Can you grow multiple colas on one plant? The answer is yes. In fact, it's pretty easy. By carefully pruning the plant when it's young you can get 2 or 4 main 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.
If you want the biggest colas possible you'll probably do better growing single ones. Some gardeners feel that more cola means more yields, however, and they have a point. There are two methods to get multiple colas - training and trimming. We'll talk about trimming in this article.
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.
You should let the plant grow until it has5 or 6 sets of branches. The place where these branches leave the main stem are called nodes. They occur on the main stem, and the plant keeps growing up the center by popping out a shoot between the nodes, going upwards.
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 methods that you can use. One way will produce two big colas. The other will produce four. In fact, if you like you can just pinch off every growing tip you find, and end up with a ton of small buds, but if you do that you won't get any colas.
The way to get four colas is to wait until you have more good nodes (4-6). You trim the center stem about an inch above the node. The plant will send out two new stems where you pinched it off, as well as two more from the node right below. That's four colas. The other method is to pinch it off lower. Without a node for the second set of stems to sprout you'll restrict the plant to only two new stems. Two stems = two colas.
The question becomes:what if I pinch them off higher? Will I get 6, 8, 10 colas? The answer, technically, is yes, but it's not that simple. By pinching off the main stem you're tricking the plant a bit, and manipulating it's hormones. However, you can only go so far with that. If you pinch off every growing tip you'll increase the number of colas, but they won't be worthy of the name. They'll bloom and work fine, but they'll be small. Overall they might produce more bud, but they won't be foot long donkey dicks. The growth hormone will have been too spread out.
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.
If you want the biggest colas possible you'll probably do better growing single ones. Some gardeners feel that more cola means more yields, however, and they have a point. There are two methods to get multiple colas - training and trimming. We'll talk about trimming in this article.
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.
You should let the plant grow until it has5 or 6 sets of branches. The place where these branches leave the main stem are called nodes. They occur on the main stem, and the plant keeps growing up the center by popping out a shoot between the nodes, going upwards.
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 methods that you can use. One way will produce two big colas. The other will produce four. In fact, if you like you can just pinch off every growing tip you find, and end up with a ton of small buds, but if you do that you won't get any colas.
The way to get four colas is to wait until you have more good nodes (4-6). You trim the center stem about an inch above the node. The plant will send out two new stems where you pinched it off, as well as two more from the node right below. That's four colas. The other method is to pinch it off lower. Without a node for the second set of stems to sprout you'll restrict the plant to only two new stems. Two stems = two colas.
The question becomes:what if I pinch them off higher? Will I get 6, 8, 10 colas? The answer, technically, is yes, but it's not that simple. By pinching off the main stem you're tricking the plant a bit, and manipulating it's hormones. However, you can only go so far with that. If you pinch off every growing tip you'll increase the number of colas, but they won't be worthy of the name. They'll bloom and work fine, but they'll be small. Overall they might produce more bud, but they won't be foot long donkey dicks. The growth hormone will have been too spread out.
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!
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