Can one plant have more than one cola? It's been Prove many times that it can be done. It's actually very easy and straightforward. By pruning the plant the right way and the right time you can get up to 4 big colas.
What exactly is a cola? That's easy. Cola is Spanish for tail, and is how the long thick buds that the plant produces are referred to. You won't see them on every plant, but some will have giants. If you're growing as a hobby I recommend trying to get some big ones as they are more impressive.
You'll likely get the biggest colas by growing single ones. However, some growers increase yield by growing multiple colas. There are two main ways to do this: trimming and training. I'm going to look at trimming here.
What I mean by "trimming" is to pinch off the top of the plant when it's still young. This won't be news to anyone with other gardening experience. In fact, it's common practice with many plants. Fuchsia growers regularly pinch off growing tips to get more blossoms. It also works with different plant varieties. You can encourage bushy, rather than tall, growth.
With this kind of plant you can use a few pinching techniques. Each will give different results. Each has its fans and detractors. You can experiment a bit and find which one you prefer.
You should let the plant grow until it has5 or 6 sets of branches. The place where these branches leave the main stem are called nodes. They occur on the main stem, and the plant keeps growing up the center by popping out a shoot between the nodes, going upwards.
If you cut this growing tip off the plant will react by replacing it with two new ones on each side of the pinched off stem. They will take over as the two dominant stems. They will continue to shoot off branches and leaves as the plant grows.
There are different approaches to this. One way is to just keep pinching off the growing tips as the nodes multiply. This will result in lots of smaller colas, and no monsters. There are two happy mediums, though. One will produce two main colas. The other will produce four. Both will result in some big colas.
The first method requires you to wait until the plant has developed five or six nodes. You cut off the main stem leaving two nice healthy nodes below. You'll get new stems from where you cut the stem as well as from the node below that. Two sets of new stems means 4 colas. The second way is to pinch the plant off one node lower. That will only leave one good inter node to sprout. Two sprouts equal two colas.
The question becomes:what if I pinch them off higher? Will I get 6, 8, 10 colas? The answer, technically, is yes, but it's not that simple. By pinching off the main stem you're tricking the plant a bit, and manipulating it's hormones. However, you can only go so far with that. If you pinch off every growing tip you'll increase the number of colas, but they won't be worthy of the name. They'll bloom and work fine, but they'll be small. Overall they might produce more bud, but they won't be foot long donkey dicks. The growth hormone will have been too spread out.
That's about all there is to it. Clip and wait for Nature to take it's course. Gardeners will argue about which method is best, but it's hard to get a definitive answer. There are really no controlled experiments that I know of. There are lots of variables.Lights, nutrients and strain all have their roles to play. Try to spread the plant out (4 big buds will help here) so that light gets to the lower reaches of it. Whatever you do, remember that it's about having fun, not getting maximum yield. You'll have plenty. And remember to root the main stem that you clip off for the future!
What exactly is a cola? That's easy. Cola is Spanish for tail, and is how the long thick buds that the plant produces are referred to. You won't see them on every plant, but some will have giants. If you're growing as a hobby I recommend trying to get some big ones as they are more impressive.
You'll likely get the biggest colas by growing single ones. However, some growers increase yield by growing multiple colas. There are two main ways to do this: trimming and training. I'm going to look at trimming here.
What I mean by "trimming" is to pinch off the top of the plant when it's still young. This won't be news to anyone with other gardening experience. In fact, it's common practice with many plants. Fuchsia growers regularly pinch off growing tips to get more blossoms. It also works with different plant varieties. You can encourage bushy, rather than tall, growth.
With this kind of plant you can use a few pinching techniques. Each will give different results. Each has its fans and detractors. You can experiment a bit and find which one you prefer.
You should let the plant grow until it has5 or 6 sets of branches. The place where these branches leave the main stem are called nodes. They occur on the main stem, and the plant keeps growing up the center by popping out a shoot between the nodes, going upwards.
If you cut this growing tip off the plant will react by replacing it with two new ones on each side of the pinched off stem. They will take over as the two dominant stems. They will continue to shoot off branches and leaves as the plant grows.
There are different approaches to this. One way is to just keep pinching off the growing tips as the nodes multiply. This will result in lots of smaller colas, and no monsters. There are two happy mediums, though. One will produce two main colas. The other will produce four. Both will result in some big colas.
The first method requires you to wait until the plant has developed five or six nodes. You cut off the main stem leaving two nice healthy nodes below. You'll get new stems from where you cut the stem as well as from the node below that. Two sets of new stems means 4 colas. The second way is to pinch the plant off one node lower. That will only leave one good inter node to sprout. Two sprouts equal two colas.
The question becomes:what if I pinch them off higher? Will I get 6, 8, 10 colas? The answer, technically, is yes, but it's not that simple. By pinching off the main stem you're tricking the plant a bit, and manipulating it's hormones. However, you can only go so far with that. If you pinch off every growing tip you'll increase the number of colas, but they won't be worthy of the name. They'll bloom and work fine, but they'll be small. Overall they might produce more bud, but they won't be foot long donkey dicks. The growth hormone will have been too spread out.
That's about all there is to it. Clip and wait for Nature to take it's course. Gardeners will argue about which method is best, but it's hard to get a definitive answer. There are really no controlled experiments that I know of. There are lots of variables.Lights, nutrients and strain all have their roles to play. Try to spread the plant out (4 big buds will help here) so that light gets to the lower reaches of it. Whatever you do, remember that it's about having fun, not getting maximum yield. You'll have plenty. And remember to root the main stem that you clip off for the future!
About the Author:
Do you want an answer to the question:how do you grow marijuana? Just ask Castulo Zane. He knows. . Visit his blog or google www.growyourownstone.com to find more ways to grow marijuana.. Also published at More Colas by Trimming.
http://bit.ly/rugURx