Pruning Weed to Increase Yield – What You Need to Know

Something I think most of us marijuana growers want are big huge buds. Whether you only get a few or if you’re lucky and get a dozen, we all want the big, juicy buds! As weed is legalized in more and more places, the knowledge that is openly being offered to newbies is simply amazing and invaluable.

Will pruning weed increase the yield? When pruned properly, a weed plant’s yield will increase. By pruning/trimming the lower leaves of a marijuana plant after flowering has started, you will help to increase the size of the buds. Trimming is essential to maximizing the size of your plants’ yield. 

One of the things you need to learn fast is that all those lower leaves are not what you want when you go to smoke your weed plant. You think you want them, but trust me, you don’t! The majority of THC in your weed plant is in the buds and the leaves growing in and around the buds. Everything else can be used for tea’s or something else. I don’t want to say just throw those parts out but that’s what some do. In the rest of this article, we will talk about pruning and trimming your plants for maximum yields.

So, if you’re ready to learn more then let’s get to it!

Why Does Pruning Weed Increase Yield?

This should make sense that if you prune away parts of a weed plant that aren’t going to be used when you cut it down that the rest of the plant will get more nutrients. More nutrients mean’s bigger better growth for the rest of the plant. Bigger better growth means larger yields. By not having to provide nutrients to the areas pruned away, the rest of the plant is going to receive more for maximum growth.

Next up, let’s talk about where to prune on your weed plant.

Where to Prune a Weed Plant for Increased Yield

It’s easy to say just go and start pruning but if you cut off the wrong parts of the plant, you might damage it enough that you lose out on some nice buds.

• First, I would start pruning down lower on a large plant. Go for those big branches with the fan leaves. You won’t get many (if any) buds down near the bottom so clearing that area up a bit is fine. There is a lot of growth that happens lower on a plant throughout the whole life cycle because as it gets older and there is more growing on the top, the bottom branches now need to stretch out to try and reach the light. It’s just not necessary for the branches or leaves to be there after a while.
• Another place to look is higher up on the plant with branches that are not going to produce any buds. There is no point in them being left to absorb valuable nutrients from the buds.
• To promote growth in the buds, a good place to prune off is the very top of the plant. Right at the stock is where you should start cutting it off, just above any nodes, to stop that middle growth. By doing this, you are helping the plant to refocus its efforts from growing taller to producing some big flowers/buds.

It is about as simple as that. Focus on those three areas and you will be well on your way to increasing your yields.

When to Prune a Weed Plant

Next up is when should you start pruning your plant and is there a time when you shouldn’t prune at all.

While the plants are still in the vegetative growth phase, I would go a head and prune as required until 1 to 2 weeks before you flip the lights over for flowering. You want to give the plants a week or 2 to heal after pruning has taken place before switching the lights to 12/12 because you want your plant in full health to transition smoothly.

Pruning while your plants are in the flowering phase is a widely debated subject. Here is what I recommend. You might find what works best for you with more experience is different than what I suggest. That’s okay because every grower has their own ways of doing what they feel is working best for them.

• When you first switch your lights to 12/12 for the flowering stage to commence, stop all pruning. At this point in the plant’s life, you want it to be focused on growing buds and not having to repair itself.
• Personally, I feel it is okay to do a light pruning once your buds are at about 4 weeks old. Here’s why. Your buds will stop growing eventually and start thickening producing more trichomes. At this point, it most likely won’t slow any growth and if it does it will be minimal.
• During flowering, I would only prune once as this is the most important part of your plant’s growth phase. You don’t want a stressed plant producing sub par yields. Also don’t prune too much at this point. If you feel like you have a lot to prune, then I would just chalk it up to a lesson learned and make sure you prune well before this part of the grow cycle.

Does Lollipopping Increase Yield?

‘Lollipopping’ is a pruning method that ends up having your plants look like lollipops, hence the name! It’s not some fancy way of cutting/pruning as some might think. ‘Lollipopping’ your plant means cutting the lower branches off so that the top part gets all the nutrients for some big bud growth. The result in doing this is a plant that has a bare bottom with just the stock showing. Then on top, you are going to have a big lush plant. This makes it appear like a marijuana lollipop plant!

If you try this, make sure to do it a few weeks before flipping the lights over to the flowering cycle. I haven’t tried this one myself so I really can’t comment on how well it works. In theory, it sounds like a great plan. Sometimes theory and reality don’t coincide with each other, however. The only way to find out is to try it yourself.

How Do You Make Your Indoor Yield Bigger?

Today with legalizing happening around the world, more and more people are wanting to grow indoors. It would only make sense if you are doing this that you would want the biggest yield possible. Even though marijuana grows like a weed, you can still improve on how well it does. Here are some things to consider when improving your indoor yield.

• Lighting is a very important part of the success of any plant growing indoors. Having a powerful light will do wonders for the results you get. Consider getting a 100watt light, if it is in your budget. I have an excellent article on the subject here.
• What substrate/soil you use is important as well as how good the drainage is, so water doesn’t sit for too long. I like to use an organic soil and mix it with quite a bit of perlite. You can try that or consider coco coir or other non soil substrates. I have another excellent article on this topic here.
• Fertilizers have their place when growing weed. There are many different companies that manufacture.
• Just like the title of this article says, pruning weed to increase yield is an excellent idea. Of course, doing it at the right time is crucial to having your pruning work in your favor.

Conclusion

I just wanted to give a quick conclusion on this topic of pruning weed plants to increase yields. If anything, make sure you go over the section in this article about when to prune. It is very important to get the timing right to have success. Just know that if you do mess up, the best thing to do is to learn from your experience and hopefully improve your chances of success with your next grow.

Good luck and happy pruning!

Related Growing Marijuana World Articles

Why are My Weed Plants Growing Slowly?

Why are My Weed Plants not Budding?

What is Lollipopping Marijuana and How to do it?

When to Use Molasses on Pot Plants? (Also Why and How)

Can You Switch from Flowering to Veg?