Should I Prune My Outdoor Medical Marijuana Garden
There are a few reasons why pruning outdoor plants could be advantageous.
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Plants grown outdoors can stick out like a sore thumb. 
For many medical marijuana growers it is advantageous to undercut, super crop, top, or otherwise manipulate their plants to maximize light penetration and utilize the light footprint. What about medical marijuana grown outdoors? The sun is so powerful in comparison to artificial lighting that light penetration is really not an issue. The light footprint is not a limiting factor either. So why would you prune or trim outdoor medical marijuana plants? There are a few reasons why pruning outdoor plants could be advantageous.
Controlling the Shape of Your Garden
One of the most common reasons for pruning an outdoor medical marijuana plant is to “train” it to take on a desired shape. Plants grown outdoors can stick out like a sore thumb in certain locations and shaping plants is one way to keep them camouflaged. I knew a grower who lived in the heart of a big city who grew a few medical marijuana plants every year in the middle of his small vegetable garden. By pruning and weaving his plants in a trellis he was able to keep his plant only a few feet off the ground and completely hidden to the untrained eye. Unless you were standing right on top of the garden it appeared like a normal vegetable garden. Thieves can’t steal what they can’t see.
Other growers may like to top or prune their plants in order to maintain a shrub or bush-like plant structure. These plants can be easier to work on than very tall plants and also blend in better with their surroundings. A medical marijuana plant pruned to a nice round shape will also produce more evenly sized flowers.
Topping for More Flower Sets
When a medical marijuana plant is topped there is a multiplication of new growth shoots. For every section of plant topped off, two new sections will appear. By repeating this process throughout the first few weeks of June an outdoor medical marijuana plant can be manipulated to produce many more flower sites than a plant that is not topped. For outdoor gardens, more flower sites generally equals more yield because limited light energy is not a determining factor as with indoor gardens.
Pruning to Thin Out And Protect Against Diease
The process of thinning out an outdoor medical marijuana plant can be very advantageous. Removing a portion of the central vegetation allows better airflow to the middle of the plant which reduces the chances of moisture driven pathogens. Powdery mildew and bud rot both thrive in moist conditions and many times start in the center of dense plants. Simply reach into the central portion and remove excess leaves and shoots throughout June and early July. Plants that receive better ventilation will not only have less of a chance of developing pathogens, they also produce more abundant yields.
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Tuesday, 05 June 2012
