Too Many Leaves Left At Flowering? And general advice.

[Bigmama]

This is my first plant, its legal to grow up to six plants in my state. I grew this one using LED lights. The plant has been flowering now for just over 10 weeks, mostly milky, some still clear, maybe 2% amber trichs. I've gotten what I think is a bit of heat / light burn but nothing that has killed the plant. It still seems to be doing OK and its almost done. its hard to keep the closet below 80F. I have a small fan to keep air moving and installed the equivalent of a bathroom fan in the ceiling that pulls air up and out of a roof vent. I use a small dehumidifer when the humidity starts pushing 60 plus. I used miracle grow soil, very little nutrient additives during veg, and little bit of bud boost when it was flowering. Some things I will try to improve on next grow. Keep the air cooler (which will be easier since winter is coming). Keep the 250W equivalent Mars Hydro LED at least 30 inches through whole grow cycle. Use more nutrients. And here is the question:

Looking at this plant, and taking into consideration I've pulled off maybe 40 damaged leaves through flowering, do you think there are still far to many leaves left on the lower part of the plant?

Thanks in advice for any advice for any of the info I noted above.

[Redwasp]

Alot like to remove lower leaves. Especially any that dont get light.

Number one for you next grow: Do not use Miracle Grow Soil. It has timed release nutrients which is not good for these plants. I use Fox Farms Ocean Forest. Others have a hard time with it. A good soil that is easier Is Fox Farms Happy Frog. Others can tell you some other really good soils to use. Just dont use miracle grow.

Looking good for your first grow.

[Bigmama]

Thank you, I'm going to invest in better soil next time. This is just a hobby for me, unfortunately I cant smoke it (gives me a headache). As a kid I've always been fascinated by what a beautiful plant it is, growing up with the real deal hippie parents I saw them allot. Suddenly when I got older I wanted to grow them.

[DankwingDuck]

Make it into edibles or topical cream or something that isn’t being smoked . There is so many things you can do with it . And if you don’t like the high grow a cbd plant. Great for all kinds of medical purposes.

[KingKush]

I'm trying Strawberry Fields by Fox Farm. It's worth mentioning it has been a fantastic growing medium for me. Easier than Ocean Forest, less problems (drainage, bugs, texture) and better results. Ocean Forest is great stuff but this new kind blows it outta the park!

I think all the Roots Organics lineup is great too. Local Oregon company and I absolutely love their products.

[KingKush]

You have done excellent, for this being your first plant! I would just use plain water for the next 2 weeks; and then post another picture. She will continue to ripen and get bigger, swelling into the type of material that is enjoyable for smoking. Using just water a long time at the end makes for buds less harsh to smoke, and helps them reach the best fragrance.
Keep reading the site and forum, you will find people here with about every imaginable successful setup there is.
Happy Growing 🌴

[Bigmama]

Thank you. These forums are proving very helpful.

[GreenhouseEffect]

Gotta say that I am impressed, first grow and even pulled it off in the Miracle Grow soil! Good advice above, and I wouldn't use the miracle grow soil again, either. You might double check those leaves at the bottom of the plant, make sure that those small spots aren't from bug bites. Order a jewelers loupe if you don't have one yet, and take a close look underneath your leaves to make sure you don't have any pests. Even if you do, I wouldn't be to worried at this point, your so close that you should have a good harvest anyway. ( Though be sure to sterilize everything after the grow so you don't have pests next grow!)

Congradulations on a job well done!

[kingfish]

I ditto what Greenhouse said. Well done.

[Bigmama]

Thanks for the heads up on the bugs. I checked with my jewelers loupe and didn't see any little critters staring back at me and I'm glad, magnified 40x they would look like monsters!!

[GreenhouseEffect]

I wouldn't get TO carried away removing leaves on a first grow, but this is where you can learn more. Opinions vary greatly on this one among growers. Exposing a few of those lower bud sites to light would help them faten up, but I would not get to carried away this grow.

[GreenhouseEffect]

Most growers will wait until the plant has 6 true leaf nodes, and then top right above the 2nd node. Yep, when you do that technique you keep topping the shoot you topped, and can get up to even 16 or more colas, all the same!
The cups are part of a set up called Deep Water Culture, which is one way to grow Hydroponic, but you can use the plant training technique with any setup. Having the canopy flat and even when you grow indoors can help a lot.
Lot's of really cool things you can do with plants to boost yields, especially indoors! The GWE site is full of great information about anything you need to know to grow cannabis, and if you can't figure it out there, the forum is full of great people happy to help fellow growers.

[Bigmama]

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y <----
Y
I
I
I

So if each one of those Y's represented a growth fork (node) of two branches, some people let it grow six forks high then chop it back down to two just above the second node, basically removing 6 branches, then just train it from there?

[GreenhouseEffect]

That's my understanding, though I don't really train my plants that way to often, cause I grow in a greenhouse, and have more head room. Definitely check out what Nebula has posted in her tutorials, as you contemplate what you want to do with your next grow. Mainlining is what is the technique being used in that set of pictures, and there are also articles on Low stress training, Supper Cropping, Fimming, and other way's to train your plants, so see what makes the most sense for your particular grow area, and what you want to do. Cannabis has a great natural shape to use natural sunshine, but grow lights don't penetrate as well. With indoor plants, you really want to make your canopy of leaves, and eventually buds, nice and flat like a table, this really makes the best use of grow lights, and will give you the best yield, and best buds! Most of us hear consider the articles that Nebula has posted, as a bit of a growers bible, and definitely all great advice in them. When things give me trouble, I usually go straight back to the section on growing basics, amazing how often it is such a basic thing that I missed!

Happy growing!