I have 4 plants that are doing amazing, I have been defoliating them a bit throughout, however now I'm week 2 into flower and ,am debating if i should take out some of the thing shitty branches, they have reached the top of the canopy, however their inter node spacing is like 1.5-2x my main stalks which each plant has 10-14 of on top of those little ones, the little ones all reside in the center as I LST'ed the shit outta my plants to make them grow pretty, however now these this stalks are blocking out alotta light that could be captures all the way up the stems of my main colas, here is some pictures to give you all an idea. I'd prefer the comments of some pro-defoliaters as I'm pro defoliation, I'm just debating what is most likely to yield the most in the end, the more light main stalks or all the stalks together?
I'm pro lightly defoliate. My yeilds increased. There seems to be a line though that once crossed it negatively effects the outcome. Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I'm considering defoliating a little bit. I usually pluck the odd leaf but was reading a hightimes article that og kush responds really well to it so I might try it on my runt. The article said week four so I might try then. Check out my journal to have a look. https://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1395059-Reserva-privada-under-marshydro Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You can take all the fan leaf and any big leaf off. I strip it bare. The cool thing about defoliation you only have to do it once. I do mine the day before harvest. make trimming soooo much easier.
He's asking about defoliation to increase yeild. Doing the day before harvest is just to make things easier on harvest day. Even some people who are against definition for yeild still do it the day before harvest for ease of trimming the day of Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I sometimes remove shoots during 12/12 stretch. Just the ones that will never see direct lighting. After the stretch is done it's hands off until harvest. Fun fact: Herschel from TWD told Rick to do the same thing to his tomato plants at the prison. And he's a farmer so you know it's good advice
Your Pro-Defoliation point of view may change when you cut too much foliage off during flower and end up with a harvest of hermies. Daily defoliation can do this....it happened to us. Hubs decided that it was a good idea to regularly cut back all the fans to open the plant up to light. Well, the whole room full developed seeds. That was the only thing different during that cycle...no light leaks or other possibilities. So I would just advise you to be very careful how much you cut off during flower and how often you do it unless you're trying to create a good crop of seeds. TWW
A little bit if defoliation not done everyday wont cause enough stress to hermie a plant alone. Unless there's other factors like bad genetics etc Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
That is the only time to do it. Any other time your buds wont get enough light to grow. Everyone knows that. The leaf does not stop the light from getting to the bud, it is what brings the light to the bud. You won't find any good growers taking off the leaf. Only a few closet growers who are light starved and trying to find a way out of doing things right. Taking the leaf off before harvest works well for me. But I know a lot of folks who just dry the whole plant leaf and all. My bud still cures nice with no leaf.
that's still not what he's asking about. He didn't ask if it makes harvest easier. lots of good growers do some form defoliation, depends on how they grow. This is going to be a topic thats debated until the the end of time. I scrog and pack my tent full. My outdoor plants aren't touched at all. Got that magical sun. Pretty much everyone who scrogs removes some leafs. How much is up to the grower. Those lower bud sites just are not going to get light, neither are the lower leafs. The best thing you can do op is try both ways and make your own opinion. I do not heavily defoliate but a little trim helps my situation imo. I'm not using weak lights either. I run 600 watt ballast. Nobody grows the same. Look at the guys who mainline, some of those plants are pretty damn impressive, and pretty damn thin of leaves. Its not for me, doesn't mean its not for someone else. Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Not a debate among any good growers. Seen it as a debate in this part of the forum or in the micro grows. But you would never see commercial growers debating about this. Pretty much leave the plant alone after flower is as common as it comes. Beginners forum debate you bet. Taking leaf off before harvest is a great way to do it. It also makes it easy to get quality trimming for us hash makers.
You'll see everyone debating about it. Never see beginners debating, just asking. Its pretty much the most controversial debate there is when it comes to growers. Read more I guess if you haven't seen the endless debates. Its no big dude everyone has different opinions in how to do things, even bug grow ops. Neither one of us, nor the OP is a big commercial grow op. I do not base my opinions on anyone else's grow anyways, that's silly. I pay attention and then experiment myself. Come up w/ my own opinions, you'll never know if you don't try. Lightly defoliating my scrogged plants helps. I thought it was a bunch of bs at 1 time too. People really need to get out of there's only 1 way to grow...lol come on look around Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I think most new growers make the mistake of taking stuff off a flowering plant. I have done it myself. Most learn after a few mistakes what not to do, as you will. Read what Jorge or Rumple say about messing with the flowering plant. I have. Having fan leaf mixed with trimmings will mess up your hash big time. I did not have to read or debate that one in the beginners forum.
You're the only one debating it bro. And by your reasoning only beginners closet growers debate it. I said experiment and come up w/ your own opinion, that's definetly not a debate. Still nobody but you is talking about removing leaves the night before harvest. That's not what defoliation is. That's just making the harvest easier. I do the exact same thing so harvest day is less work. Its not defoliating for yeild like the OP asked about. You're not going to find a debate here. I encourage everyone to experiment and find out what works best for them. All these forums and discussions would be completly unnecessary if there was only 1 way to grow. All we would need is 1 book of rules to abide by. Have a good day and experiment...its fun. Growing should be fun or I wouldn't do it. Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Lol changed you're mind pretty fast. What was the whole point of this? Just looking for an argument? Won't find it here, especially since you change your mind alot. Experiment bro......experiment Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
It is called being factious. no one gets it. It is why I never post stuff on the internet. Taking something to the extreme and adding a bit of ridiculousness to make the point. The key that you missed was the main truth here and not a debate "Despite what 99% of all experienced growers write". And I tried messing with a flowering plant by taking fan leaves off and lower branches. Most new growers make this mistake and learn from it, as will you. Whoosh.. Something went over your head. I get higher yields of quality hash by removing the fan leaves off the day before harvest. It will not hurt your overall yield of bud and seems to make trimming way easier.
Dude you keep repeating this, but you're the only person talking about it. That is not what is meant by defoliation. Defoliation is heavily debated, but this thread is not the place for it. The OP is asking about something specific to defoliation and has asked for defoliation as a whole not to be debated. That's why only defoliation supporters are commenting on this. Except me, but I'm just making this separate point that's all