It's that time of year again! And what a perfect time for the cannabis sub-forum to arrive! 
Thanks so much, Nexus team! :thumb_up:
Just thought I'd share a few basic tips I've picked up for increasing yield and reducing your chances of getting bud rot.
A lot of people are familiar with topping plants but I've found that most people are still really attracted to big, tall plants that are shaped kind of like Christmas trees. These kinds of plants usually have massive, thick colas. Big buds and plants are fun to look at, but regular topping can increase yield and decrease your chances of bud rot/powdery mildew.
The plants I've been helping with this summer are still large plants, but they are very wide and shrub-like as opposed to tall and skinny. Having a more "squat" plant might seem counter-intuitive, but each time you top you are creating more bud sites. If you prune enough you will end up with several smaller tops on your plant(s). Just be careful not to overdo it or you'll stress out the plants.
By doing this you end up with smaller buds that are evenly dispersed. Mold thrives in moist/humid conditions, so the fatter and bigger your buds, the higher chance of bud rot. You can end up with a much higher yield by doing this because you aren't ending up with a cola the size of your arm that is entirely moldy in the center. You end up breaking all those huge buds down anyways so you actually save yourself a bit of work when it's time to harvest/trim. This is a method commonly used for indoor growing but works just as well outdoors.
Another trick I've picked up is spacing out harvesting. For example instead of taking down a whole plant at once, take just the biggest tops. Wait a week or so to let the lower buds fill out before taking them, and then wait another week or so before taking the bottoms. It obviously takes longer to harvest but you can end up with a significantly higher yield by spacing out each part of the plant when you decide to take down buds.
And lastly trim wet! Lots and lots of people trim their herb after it has dried which makes sense for many reasons, but if any one of your buds has a tiny bit of mold in it that you cannot see when it is hang drying, the whole thing will turn to white fuzz by the time it is dry. When trimming wet you can pick out mold as you see it and save entire buds from becoming unusable medicine.
This might seem strange to a lot of people, but if you are trimming wet spray your flower with a mix of water and hydrogen peroxide (soak it if you suspect powdery mildew). The spray helps the trichomes stay on the bud and not on your fingers (the difference is remarkable) and the H2O2 helps to disinfect the bud of any potential mold/mildew spores. Here's a video explaining it in more detail (he soaks it to treat powdery mildew, when we tried this we just lightly misted the herb).
Thanks so much, Nexus team! :thumb_up:
Just thought I'd share a few basic tips I've picked up for increasing yield and reducing your chances of getting bud rot.
A lot of people are familiar with topping plants but I've found that most people are still really attracted to big, tall plants that are shaped kind of like Christmas trees. These kinds of plants usually have massive, thick colas. Big buds and plants are fun to look at, but regular topping can increase yield and decrease your chances of bud rot/powdery mildew.
The plants I've been helping with this summer are still large plants, but they are very wide and shrub-like as opposed to tall and skinny. Having a more "squat" plant might seem counter-intuitive, but each time you top you are creating more bud sites. If you prune enough you will end up with several smaller tops on your plant(s). Just be careful not to overdo it or you'll stress out the plants.
By doing this you end up with smaller buds that are evenly dispersed. Mold thrives in moist/humid conditions, so the fatter and bigger your buds, the higher chance of bud rot. You can end up with a much higher yield by doing this because you aren't ending up with a cola the size of your arm that is entirely moldy in the center. You end up breaking all those huge buds down anyways so you actually save yourself a bit of work when it's time to harvest/trim. This is a method commonly used for indoor growing but works just as well outdoors.
Another trick I've picked up is spacing out harvesting. For example instead of taking down a whole plant at once, take just the biggest tops. Wait a week or so to let the lower buds fill out before taking them, and then wait another week or so before taking the bottoms. It obviously takes longer to harvest but you can end up with a significantly higher yield by spacing out each part of the plant when you decide to take down buds.
And lastly trim wet! Lots and lots of people trim their herb after it has dried which makes sense for many reasons, but if any one of your buds has a tiny bit of mold in it that you cannot see when it is hang drying, the whole thing will turn to white fuzz by the time it is dry. When trimming wet you can pick out mold as you see it and save entire buds from becoming unusable medicine.
This might seem strange to a lot of people, but if you are trimming wet spray your flower with a mix of water and hydrogen peroxide (soak it if you suspect powdery mildew). The spray helps the trichomes stay on the bud and not on your fingers (the difference is remarkable) and the H2O2 helps to disinfect the bud of any potential mold/mildew spores. Here's a video explaining it in more detail (he soaks it to treat powdery mildew, when we tried this we just lightly misted the herb).
