Pruning

[Chadeee2002]

I topped my plant for the first time after 3 nodes. Should i remove all lower leaves on plant or leave them alone to help store energy.. i seen people do it either way n was wondering whats the best way.. thanks in advance

[CaptainWiese91]

Matter of preference mate.
I keep my leaves on when I do it, more leaves just help the growth a little better when the plant is photosynthesis.
it’s solar panels for your growth.
when the time comes and it grows vigorously again I cut them off if they are in the “way” or blocking something

[Chadeee2002]

Thanks for the advice.. thats what im gonna do and was leaning on doing but thought maybe if there were less leaves then all the nutrients would be focused on the top of the plant..next time i will try it the other way n see what the results are.. appreciate the help

[MeEasy]

It is a preference and all depends on how you intend to train em. If you are gonna do a manifold you actually count nodes and remove certain ones

https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-plant-training

[Chadeee2002]

Im new to this but i think im gonna mainline this plant.

[MeEasy]

Chadeee2002 here is NebulaHaze step by step manifold/mainline it's complete with pictures very detailed

https://www.growweedeasy.com/manifold

[JoeBlow]

I have been manifolding for years. I always cut off non-relevant shoots and do not cut the leaves at first. The way I see it, you never want energy going into shoots you're eventually cutting off, and leaves gather energy. I cut those lower leaves off when they are in the shadow of newer leaves or they get in the way of training. I use a rubber plant tie with a metal core and I wrap it around the main stem, and then use that to hold down the only 2 shoots that are now growing. I'll attempt to illustrate with a crude drawing:

[Chadeee2002]

Awesome....thanks for the help...this is very helpful....do you cut all the lower shoots? And do you cut them down as close as you can to stem?

[CaptainWiese91]

Look up Nebulas tutorial on mainlining on the main site mate. You have all the answers there

[JoeBlow]

I cut them all. All the shoots that aren't new tops get cut off as close to the stem as possible so they don't grow back. If they grow back, remove them again.

[Chadeee2002]

Its said to let it grow 6 nodes then cut after the 3rd node.. i only had 4 nodes n cut it. Will this stall the growth a bit?

[CaptainWiese91]

Depends on the plant is healthy.
I see a lot of guys in here top with 4th node, with no problem

[MeEasy]

I don't think it will make much difference if any as long as like captain said it is healthy. I'm following this tutorial on manifold training on my current grow or at least 4 of em lost one it was male so down to 3. I had one of em grow extremely tall it was a node taller than the others so when I topped it I did the 2nd node to keep em even and unless I go count the node scars I couldn't tell you which one it was. Point being you probably won't have a problem

[JoeBlow]

It looks healthy to me. Negligible difference between using the 3rd or 4th node's shoots. I cut above 4, even 5 if the nodes are really close together and 3 if they spread out. For me the closer to the dirt, the better. Remember that roots = shoots. There's an equal amount of root under the dirt for however much plant you see. The longer you let it go without cutting it, the more roots you will have, and the faster the shoots will grow. By the same token if you cut earlier the new shoots will start growing sooner, but it will be slower because less roots. Oh and after you make this kind of cut, you can expect a couple days of little growth as the plant figures out the apex shoot was removed and it applies the appropriate plant hormones to turn the next highest shoots into apexes.

[quirk]

I topped my plant for the first time after 3 nodes. Should i remove all lower leaves on plant or leave them alone to help store energy.. i seen people do it either way n was wondering whats the best way.. thanks in advance

It's all grower preference. I remove under 4 on every plant I grow because the way I train, whether Top, Lst or mainline, the bottom growth never amounts to zip and it makes it easier to train and water. Organic soil auto grower.