Hydrolife Magazine October/November 2016 (USA Edition)

grow
A room full of Purple White Lightning at Broken Coast Cannabis, a commercial grower in British Columbia, Canada.
As gardeners gain the experience
of seeing many crops grown to
completion, they develop a perspective
that allows them to anticipate what
a plant will become based upon its
genotype and structure, even when it’s
in the early vegetative stage. This allows
for precise control of the flowering
canopy structure well before the plants
reach flower. Encouraging gardeners
to record notes on each batch, take a
detailed visual assessment of each
completed batch before harvest, and
perhaps even take a photo to jog the
memory, is recommended. Seeing the
result of a crop or batch, viewing the
related data and making adjustments
that will in theory improve the previous
result is the best method of increasing
canopy output and efficiencies.
Sharing accurate yield data is crucial
and that information should drive the
decisions made regarding gardening
technique and logistics. If operating a
commercial grow, I recommend having
a full-time employee just to assemble
the data from the garden. If the garden
is large and the vegetative and flowering
growth is managed separately by
different departments, there should be
strong communication and the end result
of the vegetative team’s effectiveness of
plant contortion and pruning should be
studied and constantly improved.
The three-dimensional structure of the
flowering canopy consists of square
footage and depth. If growing medium
size plants, the bud sites can be productive
several feet into the canopy. The
nuances of specific genetics lead to
varying results, as certain examples will
grow taller with better light penetration
through the canopy due to skinny sativa
dominant leaves, or may generate worthwhile
flowers in a limited light condition.
Topping, or pruning, is the practice of
removing the tip of a branch to encourage
lower growth and to inhibit a plant from
stretching. It also creates more primary
nodes that will add additional flower
If growing medium size
plants, the bud sites can
be productive several feet
into the canopy.
sites by allowing the lower branches to
catch up in vertical growth closer to the
light. Although often abused, this is the
most common example of contorting a
plant for optimal yield.
Like all plant contortion techniques,
topping is inevitably plant count and
strain specific. Many genetics will
grow vertically, with an overly large
central cola, creating the likelihood of
bud mold and reduced yields due to a
limited amount of bud sites positioned
close enough to the light. If executed
at the right time, to the correct degree
and with adequate lighting, topping a
plant once or twice is usually all that’s
required. Once a cutting has been
propagated for a few weeks and is beginning
aggressive vertical growth, it
should receive its initial topping, which
forces the lower branches to catch up
vertically with the central primary
node before the plant has grown large,
making it the most efficient time to do
so. This typically results in three or four
primary nodes, which may or may not
be adequate, depending upon the crop’s
growth structure and plant density per
square foot. When more nodes are required,
it is recommended to top in the
vegetative stage once more, doubling
them from six to eight.
22
grow. heal. live. enjoy.
myhydrolife.com