Pruning cannabis: pros, cons and advice

Growers, novice or experienced, need to pay careful attention to the issue of cannabis pruning. The topic is not particularly complicated, it is enough to understand it once. In the future, this knowledge will bring a significant quantitative and qualitative increase in the harvest.

It is important to note: pruning is a useful manipulation that has a number of positive effects for most bushes. Many options for training vegetation can increase the harvest, pruning is the most accessible method. Exceptions exist, for example, autoflowering varieties, we will consider them further in more detail.

Marijuana trimming, pros

The most obvious advantages of this technique are considered:

• Accelerated development. A properly performed procedure will allow the cannabis plant to develop much faster, reaching a larger size.
• Change in growth priorities. The bush stops spending most of its resources on striving for the sun and grows wider. This has the added benefit of reducing height, which is particularly useful in outdoors cannabis cultivation.
• Significant yield increase. This advantage is a consequence of the previous two: the plant spends a lot more of the freed up energy on forming inflorescences.
• The possibility of using SOG, SCROG techniques. The even distribution of the plant on the grid allows you to maximize the benefits of the available light.
• Moderate stress. The key word is “moderate.” When properly applied, pruning will of course stress the plant, but not so severely as to depress life processes. A small amount of stress, on the other hand, will be beneficial and can increase resin content and concentrations of THC, CBD, other cannabinoids

Which marijuana varieties need to be pruned?

Of course, the pruning technique is suitable for photoperiod varieties. The life cycle of a photoperiodic plant is determined by the grower (indore) or the duration of warm summer weather (outdoors). Even in the outdoors, the bush has plenty of time to recover from stresses and make the most of its new form.

Autoflowers mature at a certain age, regardless of the light cycle. Therefore, any pruning is disastrous for these strains. Even if the plant recovers after the procedure, the lack of time will not allow it to take advantage of the benefits of pruning, the development period will pass ineffectively. The final harvest will be much worse than if you simply let the autoflower grow naturally.

Pruning cannabis, are there any disadvantages?

The already obvious disadvantage is the failure of this method in the cultivation of “autics”. A huge number of growers prefer to use exactly autoflowering strains, to which pruning is contraindicated.

Are there other negative sides? Perhaps the most serious of the disadvantages is the possibility of easily overdoing it, especially in the first attempts at pruning.

It is much harder to harm a photoperiodic strain than an autoflowering one, but the consequences of the actions of an inexperienced grower can affect the plant badly.

If you buy high quality cannabis seeds and follow some tips, the likelihood of failure even at the first attempt is greatly reduced.

Tips for pruning marijuana

It is extremely important not to start the process of pruning the plant too early. The technique is applied not earlier than the beginning of the vegetative stage. A young bush should have time to grow at least five to seven leaves.

Often growers prefer to prune after four to five weeks. This stage of the life cycle of the plant is characterized by active development, which will be directed to the side branches when pruning. In the later stages of vegetation and especially at flowering, the cutting of branches should be stopped. At most - periodically remove a few leaves that interfere with the access of light to the cones.

It is extremely important not to be overzealous in the pruning process, as this will become a serious stress and slow down the development of the bush. Pruning should not be frequent and spontaneous: use the method systematically and carefully, leaving the plant time to recover. After each pruning, you should give the plant a few days to recover. Morning time suits the procedure much better than evening time.

A few more important factors when pruning cannabis plants

It should be remembered, grooving is a serious undertaking that requires attention to a variety of factors. The frequency and “radicality” of pruning depends largely on the environment. If the plant grows in a rather harsh environment, it is worth applying the technology of trimming marijuana extremely carefully.

Varieties are also important. For different varieties, the effectiveness of the method is different. The greatest effectiveness of pruning shows when growing sativa. Indica-dominant varieties are naturally low and “fluffy”, growing into squat stocky bushes. 

Some strains calmly forgive the mistakes of beginners, withstanding the most powerful stresses, while others are capricious and wither from the slightest inconsistencies of care.

If you keep a close eye on the condition of the plant and act with care, you will definitely learn how to prune your cannabis correctly, getting maximum benefit and yield.