A question from a fellow grower:
This White Widow indoor hydroponic grow is currently in week 3 of veg. The early fan leaves are huge and blocking light (a single 200W CFL) from the underneath leafs and bud sites. Should I remove the big fan leaves or wait until flowering and do it, if at all?
Also, what is the earliest you think I can switch this plant to flower and still get decent yield?
Really looking to get maybe a .5 to .75 oz for personal use; would like to get a quick stash around so I can start an auto-blueberry or Northern Light grow.
And lastly, is it possible that if I am not concerned with high yields, for my grow box’s limited 18 to 20 inches of height space, I can grow medium height indoor plants and just flip them over to flower after 3-4 or so weeks?
No. Do not chop off your fan leaves. They are the lungs and punp for the plant. They transpire, they, fraw fluids to the top of the plant.
Looks to me like you might be able to get 2 plants in that tub. You can flower as early as 4 weeks, but will lose a good % of potential yield. You may also choose to top the plant to keep the height down, and clone the top, ofr a Mother plant. This will double your bud sites and make more light available to the canopy.
You will have to train your plants by tying them down in roder to keep them under 2 feet. Good thing you have a 200w CFL, because you can grow much closer to it.
Yeah, don’t cut off your large fan leaves! They are also the solar panels of the plant, capturing the light and turning it into energy for growth and bud development.
To keep your plant or plants small and manageable in a very small grow space you are going to have to incorporate many training and pruning techniques. It is ok to cut off certain fan leaves, yes, but you want to keep as many as you can for a good yeild.
Here are a bunch of ILGM articles on tools, tip and tricks to increase your yield: