Today's noob questions

[OlderNOTwiser]

I search before I post and even on this site it is surprising how far off the results seem at times. Anyway, three questions for this morning.

1) Soil topping or however you may phrase it. Sadie is in a 5 gal pot and has outgrown it by a huge amount. (Grown 18" in the past ten days. Now 60" from soil to crown.) My question to myself (and now you all) is whether to top up the soil that has been lost and/or used up. The soil level is about two inches below where it started. I'm picking up FFOF this afternoon for my "Christmas Grow" and wondered if putting some of it on the top is recommended or not. When I try the first knuckle test for watering I can't due to it being a mass of roots about 1/8" under. And IF I go this route does it affect nutes? Would it add nitrogen when I don't really want a lot?

2) Outdoor defoliation. I read and read and of course there is no one way to do any of this. My thinking is to trim only the largest fans that block bud sites at this juncture. There are some 9-finger ones that are freaking huge.

3) Cleaning tools. If I do a bit of a trim on her how do I clean my new nippers to prevent any unseen germs, bugs, etc. from impacting things? I'm guessing rubbing alcohol or peroxide but really do not know. And if either of them is there a "best" ratio to water or straight up?

Thanks in advance.

[9fingerleafs]

this is what i think
1. ive never used top dressing but i think you gonna need something more concentrated that a bit of ff soil, you need something like bat guano, manure, humus.....
2. please do not remove those big leaves, specially outdoors, those leaves are going to feed and produce energy for the little branches to grow big and tall. trust me they need those big leaves
3. i use rubbing alcohol pretty regularly, just a little piece of toilet paper with a few drops of alcohol clean great

[Gingerbeard]

1. Transplant to a bigger pot. Part of transplanting and upping pot size is allowing more root growth. If you top, you're getting some nutes from the topping soil leaching down when you water.

2. Keep 'em.

3. Scrape off what you can with a razor blade. Alcohol and toilet paper are great for cleaning.

[Rwise]

1. I start mine in 20 gallon pots for inside, I leave 4" - 6" (or so) room at the top so I can add soil later. I add the soil just before flower and cover 4-6 limbs (water with Voodoo Juice). Now it does not work with every strain, but for those that it does, they will grow roots on everything covered. A limb can grow like a plant!

2. We will all have to do things for our climate when we grow outside, I have had 5+" of rain this morning and its still pouring,, in August! I am taking leaf to promote air flow threw the plant , bud rot is a concern for me this year! Most years I have let them thin their selves.

3. I never use metal on my plants,,,,

[SoOrbudgal]

Morning, I will always loose soil height in my pots and I do use my organic soil mix I make to " top off the container" a couple times during the 7month period of the photo grow outdoors.
I will only remove huge fan leaf if it's laying on or blocking or dying turning yellow.
I use rubbing alcohol to clean my scissors but when doing close bud trim I scrape the resin off the scissors with a sharp knife onto a large plastic lid to use for making kief balls little power bullets for the water bong LOL But rubbing alcohol works great to clean sticky scissors.