When it comes to growing cannabis, timing your cuts can make all the difference between a decent harvest and a truly healthy, productive plant. But it’s important to understand — we’re talking about pruning, not harvesting. Pruning means making small, careful cuts during the growth and flowering stages to help your plant use its energy wisely. Harvesting, on the other hand, happens much later, when your buds are fully mature and ready to be picked.

If you’re growing outdoors under natural sunlight, trimming the top branch about two weeks before flowering can help you grow fuller, stronger buds on every branch, instead of one large top bud surrounded by smaller ones. Under lower-powered indoor lights, though, removing the top shoot can actually reduce yield. In that case, it’s better to bend the taller stems down gently so light can reach all the tops evenly. This simple low-stress training helps every bud site get its fair share of light and nutrients.

As your marijuana plants begin to flower, you can prune away small, weak branches near the bottom that won’t produce much. This allows your plant to focus its energy on the main colas — the large, resin-rich buds you’re growing for. A bit later, when buds start forming, you can also remove a few of the large fan leaves that block light from getting deeper into the canopy. Just don’t go overboard; each leaf still helps the plant produce energy, so balance is key.

These small pruning steps are part of smart cannabis cultivation — not harvesting — and help ensure your plants stay healthy and productive. They’re especially useful if you hold a Personal or ACMPR medical cannabis grow licence in Canada, where you’re allowed to grow your own medicine for personal use under Health Canada’s authorization. Patient educators and cannabis specialists can teach you how to prune properly, manage your canopy, and avoid mistakes that could affect your yield.

If you’re just starting out, you may find it helpful to read our related guides like Marijuana Growth and the Concept of Limiting Factors, which breaks down how light, air, soil, and water interact to affect plant health, or Cultivating Marijuana Indoors or Outdoors, where we explore lighting, airflow, and natural advantages of outdoor growing. Together, they’ll give you a strong foundation for your first personal grow.

At GrowLegally’s medical cannabis clinic in Toronto, we’ve helped patients across Ontario and throughout Canada understand the growing process safely and legally. From veterans managing PTSD to individuals looking for natural alternatives, our team supports you from your first medical authorization to your personal grow licence.

If you’re ready to learn how to grow healthy, high-quality medical cannabis with confidence, reach out to GrowLegally today.

More Grow Tips:

• The Risks of Ruining Your Medical Marijuana – Learn how to properly store your cannabis and keep its potency strong.
• Marijuana Growth and the Concept of Limiting Factors – Understand how the four basic environmental factors affect growth.
• Cultivating Marijuana Indoors or Outdoors – Discover when and where your plants grow best.