Can one plant have more than one cola? It's been Prove many times that it can be done. It's actually very easy and straightforward. By pruning the plant the right way and the right time you can get up to 4 big colas.
Before we get started, what exactly is a cola? Simple. Cola means tail in Spanish, and is the name given to the long buds that the plant produces. Not all plants produce them due to how they are grown, and some produce huge ones. However, if you're growing on a small scale but want to impress yourself and your friends, I'd recommend growing the biggest colas you can.
You'll likely get the biggest colas by growing single ones. However, some growers increase yield by growing multiple colas. There are two main ways to do this: trimming and training. I'm going to look at trimming here.
Pinching off the main stem of the young plant is what I'm calling "trimming". This is a common practice with many plants. Gardeners have been doing it for centuries. Pinching off the tips of fuchsias causes them to double the of blooms. The method is also used to get tall plants to stay short and bushy.
With this kind of plant you can use a few pinching techniques. Each will give different results. Each has its fans and detractors. You can experiment a bit and find which one you prefer.
Starts by letting the plant develop a few nodes. A node is where the plant branches out. The plant has a main growing stem, from which it throws out pairs of branches. The growing tip continues to grow up the center between each set of branches.
If you let the plant get a few sets of nodes and then pinch off the center stem just over a node, it will stop growing in the center and instead send out two even sprouts on each side of the pinched off center node. These will then grow as if the plant had two main stems. Each will keep shooting off branches and leaves as they grow, but the two new shoots will be the dominant branches.
There are different approaches to this. One way is to just keep pinching off the growing tips as the nodes multiply. This will result in lots of smaller colas, and no monsters. There are two happy mediums, though. One will produce two main colas. The other will produce four. Both will result in some big colas.
The first method requires you to wait until the plant has developed five or six nodes. You cut off the main stem leaving two nice healthy nodes below. You'll get new stems from where you cut the stem as well as from the node below that. Two sets of new stems means 4 colas. The second way is to pinch the plant off one node lower. That will only leave one good inter node to sprout. Two sprouts equal two colas.
Can you wait until the plant is bigger and pinch it off higher? Will that create 6,8, or 10 colas? Not really. It will cause more sprouting, but the stems come from growth hormone that goes to the top of the plant. That hormone has less effect lower down. Also, more colas means smaller colas, and small colas are not really colas at all. They'll still work for the intended purpose, but they'll be small.That's because the growth hormone will be spread to widely. No big fat colas to make your buddies smile.
That's basically it. Growers argue about which technique will produce more bud, but it's very hard to get a true answer on this. There are too many other inputs that can vary. Remember, light also plays a huge role. If you have all the light coming from above it won't reach lower parts of the plant as well as it reaches higher parts. The lower buds will suffer as a result. Two or four buds will tend to get a balanced amount of light and do well. As they start growing they'll also tend to spread apart and let light into the center of the plant (and as a result get lower into the plant, letting more of it get light energy). Besides, the goal is good production and fun, not absolute maximum possible yield. Have fun with it, and don't forget - you can root the cutting that you pinch off and have another plant for more experimentation!
Before we get started, what exactly is a cola? Simple. Cola means tail in Spanish, and is the name given to the long buds that the plant produces. Not all plants produce them due to how they are grown, and some produce huge ones. However, if you're growing on a small scale but want to impress yourself and your friends, I'd recommend growing the biggest colas you can.
You'll likely get the biggest colas by growing single ones. However, some growers increase yield by growing multiple colas. There are two main ways to do this: trimming and training. I'm going to look at trimming here.
Pinching off the main stem of the young plant is what I'm calling "trimming". This is a common practice with many plants. Gardeners have been doing it for centuries. Pinching off the tips of fuchsias causes them to double the of blooms. The method is also used to get tall plants to stay short and bushy.
With this kind of plant you can use a few pinching techniques. Each will give different results. Each has its fans and detractors. You can experiment a bit and find which one you prefer.
Starts by letting the plant develop a few nodes. A node is where the plant branches out. The plant has a main growing stem, from which it throws out pairs of branches. The growing tip continues to grow up the center between each set of branches.
If you let the plant get a few sets of nodes and then pinch off the center stem just over a node, it will stop growing in the center and instead send out two even sprouts on each side of the pinched off center node. These will then grow as if the plant had two main stems. Each will keep shooting off branches and leaves as they grow, but the two new shoots will be the dominant branches.
There are different approaches to this. One way is to just keep pinching off the growing tips as the nodes multiply. This will result in lots of smaller colas, and no monsters. There are two happy mediums, though. One will produce two main colas. The other will produce four. Both will result in some big colas.
The first method requires you to wait until the plant has developed five or six nodes. You cut off the main stem leaving two nice healthy nodes below. You'll get new stems from where you cut the stem as well as from the node below that. Two sets of new stems means 4 colas. The second way is to pinch the plant off one node lower. That will only leave one good inter node to sprout. Two sprouts equal two colas.
Can you wait until the plant is bigger and pinch it off higher? Will that create 6,8, or 10 colas? Not really. It will cause more sprouting, but the stems come from growth hormone that goes to the top of the plant. That hormone has less effect lower down. Also, more colas means smaller colas, and small colas are not really colas at all. They'll still work for the intended purpose, but they'll be small.That's because the growth hormone will be spread to widely. No big fat colas to make your buddies smile.
That's basically it. Growers argue about which technique will produce more bud, but it's very hard to get a true answer on this. There are too many other inputs that can vary. Remember, light also plays a huge role. If you have all the light coming from above it won't reach lower parts of the plant as well as it reaches higher parts. The lower buds will suffer as a result. Two or four buds will tend to get a balanced amount of light and do well. As they start growing they'll also tend to spread apart and let light into the center of the plant (and as a result get lower into the plant, letting more of it get light energy). Besides, the goal is good production and fun, not absolute maximum possible yield. Have fun with it, and don't forget - you can root the cutting that you pinch off and have another plant for more experimentation!
About the Author:
Learn about ways to grow marijuana? Castulo Zane knows all about it. If you want to talk marijuana seeds, or other topics, google www.growyourownstone.com.. Also published at Pruning You Way to More Cola.
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