To Prune or Not To Prune

Hello.

I have gone a bit mental with the image uploads My Royal Medic is 3.5 weeks since switching to 12/12. I don't know exactly what stage in flowering she is though. I read it goes from when she first starts showing maturity, I haven't logged when that was. If it's from when I switched to 12/12 then my presumption would be that she has roughly 5 and half weeks left.

My main question is, she's so bushy at the top that the lower leaves and growth, including the middle aren't receiving enough light and dieing off. I did attempt to FIM a week before I put her to 12/12 but I'm now unsure if I topped now. Should I prune all the sad looking growth or will this stress her?

Could I also ask if she's doing well, judging from the pics. (You may see bits of sawdust on the fan leaves, it's not pollen )

I pruned on day 20 of flower, went pretty hard on them....cleaned up all undergrowth(lollipopped) and removed any fans that were clogging up the middle of the plant or covering bud sites.

some growers are all for it and some against, you will get both opinions shortly. good luck navigating the BS that will come with it lol

diggs99 said:

I pruned on day 20 of flower, went pretty hard on them....cleaned up all undergrowth(lollipopped) and removed any fans that were clogging up the middle of the plant or covering bud sites.

some growers are all for it and some against, you will get both opinions shortly. good luck navigating the BS that will come with it lol

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Lmao! I am swaying more towards pruning as I've read the plant concentrates more on the buds rather than the dieing parts. Just scared of stressing her too much. Did it cause any problems at all with yours?

Appreciated the quick reply

i wouldn't do a full prune all at once but i've heard of some people pruning throughout flowering but very little at a time over the course as to not induce so much stress all at once. i don't really have much experience with pruning so i can't really tell you i personally believe in doing a full prune all at once during veg, let it recover for about a week at least then flip then if need be prune here and there during flowering so your not doing a shit load of pruning basically.

the most i have pruned so far during flowering is when i see dead or dying leaves then i prune those. they usually end up dead because i flower outside in a pest infested garden so shit load of aphids on um that suck um dry. pretty much natural defoliation but im sure it fucks up my growth compared to say if i didn't had to deal with pests at all or not much of it.

imo i think you are in week 3-4 since flip. your pretty much past the major stretch phase idk if they will continue to stretch at this point but if so it shouldn't be a whole lot compared to the initial stretch. they should be focusing on producing flowers now.

plants look like they getting too much nitrogen imo i would cut back on nitrogen and all those dead leaves i'd remove and trash. not sure but i would suspect they can harvest both pests and mold. i've seen dead leaves like that on the ground growing mold probably because they are sitting in wet soil.

just my opinions of course if your growing outside you shouldn't even need to prune imo nor train. if indoors i suggest messing around with pruning for more air flow and i think it helps reduce RH as well slightly.

DMXKk17 said:

Lmao! I am swaying more towards pruning as I've read the plant concentrates more on the buds rather than the dieing parts. Just scared of stressing her too much. Did it cause any problems at all with yours?

Appreciated the quick reply

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No it didn't cause any issues. They were all grown back in again within 3-4 days.

Not sure about any of that bro science about pruning shifting energy towards bud sites, that's not my reasons for pruning

IMO the main reasons anyone should prune is air circulation or leaves covering bud sites.

Lollipopping by cleaning up all undergrowth is good too, keeps everything clean and decreases chances of powdery mildew, mold or bugs

I defoliate in flower. Always have, always will. Didn't even know it was considered a bad thing til I came to the forums.

I also cut the tips off my fan leaves in veg... So maybe I'm just batshit crazy.

Lethidox said:

i wouldn't do a full prune all at once but i've heard of some people pruning throughout flowering but very little at a time over the course as to not induce so much stress all at once. i don't really have much experience with pruning so i can't really tell you i personally believe in doing a full prune all at once during veg, let it recover for about a week at least then flip then if need be prune here and there during flowering so your not doing a shit load of pruning basically.

the most i have pruned so far during flowering is when i see dead or dying leaves then i prune those. they usually end up dead because i flower outside in a pest infested garden so shit load of aphids on um that suck um dry. pretty much natural defoliation but im sure it fucks up my growth compared to say if i didn't had to deal with pests at all or not much of it.

imo i think you are in week 3-4 since flip. your pretty much past the major stretch phase idk if they will continue to stretch at this point but if so it shouldn't be a whole lot compared to the initial stretch. they should be focusing on producing flowers now.

plants look like they getting too much nitrogen imo i would cut back on nitrogen and all those dead leaves i'd remove and trash. not sure but i would suspect they can harvest both pests and mold. i've seen dead leaves like that on the ground growing mold probably because they are sitting in wet soil.

just my opinions of course if your growing outside you shouldn't even need to prune imo nor train. if indoors i suggest messing around with pruning for more air flow and i think it helps reduce RH as well slightly.

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That's perfect, thanks for your reply.
I think you may be rite with the nitrogen. I have only ever used tomatorite with her (NPK 4-3-

So, based on advice here. I'm thinking of removing all of the completely dead growth and doing a little prune every 3 days rather than a whole savage attack on her. Hopefully, that'll reduce stress and not affect the bud sizes

3rd Monkey said:

I defoliate in flower. Always have, always will. Didn't even know it was considered a bad thing til I came to the forums.

I also cut the tips off my fan leaves in veg... So maybe I'm just batshit crazy.

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Hahaha, I like your style! Out of curiosity, what does trimming the fan leave tips do?

DMXKk17 said:

That's perfect, thanks for your reply.
I think you may be rite with the nitrogen. I have only ever used tomatorite with her (NPK 4-3-

So, based on advice here. I'm thinking of removing all of the completely dead growth and doing a little prune every 3 days rather than a whole savage attack on her. Hopefully, that'll reduce stress and not affect the bud sizes

Click to expand...

4 3 8 NPK

diggs99 said:

No it didn't cause any issues. They were all grown back in again within 3-4 days.

Not sure about any of that bro science about pruning shifting energy towards bud sites, that's not my reasons for pruning

IMO the main reasons anyone should prune is air circulation or leaves covering bud sites.

Lollipopping by cleaning up all undergrowth is good too, keeps everything clean and decreases chances of powdery mildew, mold or bugs

Click to expand...

Bro science! Reminds me of the old bodybuilding forum days! Cheers for your help

DMXKk17 said:

Hahaha, I like your style! Out of curiosity, what does trimming the fan leave tips do?

Click to expand...

In my experience, it stops the fan leaves from getting bigger and focuses more on growth tip growth.

Way I see it is, if I have 10 3" leaves that are shading out 1 10" fanleaf, that fan leaf isn't doing much good anyway. If I cut the tips and stop it from growing, it focuses more on those growth tips. Puts N where I want it, not where the plant does.

Could be total bullshit. I think it makes a difference though.

DMXKk17 said:

That's perfect, thanks for your reply.
I think you may be rite with the nitrogen. I have only ever used tomatorite with her (NPK 4-3-

So, based on advice here. I'm thinking of removing all of the completely dead growth and doing a little prune every 3 days rather than a whole savage attack on her. Hopefully, that'll reduce stress and not affect the bud sizes

Click to expand...

sounds good ask 3rd monkey how he/she defoliates during flowering or maybe digs they are more experienced then me on this topic for sure im sure thundercats and renfor as well might hop on this thread sometime

3rd Monkey said:

In my experience, it stops the fan leaves from getting bigger and focuses more on growth tip growth.

Way I see it is, if I have 10 3" leaves that are shading out 1 10" fanleaf, that fan leaf isn't doing much good anyway. If I cut the tips and stop it from growing, it focuses more on those growth tips. Puts N where I want it, not where the plant does.

Could be total bullshit. I think it makes a difference though.

Click to expand...

I'm on to another strain after this. I may even give this a go

diggs99 said:

No it didn't cause any issues. They were all grown back in again within 3-4 days.

Not sure about any of that bro science about pruning shifting energy towards bud sites, that's not my reasons for pruning

IMO the main reasons anyone should prune is air circulation or leaves covering bud sites.

Lollipopping by cleaning up all undergrowth is good too, keeps everything clean and decreases chances of powdery mildew, mold or bugs

Click to expand...

So, I've been asked to pop back to you. If this were your plant, would you just go at her or get rid of all the dead, then lollipop over a period of 3 days a time until you get your desired lollipop

Lethidox said:

sounds good ask 3rd monkey how he/she defoliates during flowering or maybe digs they are more experienced then me on this topic for sure im sure thundercats and renfor as well might hop on this thread sometime

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Definitely a dude lol.

I take whatever is blocking light or air from getting to bud sites.

I don't think there is a right or wrong way, just like training... Unless you cut all the leaves off lol. Then that's fucking wrong.

3rd Monkey said:

Definitely a dude lol.

I take whatever is blocking light or air from getting to bud sites.

I don't think there is a right or wrong way, just like training... Unless you cut all the leaves off lol. Then that's fucking wrong.

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i figured lol i don't see many female growers it's kinda sad. curious2garden is the only one i know on here she pretty damn smart when it comes to growing too

DMXKk17 said:

So, I've been asked to pop back to you. If this were your plant, would you just go at her or get rid of all the dead, then lollipop over a period of 3 days a time until you get your desired lollipop

Click to expand...

No, I would beast mode that bitch and get it all done during one pruning

No need for prolonged stress, get it done and over with and let her recover

I'm still new to all of this myself, I'm just following along with the methods of some great growers who do it this way.

Lethidox said:

i figured lol i don't see many female growers it's kinda sad. curious2garden is the only one i know on here she pretty damn smart when it comes to growing too

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To each their own I guess. Honestly, I don't know many women that smoke.

As far as vegetables, I hail from the old school. Men sow, grow, and harvest. Women process, prepare, and preserve.

Not saying there's a right or wrong, just that's how it's done around here.

diggs99 said:

No, I would beast mode that bitch and get it all done during one pruning

No need for prolonged stress, get it done and over with and let her recover

I'm still new to all of this myself, I'm just following along with the methods of some great growers who do it this way.

Click to expand...

I agree completely with you.

That plant is very healthy. It's not gonna hurt it.

diggs99 said:

No, I would beast mode that bitch and get it all done during one pruning

No need for prolonged stress, get it done and over with and let her recover

I'm still new to all of this myself, I'm just following along with the methods of some great growers who do it this way.

Click to expand...

That's it. As soon as she is awake tomorrow, she is getting that dead bush trimmed! I'ma go at her!