Your plants will produce just fine if you let them grow naturally, but there are some easy tricks to increasing yield by encouraging branching.
One technique is to pinch the very tip of the plant as well as the tips of each branch. When you do this, the upper branches will all become new main shoots, resulting in more “colas” (terminal flower clusters) at harvest. You only need to pinch off the very tip with your fingernails, like I’m doing in the picture.
The other method, which is more labor intensive, is to spread the plant out using stakes and padded tie wire. This is the one I prefer.
The idea is to encourage branching, but also to open up the center to sunlight and airflow. This will increase yield and prevent branch breakage during flowering. Opening the center also helps to decrease molds and pests.
