How and When to Prune Cannabis for Maximum Yield

There are many important factors to think about and then implement when growing cannabis for maximum yield. There’s aspect: south-facing sunny (eight to 10 hours) location. There’s the dirt: a rich organic and water-retentive soil that has a balanced blend of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. There’s getting the best variety for your climate, your taste and your customer’s tastes from seed, tissue culture clones or ready-to-plant starts from a reputable nursery.

Once you’ve figured out all of these factors, and the danger of frost is over, it’s time to check a moon calendar and plant or soak seed by a new moon to take advantage of Mother Nature’s power.

These factors are all crucial in raising healthy pot plants. But there is another smart, fun and easy way you can give an assist to Mother Nature and help ensure your carefully selected, planted and nourished plants will thrive. Proper and correct pruning can help ensure healthy, bushy plants that produce lots of glorious buds.

Pruning marijuana plants is not difficult to understand, but it does take some dedication and energy as well as using the right tools and timing. Read on for our top tips on how to prune marijuana to enjoy a bounteous crop of premium product.

Vegetative Stage

The first stage of growth for any plant is the vegetative stage, when all the plant’s energy and biological intensity are telling it to reach a certain size. If the factors above are met, and the watering system operates well and is programmed correctly, growers can prune their plants for maximum yield during this vegetative period.

Proper pruning will help augment your marijuana plants’ natural growth. With careful cutting, you can help your plants send their energy to the places where it is most needed.

Best of all, pruning costs little or nothing. All you will have to do is invest a little of your time. For many folks, pruning is fun as well as rewarding. Spending a little quality time with your plants and making some judicious cuts can be a win-win. You will also need to get high-quality pruning clippers if you don’t already have them.

Keep in mind that all plants have a “game plan” for how they will grow from seed to flower. A week before pruning and a few days after, ease off fertilizing your plants so you don’t shock them and force them to produce bigger and more leaves right away. A seven-to-10-day period around pruning time will allow them to adjust and then continue a robust growth cycle.

Getting Better Bud

Most growers know the most significant flowers (buds) will grow when sun exposure and airflow are optimal. Knowing that, it makes perfect sense to start your pruning at the lower branches of the plant.

Begin at the innermost part of each lower branch, where buds may form but will never get large or dense. This pruning technique will send the message to the plant to give all its attention to the outermost buds. The inner leaves that get very small amounts of sunlight are expendable and should be picked off, helping marijuana plants use all of the available nutrients for producing the heaviest, tastiest and most potent harvest, regardless of whether it’s grown for medicinal or recreational purposes.

If you’re pruning because you’re planting in a very windy area or you simply don’t want your neighbors or others to see the plants, you might want to keep the height of your plants low. Pinch off the tallest main stalks with a very sharp pair of pruners. Go down the branch two to four bracts (about one or two feet) and make a clean cut.

You can even prune the outside branches of the ganja plant to give it an even look. If you are planting in a Screen (or Sea of Green) of Green, where you train the mass of plants to grow up through a wire or plastic grid that would be supported three or four feet above the ground for support, the same principles and methods of pruning apply.

Use Proper Pruners

By using the best, cleanest and sharpest pruners (I recommend Felco or Fiskars brands) for cutting lower interior branches, you’ll end up with a clean cut with very little chance of introducing disease. When snipping off lower interior leaves, using pruning snips or fine scissors is preferable.

Leaves are where sun-induced photosynthesis takes place and where nutrients are stored. Be careful not to take off all the leaves you plan to remove at one time. Focusing on the lowest branches and the interior of the plant or leaves that shade the buds, make it a two-part process. Each step should be a week apart.

Leave most of the largest fan leaves on the plant. They are the plant’s fuel factory. Removing yellowing, fading leaves and ones that shade the buds only. Keep in mind that while you are pruning, you should always be trying to eliminate the chance of shocking the plant, which may trigger early flowering that might result in lower yield.

Post-Pruning Plant Care

Finally, water your garden after pruning or de-leafing to stimulate growth and avoid shock. Giving your plants a dose of Vitamin B complex fertilizer along with the water will help them through this beneficial but often shocking period. The roots will benefit from this nutrient, and the plants should be higher-yielding. This vitamin fertilizer is thought to help the plants grow larger and produce bigger, more resinous colas.

In the flowering stage, growers feed their plants an organic high-phosphorous fertilizer. Vitamin B1 helps your plants take up and assimilate phosphorous. Kelp and other plants from the sea are a natural and organic source of vitamin B.

Carefully pruning your cannabis will help you maximize the growth and potency of every plant. This is just one of the many important factors to be aware of when growing nature’s gift, ganja. Seed (variety), site selection, soil and a regulated irrigation and fertilizing schedule are the other factors that can help you pull off a harvest you can be proud of.

A little extra care and time spent pruning can pay big dividends in a big, high-quality crop. Just ask any dedicated gardeners or growers, and they will tell you about the dedication and nurturing required and the ultimate payoff. You can do it!