Pruning during flowering? (Larf branches)

So my plants are getting pretty tall and there are a bunch of tiny little branches at the bottom of the plant that will receive little to no real light. My plants are about 18 days into flowering, and I’m wondering if I should prune away those tiny little branches so my plant can put more of its energy into those top cola branches instead of sacrificing some of that energy for the larf deep under the canopy?

ddeck96 said:

So my plants are getting pretty tall and there are a bunch of tiny little branches at the bottom of the plant that will receive little to no real light. My plants are about 18 days into flowering, and I’m wondering if I should prune away those tiny little branches so my plant can put more of its energy into those top cola branches instead of sacrificing some of that energy for the larf deep under the canopy?

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Yeah you can. It shouldn’t hurt anything. There is big debate over whether or not it actually swells up the other buds. I only take the shit from the very bottom of the plant but some people strip everything except the main cola.

sf_frankie said:

Yeah you can. It shouldn’t hurt anything. There is big debate over whether or not it actually swells up the other buds. I only take the shit from the very bottom of the plant but some people strip everything except the main cola.

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awesome. My plants are just wrapping up the last bit of “stretch”. Haven’t really started forming buds yet. I mean a few pistils are sprouting from the top, but no real bud structure. Guessing this would be a good time to lop off those branches?

They call that lollipoping removing anything below the canopy that will not get light.

Midwestsmoker419 said:

They call that lollipoping removing anything below the canopy that will not get light.

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I thought lollipoping was done in veg? Mine are in flower.

Your good, you can take those little tiny branches at the bottom off anytime.

I agree with the other members that you can take them off but I will add something. It might be wise to leave the fans that are attached to the main stalk on if you can. I'm harvesting a grow where I lollipopped and schwazzed (big defoliation), and I had some pretty bad yellowing and leaf drop that started in week 6 of flower. My plants were sure missing those lower fans and their nutrient stores. I never get leaf drop; I'm usually cutting off the lower fans in the last week of flower trying to get the plant deficient.