Bamboo stakes

[s62]

I just got done putting in some bamboo stakes, as some of my colas were starting to lie down under their own weight. Some of them I attached to the stakes using twist ties. But some of them I just propped up using the stake (and having it physically stop the cola from falling). Is this an ok thing to do? I’ve attached pics of both styles.

[Spidermite]

Yes that is fine. To be on the safe side you should remove any fan leaves that are overlapping and touching though. Beautiful plant.

[s62]

Thanks! I’ve got a bit of a science experiment going in my tent. As this is my first grow, I wanted to be careful about defoliation (as per GWE recommendations). So I aggressively defoliated one plant, moderately defoliated another, and lightly defoliated the remaining two plants. This way I can compare results, and if I do go a little pinch-happy, it’s limited to one or two plants. I’ll do some more pinching, though, to remove those kissing fan leaves. Thanks again!

[alltatup]

Very fine staking, you fearless vampire killer!!!

[s62]

Hahaha, you should smell the garlic around here...

[alltatup]

We gotta protect our plants from all predators!!!

[s62]

Did some more staking, and did a substantial defoliation. Starting to resemble a finished product!

[alltatup]

Looking very, very awesome!!!

[s62]

Thank you!

[Ardek]

Yea, looks great (from a 1st cropper)... I believe I will do this and only net individual plants for my next crop instead of netting the entire grow tent. The way I did it, I cannot remove the plants from the grow tent now until I'm ready to harvest. If I was staked individually and netted each plant on its own, I would have been able to move them around more during flower.

[s62]

That’s a great point. I’m planning to scrog next grow, but I definitely won’t be moving plants around

[s62]

Alright, one more update. I ended up using all of the stakes tonight, trying to fully untangle my mess of buds. I also ended up pruning and defoliating like a beast. I’m a little worried I went overboard, but you all can be the judge of that. I cut off suckers and targeted overlapping fan leaves, mostly.

[s62]

Thanks, Spidermite! As a newbie, each cut is a little nerve wracking lol. That said, I kinda love pruning and defoliating.

[kingfish]

s62, in pic 3. Why did you trim all those buds off?

[s62]

They were suckers. They were hidden from light despite a lot of defoliating. They weren’t making bud, just stigmas. There were no trichomes forming, really. They were never even going to amount to larfy.