CharlesU Farley
Well-known member
The topic today is going to be competition and why it's good for cannabis. We used to call cannabis _weed_ back in the '60s for a very good reason, that's what it is. Weeds, by their very definition, are competitive, thrive and in fact, do best when they are in that type of environment.
From the time they are seedlings until final harvest, my cannabis plants are exposed to a maximum amount of light, air circulation, and water/nutrients. Those are the things _everybody_ thinks about and most growers provide their plants with.
But what my plants are also exposed to is intense, unrelenting, _competition_.
As a result of being in this competitive environment, these cannabis plants ended up doing exactly what I wanted them to do:
They compete with each other for positioning to achieve the maximal exposure to sun, airflow, and nutrients. The lower, lateral branches are in such competition, not to be overpowered and put in shade by the upper, larger leaf mass, the cells expand and grow _towards_ the light. The scientific term for this is phototropism.
As a result of this competition, almost all of the plant growth hormones (auxins) are redistributed to every branch off of the main stem, not just the very top of the stem. This hormone redistribution obviously occurs _without_ the need to hack/top the main stem, so the rapid, vegetative growth doesn't grind to a halt with this method.
The end result is you have more branches, with slightly smaller buds, that will be _less_ susceptible to PM/botrytis. There will also be a much larger total bud mass, than if there was just a single, main stem Christmas tree shape to the plants, that is the traditional shape with the standard NL phenotype.
An added bonus, you're not exposing any plant tissue to invasion by mold/fungi by ripping/hacking the protective cells off the plant, when you're cutting it's fucking head off.
Sometimes a little finess and manipulation goes much further than brute force and coercion, and the plants ultimately reward me for my decision.
From the time they are seedlings until final harvest, my cannabis plants are exposed to a maximum amount of light, air circulation, and water/nutrients. Those are the things _everybody_ thinks about and most growers provide their plants with.
But what my plants are also exposed to is intense, unrelenting, _competition_.
As a result of being in this competitive environment, these cannabis plants ended up doing exactly what I wanted them to do:
They compete with each other for positioning to achieve the maximal exposure to sun, airflow, and nutrients. The lower, lateral branches are in such competition, not to be overpowered and put in shade by the upper, larger leaf mass, the cells expand and grow _towards_ the light. The scientific term for this is phototropism.
As a result of this competition, almost all of the plant growth hormones (auxins) are redistributed to every branch off of the main stem, not just the very top of the stem. This hormone redistribution obviously occurs _without_ the need to hack/top the main stem, so the rapid, vegetative growth doesn't grind to a halt with this method.
The end result is you have more branches, with slightly smaller buds, that will be _less_ susceptible to PM/botrytis. There will also be a much larger total bud mass, than if there was just a single, main stem Christmas tree shape to the plants, that is the traditional shape with the standard NL phenotype.
An added bonus, you're not exposing any plant tissue to invasion by mold/fungi by ripping/hacking the protective cells off the plant, when you're cutting it's fucking head off.
Sometimes a little finess and manipulation goes much further than brute force and coercion, and the plants ultimately reward me for my decision.
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