pruning?

jesusweed

whats the deal with pruning? i understand that its to keep plants fitted to a certian space, but i read that pruning the growing tip is a good way to force the plant to spread and become bushier... then i read that pruning the tip takes away from potency. is this true?
my crop consists of four 18inch tall female plants.
theyve been growing for 8 weeks.
should i start flowering? 12 on 12 off?
do they need to vegitate more?
i dont have a camera to take pics or id show them to you...
any help is much appreciated.

thanks

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tokinGLX

when you snip the top of the plant off, the lower branches will then become the "tops" of the plant. this does make the plant more of a bush, but this is not the only way to get the bush effect.

i like to bend the tips and main stem of my plants around so that the lower parts of the plant get much more light than normal. this gives me the bushy growth, and the nice main kola.

veg them for as long as you wish, but keep in mind that most strains go through a good growth spurt in their first couple weeks into flower, usually doubling in size.

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latewood

good advice from Tokin' I will add. generally you veg for 8 weeks (if you want a full mature grow) and then flower. Keep in mind that the longer you veg, the longer plant will take to finish.

topping, and pruning are 2 different things. Pruning causes stress, and stress causes hermies...We should not prune out plants, if big fan leaves get in the way, then gently fold them out of way. I myself let the plants grow.

If you top you form more of a bush effect...no bigger yield, but you control the height of plant.

Also; Plants double or triple their size when induced to flower, then grow buds. If you veg plants 3 feet tall, you better have 6-8 feet of headroom...

This is why a lot of people clone then veg for 2-4 weeks, and flower many clones to get same yield with smaller plants. however;
You can shorten veg time on seed grown plants to a month and flower. keeping the overall size of plant under control.

Hope this helps. Peace