I’m not big on defoliating i don’t subscribe to removing leafs being beneficial to plants, defoliation is handy for stalling growth while the plants are recovering
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Ok whatever you say
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How’s plucking the leaves make better quality?
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I’m not saying anything, idk any better than the next person, that’s jmo.
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i do that, but i cut the leaves at the leaf, not at the stem, so theres no open wound close to the flowers, but yes i think its ok
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Plant wastes her energy on leaf. Too much leaf, and she had way too much, shades bud . We smoke bud.
EVERY budsite benefits from full light, removing any fan leaf that blocks any bud is beneficial to the harvest.
Not my opinion, just how it is. Try a test side by side with 2 plants. Remove any fans blocking budsites in week 1 , 3, 5 of flower on one, leave the other as you do. If you dont have the plants nor seeds to do it, and you live in the USA, i can give you some. Not talking major defol, only removing fans that block budsites or are over 3 inch’s long .Those need to go also
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Wow, really ……
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I took these out to f12.
Been in this for decades and the seeds I make are in more peoples gardens than I could ever have imagined.
I make a living growing things and you are incorrect.
If you crowd the plants or have low light levels plucking can give the illusion of what you describe… physiologically impossible in good conditions.
These go 14 weeks of flower.
About 8 weeks in here.
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In regards to defoliliation.
Try in like someone said
Side by side.
I grew 20 years and never knew it.
Then I got turned on to it and I will never NOT do it again.
We manipulate the crap out of things don’t we?
Huge fan covering a bud is
NOT my thing.
My yield doubled I dare say.
I get approx 2 onions a plant
Now.
Plants that are less than 30 inches tall.
To me this is not a debate about who’s the best farmer etc.
I just did it and it worked.
I did take the advise of growers I know well,
And a lot of the net does to.
But
We ain’t waring here lol.
I applaud good results
However they are achieved
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all very good information __ basicly defoliation is depend on strains , growing space and method of grow next would be your containers used— stick to these basics if one can
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Whether defoliation is helpful or not depends a lot on the environment in which you’re growing as well as the strain, not surprisingly. If you’re in a tent and it’s packed tight with plants that you’ve let veg too long, which is probably a lot of growers, it’s gonna help the yield to let the light in. If you’re outdoors under the sun, it’s already moving constantly and ensuring that all parts of the plant get light. Same with light movers, which is how I grow - I’ve tried defoliation and all it does is make my plants look naked for a few weeks. There’s no point taking off leaves to expose bud sites when they’re already exposed. Since we don’t all grow in the same environment and even the same strains are fundamentally different plants, every time a thread asks this question it’s gonna cause disagreements…
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Hate to say this but 2 ounces off a 30" plant is very low yield…
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No you don’t or you wouldn’t
Have said it.
Nearly a lb in a 2x5 every 50ish days for now suits my needs and business model.
I didn’t catch your name?
Karen was it?
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I’ve read and followed numerous sbs but thery’re never clear cut, i do intend to experiment with it further but for the sake of humidity, if i get better buds that would be something special.
@Jetdro my bad i should’ve been clearer, i associate defoliation with people removing tons of leafs instead of selectivity pruning.
I do remove the lower growth and the occasional leaf from around the canopy but it’s not to light up bud sites it’s usually because of multiple shoots under it/them.
A example of bud completely under a leaf that’s doing just fine, I’ve other pics of buds that didn’t ever see direct light.
I was planning on winding down for the winter but I’m now thinking a 2 plant sbs would be easy going, cheap and keep me occupied.
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I just flipped these plants last week and I have been doing some defoliation every day to keep things under control and expose lower branches to light. Should I defoliate even more? It’s turning into a jungle in my tent. This is four photo periods in 5 gallon pots, LED light, coco coir with FloraFlex nutes. I have removed a lot of the lower leaves over the past few weeks, but the top areas are really dense.
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Personally, I would thin out the herd. Let some light down thru the canopy.
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Would you remove the bigger fan leaves at the top or smaller ones deeper down in the canopy?
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I’ve always been a fan of tucking healthy leaves back out of the way vs just getting rid of them
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The top areas are dense cuz you removed lower leafs forcing the plants to regrow leafs or make them bigger , up top
The plant needs x amount of leafs for its root mass and will spend energy regrowing them if taken away
You just moved the leaf mass to the top of canopy resulting in maybe less light penetration
Next time flip sooner, or less plant numbers for that size of plant
They look great : ) nice and healthy
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In my years, I went from never removing, to strategic removal, then to removing them right after transition, but not all at one whack, nor do I strip total.
Starting at the bottom, all big fans are taken off, the main stalk. I let her be a few days.
I then go back, and starting at the lowest branches, some are so far down, they will be scrub stuff, butter making or clones.
If it stays, I pull the bigger leaf by the main stalk and work out to almost the end of the branch.
I take leaf, but do not really strip them, all willt nilly like. No disrespect to those that do, we all find our own path.
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