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.
So, what is a cola, anyway? A cola is the long thick bud that some plants produce. It's called a cola after the Spanish word for tail. Not every plant gets a big cola as a result of strain and growing techniques and some get really big ones. If you're growing for fun you should try for big coals because it will impress people.
The biggest colas probably come from single cola plants. Still, if you want more yields then multiple colas will probably deliver. You can do it by training the plant or by trimming it. We'll talk trimming here.
What I mean by "trimming" is to pinch off the top of the plant when it's still young. This won't be news to anyone with other gardening experience. In fact, it's common practice with many plants. Fuchsia growers regularly pinch off growing tips to get more blossoms. It also works with different plant varieties. You can encourage bushy, rather than tall, growth.
There are two ways to pinch off this type of plant. You get a slightly different outcome with each technique. Each technique has its fans. You can try both and make up your own mind about which 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 pinch this growing tip off just above the 5th or 6th node the plant will replace the pinched off tip with two new ones on each side of the main stem. These will create two new main stems. Each will shoot off leaves and branches, but each will remain dominant stems.
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 way involves waiting until the plant has developed 3 or 4 nodes. Then, pinch off the center stem as described earlier, just an inch or half inch over the 2nd node. This leaves two main internodes that will develop two new shoots each. That means 4 good colas should develop. The alternate method is to pinch the plant one node lower. With only one good node left to sprout out main stems you'll only get two new sprouts. Two new stems will turn into two colas instead of one (or four)
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.
It's that easy. People will argue which method delivers the best results, but really, who cares? There are so many other variables that you won't really know until someone does a controlled experiment and removes the variables. Light, strain and nutrients will make a big difference in results. Keep in mind that we're pruning in order to get big colas that will blow our friends' minds.It's about fun, not maximum yield. Remember to keep the cutting. You can root it and get more plants!
So, what is a cola, anyway? A cola is the long thick bud that some plants produce. It's called a cola after the Spanish word for tail. Not every plant gets a big cola as a result of strain and growing techniques and some get really big ones. If you're growing for fun you should try for big coals because it will impress people.
The biggest colas probably come from single cola plants. Still, if you want more yields then multiple colas will probably deliver. You can do it by training the plant or by trimming it. We'll talk trimming here.
What I mean by "trimming" is to pinch off the top of the plant when it's still young. This won't be news to anyone with other gardening experience. In fact, it's common practice with many plants. Fuchsia growers regularly pinch off growing tips to get more blossoms. It also works with different plant varieties. You can encourage bushy, rather than tall, growth.
There are two ways to pinch off this type of plant. You get a slightly different outcome with each technique. Each technique has its fans. You can try both and make up your own mind about which 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 pinch this growing tip off just above the 5th or 6th node the plant will replace the pinched off tip with two new ones on each side of the main stem. These will create two new main stems. Each will shoot off leaves and branches, but each will remain dominant stems.
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 way involves waiting until the plant has developed 3 or 4 nodes. Then, pinch off the center stem as described earlier, just an inch or half inch over the 2nd node. This leaves two main internodes that will develop two new shoots each. That means 4 good colas should develop. The alternate method is to pinch the plant one node lower. With only one good node left to sprout out main stems you'll only get two new sprouts. Two new stems will turn into two colas instead of one (or four)
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.
It's that easy. People will argue which method delivers the best results, but really, who cares? There are so many other variables that you won't really know until someone does a controlled experiment and removes the variables. Light, strain and nutrients will make a big difference in results. Keep in mind that we're pruning in order to get big colas that will blow our friends' minds.It's about fun, not maximum yield. Remember to keep the cutting. You can root it and get more plants!
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