Found this an interesting read.
I'm a senior female who has been growing all sorts of plants, bushes, trees my whole life. I learned it from my first generation American mom who grew everything too. When a plant like marijuana, which is a terpenoid, (produces resin no differently than a pine tree), gets to the stage that it is flowering/budding, the plant pretty much ceases to grow. At this stage all plant's energy is going toward producing seed be it in the form of fruit, vegetable, flowers, buds. Every living thing is programmed to PROCREATE if nothing else. Any plant in stress, a tree that is dying, a plant in it's final stages will quickly try to procreate as much as possible.
We prevent female marijuana plants from being pollinated and seeding so buds continue to swell in the hope of being pollinated and the plant procreating. The big marijuana leaves on the plant at this stage are doing nothing but taking resin away from the buds. The plant itself should no longer be growing because it's reached it's pot size potential and we've forced it to bud. The buds are what people want to smoke not leaves, so pinch them off. Use the sticky leaves to make butter, or hash. As for the resin in the plant, it's now known that higher temps, increased sunlight, and decreased water supply really motivate terpenoids to produce resin.
Pinching out the big marijuana leaves allows:
Light and heat to hit all budding sights
Keeps the plant drier signaling more resin production (the hydro in THC is a clue) to protect and nourish the swelling buds.
Alerts the plant that a herbivore may be eating it. Resin is a plants defense. Most critters do NOT like the taste of resin and therefore the plant will produce even more resin.
Allows all the good juju (resin) to go right to the buds and not on the leaves, which no one wants to smoke.
Think about it. Everything in my yard perennials, bushes, trees, herbs, roses, vegetables get thinned out once, twice, some three times over the summer or they suffer. I've flowered a 4 ft. lime tree in a pot. I've got gardenia's blooming on a giant 3 ft bush in my living room in MI right now. Always remember that the top of any plant in a pot cannot grow beyond the root system that supports it so once the plant/tree is mature, cutting back/pinching is necessary, repotting is NOT because part of forcing any plant to bloom is letting it become root bound, taking away light, and restricting water supply. This makes the plant bloom faster and more vigorously because it's all it can do. It must produce seed to maintain the species despite its dire conditions (starvation) and will do it every time.
I'm a senior female who has been growing all sorts of plants, bushes, trees my whole life. I learned it from my first generation American mom who grew everything too. When a plant like marijuana, which is a terpenoid, (produces resin no differently than a pine tree), gets to the stage that it is flowering/budding, the plant pretty much ceases to grow. At this stage all plant's energy is going toward producing seed be it in the form of fruit, vegetable, flowers, buds. Every living thing is programmed to PROCREATE if nothing else. Any plant in stress, a tree that is dying, a plant in it's final stages will quickly try to procreate as much as possible.
We prevent female marijuana plants from being pollinated and seeding so buds continue to swell in the hope of being pollinated and the plant procreating. The big marijuana leaves on the plant at this stage are doing nothing but taking resin away from the buds. The plant itself should no longer be growing because it's reached it's pot size potential and we've forced it to bud. The buds are what people want to smoke not leaves, so pinch them off. Use the sticky leaves to make butter, or hash. As for the resin in the plant, it's now known that higher temps, increased sunlight, and decreased water supply really motivate terpenoids to produce resin.
Pinching out the big marijuana leaves allows:
Light and heat to hit all budding sights
Keeps the plant drier signaling more resin production (the hydro in THC is a clue) to protect and nourish the swelling buds.
Alerts the plant that a herbivore may be eating it. Resin is a plants defense. Most critters do NOT like the taste of resin and therefore the plant will produce even more resin.
Allows all the good juju (resin) to go right to the buds and not on the leaves, which no one wants to smoke.
Think about it. Everything in my yard perennials, bushes, trees, herbs, roses, vegetables get thinned out once, twice, some three times over the summer or they suffer. I've flowered a 4 ft. lime tree in a pot. I've got gardenia's blooming on a giant 3 ft bush in my living room in MI right now. Always remember that the top of any plant in a pot cannot grow beyond the root system that supports it so once the plant/tree is mature, cutting back/pinching is necessary, repotting is NOT because part of forcing any plant to bloom is letting it become root bound, taking away light, and restricting water supply. This makes the plant bloom faster and more vigorously because it's all it can do. It must produce seed to maintain the species despite its dire conditions (starvation) and will do it every time.
Last edited: