I have done alot of reading aIot about defoliation. I have two buddies that do it and swear by it. I am in the beginning of week 4, 10gal promix, 2.5x2.5 scrogs using double deck wire cages on top. We have defoliated most of the large fan leaves from two Jock Horror plants and one Northern lights plant. I had a pretty good flip last month, but always looking to dial my process in better and better. I use H&G nutes, 1k lights, temp at 80F constant. Really looking forward to see what these things do after this trim. The small colas (they aren't putting weight on just yet) look a bit naked, but when we were taking off the big fans, it in an odd way, felt like this was a good thing. I can only imagine how much nutes, water, and energy it takes all those large leafs alive. I will report maybe once a week to update on any developments I see compared to how they normally progress from week 4 through 8. Thanks, w00
I don't think it is a good idea. I used to be firm believer in it, but I think it has caused too many hermies on some plants with solid genetics. After some more research, I think I can logically explain why. Ganja likes to make sure that it will keep on living, that is why it likes to mutate hermie when exposed to a lot of stress. No, I am not talking about the knuckle heads that fire up the lamps while the girls are supposed to be sleeping, I am talking about the smart growers that have encountered hermies. IF the plant at any point in time gets the idea that the growing season is over, it will grow balls. At the end of any grow season leaves fall off plants and trees. Every fall this happens. If you take a bunch of leaves off your plants, it thinks fall has arrived. It knows its not mature, but it also knows it wants to propagate. It then grows some male flowers and tries to produce seeds. If you want to pull leave off the plant to train it, do it in veg and NEVER in flower.
I have just seen too many plants turn. There are no light leaks to my tents and there is no chance of the lights coming on in their dark time (even the overhead light is a green LED where the flower chambers are. I did remove leaves on the plants though. I am not saying all of them will turn, but I have lost some REALLY nice plants over the years from them growing nuts when they shouldn't. I would avoid removing any leaves during flower, but they are your plants.
Ok, so first report. It's hard to tell in a short time if anything is super positive because I see them daily. However, I can say that it does not show any negative signs. I may take some pics today to compare in a week or so. Maybe some close ups of the node distances and size. Fingers crossed.... Regardless of what happens, this had to be done. I've seen so many posts that are on both sides of the spectrum, I have to try this myself in my own enviro. I can understand the logic in both directions why one would do it, and why you wouldn't. Everything in my grow is getting pretty dialed in, and this was a big question mark for me for quite some time. I just had to explore it. Besides, even if I lost all 3 test girls, it wouldn't be the end of the world since I can legally have 18. Now, if I were doing a closet grow of 1-3 girls, that would be a different situation. Stay tuned... w00
Update: It looks like they are still growing normally. I don't expect to see any real improvement until the last couple of weeks. Start week 6 in an 8 week cycle tomorrow. I can say it doesn't appear they are suffering in anyway from the defoliation. But like I said, won't know anything for sure until they are finished. w00
they swear by what, that they've set the plant back, that they've stressed it? they have indeed. plants use leaves to power their growth, why would any arm chair growers think that taking away something the plant needs can be beneficial. fkn lmao plants will defoliate themselves when ready and needed, if it's green they need it, if it's turning yellow they are done with it, pretty simple if you ask me. plant physiology 101
OK OK OK. I've been a bit busy with holidays, it's almost harvest time, so transplanting to big pots, scrogging, and I've been planning a few trips for the winter spring. I'll take some this morning and put them up. I don't think I'm noticing any negative effects from it. 12 more days to go until cut. One thing I will say is on my NL that we defoliated the most, that girl isn't showing any signs of yellowing. While all the rest of the girls are. I'm not sure what logic I'm applying to that observation just yet. Pics in just a bit. w00
how would you know if you have negative effects, since you have no control plants to compare to. also not all plants will turn yellow while experiencing senescence.
Photos.. http://s1151.photobucket.com/user/w0034/library/Deboliation%2012-30-14?sort=3&page=1 It's hard to take well exposed pics with the lights on. I put the duct tape roll there for scale. I'll know conclusively in 12 days. w00 out!
On a sidenote, I hadn't added anything to this pb account in quite a while. Mulling over the pics just now, made me think about all the hard work and learning I've done since I started. WoW!
I'm not entirely sure yet. I don't see any significant drawbacks to it at this point. Like I noted above, the plant has not yellowed hardly at all compared to all the other plants that I did not defoliate. I'm trying to get my head around what that means. Here are my thoughts... 1. If the plant as a whole was stripping the nutrients (nitrogen maybe?) from the fan leaves, I would of thought the defoliated ones would go yellow even sooner and more extreme. They have done just the opposite. 2. Maybe the fan leaves are sucking the nutes out of each other thus taking them from the plant itself? Is it possible in some way the yellowing is directly related to the large fan leaves? I know you can't see it, but there is zero yellowing on this plant at all. All other factors are constant. Medium, pot size, nutrient/watering schedule/strength, light source/intensity. Definitely a bit interesting about the lack of yellowing. w00
From my experience, I tried the same thing trimming fan leaves, it is not an advantage. The fan leaves are like little factories taking light, co2 and nutrients and turning them into growth. If you remove the leaves you are taking away energy the plant needs. I compare the results (trimming fans) to cutting back the amount of light the plant gets. The only situation I have seen a benefit is outdoors where there is an abundance of natural sunlight. Indoor strains grown outdoors develop too much leaf and can use a trimming, but it is for ease of later trimming, not for better plant growth.