune off too much this can cause the hormones to shift and the plant can hermy on you and you definitely dont want that in flower.

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Yeah, thats mainly what im scared of, i really don't want hermies otherwise i'd be trimming a lot more of those bigger leaves at the top.

He is pretty deep into flower, even "if it were to do that" it would hardly be enough time for it to develop into an issue before harvesting.

goatlicker said:

Yeah, but the photos don't show how much lights actually getting around and under everything.
They're a lot better than they were.. i don't really want to cut anymore as i don't want hermies.




Yeah, thats mainly what im scared of, i really don't want hermies otherwise i'd be trimming a lot more of those bigger leaves at the top.

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A good rule of thumb, if a leaf is blocking more mass from getting light than itself underneath it then remove it.

I guess that is the benefit of running numbers. heck, I have no idea how many plants I have at the moment.
I'll be cutting the first clones from my indigo berry cush seed later today. It is quite a robust little plant.