1. Your Trusted Guide to Lollipopping Cannabis

What is Lollipopping?

There are a bunch of different growing techniques and methods out there for you to test and try at home while growing your own weed plants. Some of these techniques can significantly help you produce higher yields of buds when it comes to harvest time, while other methods will help improve the aroma, flavor, look and potency of your weed.

One high-yield, high-stress plant training technique which has been shown to increase your yield considerably, is known as lollipopping. 

Lollipopping refers to trimming cannabis plants and leaving only the top ones. Think about it with a ‘less is more’ philosophy. By removing the lower branches, which usually receive less light and produce smaller buds, all of the plant’s energy is focused on producing bigger, fatter, juicier, resin dripping buds at the top. 

The technique gets its name due to the plant’s shape after you remove the bottom branches – it looks like a lollipop.

Lollipopping vs Not – What are the Benefits of Lollipopping?

Lollipopping is a technique that is more often used for indoor grows, but outdoor gardeners will also see benefits from Lollipopping their crop. 

When growing indoors, you can control the elements far more easily than outdoor growing, which allows you to experiment and try different yield-enhancing techniques. Lollipopping has been shown to increase the quantity of your harvest, as well as the quality of your weed. When a weed plant can focus all of its energy on a select amount of flowers, this allows it to direct all of the best nutrients to these buds. 

By doing this, the buds can grow fat and strong and can produce higher levels of THC, other cannabinoids, and a punchier teprene profile.  

When you grow indoors, the effective range of the lights is limited. The buds at the top of the plant, which are closest to the lights, receive more energy, while the ones at the bottom which are shaded, receive less. Even if you use supplementary side lights, there is still a disparity between upper and lower branches. 

You also need to take into account the ´apical dominance´ factor, which makes sure all of the best things go to the top. You know that classic Christmas tree shape that weed plants tend to grow into when left untouched? Yep, that’s apical dominance on display.

For cannabis plants, this is true with their flowers. The biggest, strongest, and healthiest buds (or colas) are almost always at the top of the plant. That ‘main cola’ or top bud is always going to be the banger of the bunch, unless we as growers do something about it. 

If you don’t use the lollipopping method (or other plant training techniques), when it comes to harvest time, the buds that grew on those lower branches will be lighter, fluffier, and way less potent. We call these flowers ‘popcorn buds’, and that’s exactly what we are trying to get rid of. 

When they are dried out, these buds have pretty much zero bag appeal. Their potency and aroma are lacking, the flavour is gone, and they look a lot smaller and just way worse compared to the buds that came from the top of the plant. It is best to remove these branches before they get to this stage and allow your plant to channel its energy elsewhere. 

So, when should you lollipop your plants? 

Hold up, we will get to that soon….

If you leave your plant to grow with little or no intervention, you will still get good results. The cannabis plant is a robust and strong species, so if you grow with the right lights, provide the right nutrients and follow the steps of cultivation, you will almost always get a decent harvest. 

But why settle for good results when you can aim for great ones? 

Lollipopping is one of those techniques that will improve your yield, not only in terms of quantity but quality as well, from standard to spectacular. 

Grown naturally, the cannabis plant is a relatively bushy b****, with branches coming out of the stem all the way from the bottom to the top. This creates a stacked structure where a lot of the flowers on the bottom branches are shaded by the thick canopy above them. The buds that are low down will likely not reach the size of the ones at the top.

 Lollipopping solves this problem by simply removing these low branches. 

How to Lollipop Cannabis 

Lollipopping is a relatively simple technique, however, with all yield-enhancing techniques, you should always exercise caution. 

Although cannabis plants are relatively robust, they still need to be handled with care. We recommend lollipopping at least 10 days before the crop begins flowering. We also suggest while you are lollipopping, that you do some general cannabis pruning as well. This means cutting away unnecessary fan leaves over the whole plant. Any fan leaves that are blocking buds from getting light or branches that have dead or dying leaves with little flower potential should be removed. 

The 4 main steps to lollipoping cannabis are as follows: 

1. Start by getting your hands on some clean, sharp scissors. For bigger and stronger branches, you may want to invest in some shears, as they will make the pruning process a whole heap easier. Start by removing obvious foliage. The branches at the bottom of the plant are the least likely to receive enough light, so get rid of these ones first. 
2. Once you have removed the most obvious branches, we recommend getting rid of the branches that are shorter than 50% of the height of the plant. When your plant stretches out during the flowering stage, these smaller branches will likely get covered by the bigger ones and receive insufficient amounts of light and airflow. 
3. Next, start removing branches that are growing in the middle of the plant, especially those underneath the canopy. These branches will likely be shaded and not get enough light, as well as the fact that they can block or cover up a lot of sites that could develop into healthy, sizeable buds. This is also a good time to trim away any dying or yellowing leaves and branches. 
4. Lastly, you will want to start lollipopping each individual branch of the plant. Some growers will leave only the final three nodes on each branch, however, this depends on the strain you are growing, how healthy your plant is and the size of the plant, among other things. If your plant is smaller, or you are late to trimming, we would recommend leaving the last 4 or 5 nodes on each branch.

• After you have completed the lollipopping process, we recommend giving your plants 7 to 10 days to recover before flipping your lights. 

  It is also important to remember not to over-prune your plant, as this can stunt its growth. Remember, you are essentially amputating limbs of the plants, and such drastic measures obviously come with risks. Your plants are going to be extremely stressed, and they need time to recover before you get that flower production underway. Treat them like the queens they are, and you’ll be rewarded in kind soon enough. 

  If it is your first time lollipopping, don’t be afraid to take it slow. There is no need to do a heavy prune on your first time, as this might ruin your plant. Start with the first step of removing the bottom branches and see how your plant responds, then work your way up from there. 

  Lollipopping vs Defoliation 

  The first thing to understand is that lollipopping and defoliation are not the same. They do have similarities, however, the techniques are quite different, and the end results are noticeably contrasting. Some of the principles behind defoliation cross over into lollipopping, such as increasing canopy airflow and exposing certain parts of the plant to more light, yet a plant that has been defoliated compared to one that has been lollipopped will look completely different. 

  Defoliation is all about increasing and improving light exposure to the entire plant. It does not focus on one particular area of the plant, such as the top or the bottom. 

  With defoliation, growers prune away branches and leaves that are blocking the flowers from receiving adequate light and airflow. Generally, defoliation is an ongoing process and can start during the vegetative stage and continue happening throughout the flowering stage. Just remember to be careful and never over prune during the flowering stage.

  On the other hand, lollipopping refers to a technique that focuses solely on the bottom of the cannabis plant. 

  The lower branches are cut off, as they receive less light and airflow at the bottom of the plant. This allows for the buds that are growing on the top portion of the plant to flourish. The cannabis plant can direct all of its nutrients to these buds growing on the top. 

  Buds at the top of the plant are generally stronger, healthier and bigger than those at the bottom, whether you have used lollipopping or not. Removing the lower branches and allowing the plant to focus all its energy on these top buds, will produce super healthy and high-quality weed when it comes to harvest time. 

  The main visual difference that you will notice between a plant that has undergone lollipopping and one that has undergone defoliation, will be the bare stems with no foliage at the bottom of the plant. The term lollipopping actually comes from how the plant looks after the process is complete – skinny at the bottom (with just the stem) and fat and bushy at the top of the canopy, where all the healthy buds are, resembling the shape of a lollipop.

Techniques to Use Alongside Lollipopping

Lollipopping is a helpful and proven technique that has been shown to produce amazing results when done correctly. It may seem a bit counterintuitive at times, as you are literally cutting off branches that you know will likely produce buds that are worth harvesting. 

But it is important to keep in mind the ‘less is more’ philosophy. By giving the plant fewer flowers to direct its nutrients and energy to, it will produce a heavier yield with better quality buds when it comes time to harvest. 

Lollipopping is a great technique, however, to substantially improve the quality and size of your yield, we recommend coupling it up with another grow technique such as topping cannabis, main-lining or ScrOG. There are a couple of different options you can try in conjunction with lollipopping such as: 

Main-Lining 

Main-lining cannabis is a growing technique used by many growers around the world that encourages the development of several very large, uniform colas at the top canopy of the plant. 

If done correctly, you will be harvesting a smaller number of buds from each plant, however, each of these buds will be noticeably bigger than the ones you are used to. This technique is achieved by manipulating the cannabis stem and creating a y-shaped hub. By doing this, it will diverge nutrients and resources to several branches. 

By using main-lining alongside lollipopping, the end results can be simply spectacular. Your plant will look neat, uniform and have huge buds growing on the top canopy. Not only will these buds be large, but they will be full of nutrients, which means their potency will be higher, their aromas will be stronger and their bag appeal will be through the roof. 

ScrOG (Screen of Green)

The ScrOG technique has been shown to improve your growing experience in a number of ways, from space utilization to plant productivity. 

When a cannabis plant is left to grow naturally, it will always grow taller than it does wide (athere that apical dominance again). This is not always a good thing, especially when growing indoors. 

A tall plant often means a lot of foliage in the middle and at the bottom that is shaded by the top canopy. The ScrOG technique allows you to manipulate the plant in a way that stretches all the branches across an evenly distributed plane. This is achieved by putting a mesh screen above the cannabis plant, and weaving the branches through the mesh as the plant starts to grow and mature.

SCroG and topping are probably the two most used plant training techniques in the cannabis cultivation sphere, and for good reason. When combined, and then married with lollipopping, the results can be almost unbelievable. 

This technique is super efficient at increasing light exposure to the most important areas of the plant. By spreading the canopy wider, it allows more buds to be situated at the top of the canopy where they receive the most light. It also increases the airflow around the buds which is another very important aspect of growing healthy, top-quality weed. When done correctly, growers often report harvesting more buds from one scrogged plant than they get from multiple small ones. 

When used alongside lollipopping, scrogging can be highly effective. Removing the lower branches and spreading out the upper branches using the ScrOG technique allows the plant to direct all its nutrients to the buds at the top of the canopy, while their positioning through the mesh screen gives them optimal levels of airflow and direct light exposure. 

It is important to note the ScrOG technique should be approached with caution. It is a method that requires you to manipulate and handle your plants throughout the growing process. Whenever you are handling cannabis plants, you need to make sure you are handling them with care. 

They are fragile beauties, and need to be treated that way. And for God’s sake, wash those grubby hands before you do!

Start Lollipopping Now 

If you are about to start a new grow, or about to reach the flowering stage of a current grow, we highly recommend that you give lollipopping a try. Once you figure out the intricacies of the technique, your results come harvest time will be drastically better.

While lollipopping can be super effective, it can also be detrimental if implemented incorrectly. 

For this reason, we suggest starting slow. If it is your first plant, try taking off just the lowest branches, and see if that effects your yield. If you dont see any change, then the next time you are about to get to the flowering stage for one of your plants, get rid of a few more branches from the lower part of the plant, and work your way from there. There is no point going all in on your first time only for it to fail. 

Once you think you have mastered the lollipopping technique, it might be time to use it alongside some of the other techniques that are mentioned above. 

By testing and trying new methods such as these, you can improve your growing skills remarkably. And when you improve your growing skills, your harvest yield increases as well as the quality of your buds. Not only will you be getting more from your plants, but you will be enjoying a better high. Not much more you can ask for as a weed grower, right?

So go on, get on out there (or in there), and get cutting!