Defoliating noob

Discussion in 'Advanced Growing Techniques' started by tropicalgrow420, Mar 10, 2015.

  1. Can someone please give me some tips on defoliating while flowering when, how much, I've read day 45 is mandatory in the defoliating culture. Thanks
     
  2. When defoliating you want to make sure there is minimal shade on every leaf that youre going to keep. So make sure to defoliate the oldest leaves first, however do keep a priority of taking the leaves that are in the most amount of shade. Imo don't defoliate too much at once, start off small and see how your plant takes it.

    Goodluck 👍


    Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
     
  3. #3 TheAnswer121, Mar 11, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 11, 2015
    don't just go pluckin leaves off
     
    what is the reason you have chosen to defoliate?
     
    unless you are lacking sufficient lighting, there is no reason to pull leaves off. the leaves are the foundation of all growth
     
    if anything, remove nodes that aren't receiving direct light ;)
     
  4. Defoliation stunts growth, delays flowering and ultimately diminishes yield. Observed by a straight day by day year of partnership with cannabis, witnessed by several hundred plants with all outcomes leading to one conclusion: leaves are needed on the plant, not on the ground.


    Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
     
  5. Best time to take leafs off is on harvest day. Yeah, leave them on.
     
  6. I agree that its best to remove as few leafs as possible, but in some cases careful defoliation can be beneficial when used to ensure that bud sites receive adequate air circulation. I have used this technique with good results in greenhouse grows, removing as few leaves as I could from plants that had restricted airflow or were against the walls. Defoliation has also helped prevent bud rot from excess moisture in a few outdoor grows that had very foggy conditions.


    Defoliation won't be necessary at all if you have optimal growing conditions with sufficient light and air flow. But it can be useful to compensate for unfavourable conditions such as low air circulation or high moisture/humidity.
     
  7. I have this one plant that I pick large fan leaves from, and it just seems to grow back three times as many within the next couple days.
    Something here was mentioned about delayed flowering. - My question is, (I'm curious) will this cause it not to finish up.
    This is a sativa dominate bagseed (strain unknown) so I know from prior grows these plants take forever to finish in 5-7 gallon containers.
    This plant started flower when I shut the lights off 3rd week of May, then revegged.


    I have two reasons for picking the older, larger leaves. First is to allow light to better enter the center of the bush. Second is that I've been juicing the leaves with coconut and citrus for health benefits. My wife, daughter, and I all have to manage pain and the juice really makes a difference without getting high. My wife was raised with the reefer madness mentality and still fears cannabis, but now she keeps telling me all the little things clearing up, or doing better as a result of the juice.


    It doesn't look like I'm hurting the plant at all, but I'm pretty ignorant about what's really going on inside the plant. But I may never actually find out since the defoliating debate seems divided pretty equally, and usually turns into a pissing contest.
     

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  8. #8 Grass boy, Jul 24, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2015
    i did a serious defoliation to my blue dream 4 weeks into flowering and didn't regret it.
    I was having problem with space in my grow tent and my plant were getting too bushy that I have no choice.
    I believed that if I did not defoliate, my grow is going to face a lot of of problem due to bad light penetrations and bad air circulation.
    Now both the top and bottom buds are grwoing pretty healthy and fattening up pretty fast.
    But I cannot tell you if defoliation will increase yeild because I don't have anything to compare with, And My defoliating experiment is still on going. But It giving me all the advantage and didn't cause any problem to at all.
    Check out my grow.
    http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/1376...
    Buds which are exposed are those that grow the biggest and densest. Those buds that are hidden from view and in the middle or bottom of the plant never seem to fatten up - they don't get exposure from the light. So it totally make sense for me to defoliate
    Don't listen to those who never tried defoliation before, but tell you not to do it because others is telling them not to, or reading some old growing guide book that tell them not to.
    Many first time grower who don't know what they are doing start defoliate their grow, fail and start claiming that defoliate is bad.
    defoliation is not magic IT WILL NOT REVIVE A SICK PLANT. It enhance a healthy plant but at the same time it ALSO MAKE A SICK PLANT SICKER.
    DO TAKE NOTE THAT I heard many incidence grower defoliate your plant may make them hermied, but I defoliate all my 4 plant both at 2 week and 4 week of flowering, none hermied so I don't know the authencity of this claim. I am not saying that it will not I could be extremely lucky that it didn't.
    Some even say it will stunt growth, but my experiment clearing show me that it didn't even stunt abit when I deflorialte my plant during flowering stage. In fact it hasten the bud fattening process. So I really don't know why people are claiming as such.
    I don't recomend you go into defoliation frenzy if this is your first time growing. Most probably it will make it worse. Until you seriously gather enough infomation and experience, then do it.
    Be your own judge and defoliate if necessary.
    Some tips I gathered from website when starting defloration experiment, hope they are useful.
    When to defoliate
    • Growing indoors with bright grow lights
    • Plant is healthy and fast growing
    • Plant has been hardy its whole life, without problems
    • Plant is so leafy that leaves are laying on top of each other, OR
    • Buds are hidden from the light by leaves
    When NOT to defoliate
    • Plant is unhealthy or slow growing
    • Plant has given you problems during your grow (it may be too sensitive to respond well to defoliation)
    • Plant is not leafy
    • First-time grower
    • Buds are already exposed to light and air (buds are not hidden by leaves)
    I believe Many defloraite hater is going to fire me, but I don't really care.
    I am no expert, but did my experiment and it did work for me. So I am just sharing what I tried.
    Hope you sucess. Good luck.
     
  9. #9 Rumpleforeskin, Jul 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 28, 2015
    No haters here. Just dialog among friends who enjoy growing weed.
    .
    How many harvests did you test this methods on? What weight difference did you get? Same clone, cycle times, and lamp? And pictures of both harvests? The reason I ask is you get much different results then most growers I know. Perhaps we are missing a variable.
    .
    We harvest the same clone every 75 days using the same lamp. Proving this one out and other "bro-science" methods is pretty simple. Just a matter of placing it in the cycle and making a change.
    .

    .
    Jorge Cervantes does not know everything, but I have seen a lot of his indoor grow operations and would love to get similar results. He writes for High Times and is a well known judge at the Cannabis Cup. Not to mention the dozens of books and videos he has produced. Don't get me wrong, you might be getting better results then Jorge, and if so, I would like to mimic your methods as well.
    .
    Jorge said "when you take leaves, you think you did something". I agree it does look cool and light shines on the bud. But I also think the fan leaves gather light energy to sustain the buds and undergrowth. I did in fact harvest some nice looking bud after taking the fan leaves off. Just not as much. We got far less under growth and the lower buds never developed. Sure the lower buds never get as big as the tops, but they did not improve when taking the leaves off.
    .
    Don't be so quick to discount the knowledge of old experienced growers. Always follow the advice of someone who is getting better results then your are currently getting (and can show you). Text is pretty simple to produce, high yields in short cycle times is a bit harder.
    .
    [​IMG]

     
  10. Something which I find interesting to share.

     
  11. #11 coconutgrower, Jan 26, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 26, 2016
    defoliate older leaves first, leave leaves that are right next to the bud sites. each leaf helps each section of the plant. only remove leaves once bud sites have begun to form. read your plants on how well they respond to the defoliation.



    a little at a time goes a long way in the learning curve.
     



  12. So yeah, I know this is old, but -


    "make sure to defoliate the oldest leaves first,"


    Aren't the oldest leaves on the bottom of the plant, therefore shading nothing?


    J


     
  13. #14 jerry111165, Feb 5, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 5, 2016


    "defoliate older leaves first,"


    Again with oldest leaves bring on the bottom of the plant, shading nothing...


    "leave leaves that are right next to the bud sites"


    And isn't (Basically) every single leaf next to a bud site?


    I just never understood this - personally.


    J
     
  14. Watching a plant naturally lose its leaves give you the idea of which leaves to take. Once a shoot is growing off a stem there is a fan leaf just under that shoot. As the shoot grows it puts out another leaf and again and again. After the first set of leaves take hold on that shoot in theory you can remove the fan leaf attach at the base of that shoot because it now have fan leafs of its own to support its growth.
     



  15. To each their own. I personally see no reason to defoliate but don't want to get into a pissing match either.


    Peace,


    J
     
  16. I think this thread was "FOR" defoliating....


    Why does that attract those that DON'T like it ???




     
  17. Because we don't want newer gardeners believing everything they read on stoner forums and to make educated decisions after hearing views from multiple experienced gardeners.


    J


     
  18. #19 #Groot, Feb 8, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 8, 2016


    Any harm with experimenting with it ?




    and who's "we" ?


     
  19. After veg I don't defoliate until flush, the plant will cannibalize and use the energy from those leaves and the stress you cause doing it now may cause re veg, herming and stunt the plant(not a theory, tested by myself and others in the forum) but if you do it just enough to stress the plant out during the last 3-5 days then you can get a little extra resin before it causes a problem. Groot has posted plenty of picture of his small, all though frosty plants all over to justify his choice in defoliation but here's a plant that wasn't defoliated until the last 3-5 days and one that was defoliated in week 6 and the difference it can make. Both are the same strain.


    defoliated 3-5 days before harvest

    [​IMG]


    defoliated 2 weeks before harvest


    [​IMG]



    STUNTED!

     

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