Is it possible to grow multiple colas on a plant that normally just grows one? Yes, you can. It's really quite simple. Selectively pruning the young plant can get your 2 or even 4 colas on one bush.
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.
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.
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.
You can use two different pinching methods with this plant. Each method gives a slightly different result. There are fans of both approaches. Try each and decide for yourself which is the one you like most.
Let the plant grow enough to get 5 or 6 nodes.The place on the stem where branches pop out is a node. The nodes occur on the plant's main stem, which is where the plant branches off. The growing tip of the plant, in the very center, sprouts up from between the nodes.
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.
You can do this different ways. If you like, you can just keep pinching off any central shoot that you see. You'll get lots of little buds, but no huge colas. Or, you can pinch less. One way will create 2 big colas, and the other will create 4. Either way, you should get some big ones.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You can use two different pinching methods with this plant. Each method gives a slightly different result. There are fans of both approaches. Try each and decide for yourself which is the one you like most.
Let the plant grow enough to get 5 or 6 nodes.The place on the stem where branches pop out is a node. The nodes occur on the plant's main stem, which is where the plant branches off. The growing tip of the plant, in the very center, sprouts up from between the nodes.
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.
You can do this different ways. If you like, you can just keep pinching off any central shoot that you see. You'll get lots of little buds, but no huge colas. Or, you can pinch less. One way will create 2 big colas, and the other will create 4. Either way, you should get some big ones.
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.
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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