Nursejanna
Active Member
That's really interesting! What is your rationale for stripping the leaves? Do you have to increase nute feed amounts to compensate?
Ok to thin while in flower?
- Thread starter Nursejanna
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hydroMD
Well-Known Member
Word brotha. I agree. My stance is that leaves are good.I do not claim to be a expert or anything so take my opinion with a grain of salt! I am not trying to start another defoliation argument either since there are plenty of those threads!!
I do a ton of reading on the subject. I have read Teaming with Microbes along with a few Botany books. I am now building no till buckets so I can see for myself how it works.
Every leaf on the plant is important to the growth and health of the plant. Without leafs the plant will suffer!
Here is a quote:
"Plants make food in their leaves. The leaves contain a pigment called chlorophyll, which colors the leaves green. Chlorophyll can make food the plant can use from carbon dioxide, water, nutrients, and energy from sunlight. This process is called photosynthesis."
From here:
http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/food.html
"efficient photosynthesis and the formation of complete carbohydrates is the foundation of plant health and immunity. Without efficient photosynthesis, plants will not achieve any level of immunity or performance. With functional photosynthesis and adequate levels of minerals and trace minerals to serve as enzyme cofactors, formation of complete proteins is initiated. As photosynthetic capacity and plant energy increase, plants begin to store surplus energy in lipids - plant oils. These lipids are the building blocks used to build plant protection compounds, called plant secondary metabolites (PSM5) or plant essential oils."
From here:
http://bionutrient.org/audio/2013_soil_nutrition_conference/2-Crop-HEALTH-Transitions-John-Kempf.pdf
Every plant makes its own food. The leafs are very important for this process so removing them is the same as reducing the food the plant needs to thrive! Proper soil will have everything the plant needs other than water. If you are growing in hydro the bottled nutes are replacing what the soil biology does. If you pour chemical nutes into soil you are killing the biology of the soil and will require you to continue to pour chemicals into the soil.
As long as the Rhizosphere is happy the plant will be healthy. Removing the one part of the plant that is responsible for feeding itself is counter productive. Nutes do not directly feed the flowers, they feed the leafs who in turn feed the flowers.
Any how, that is how I understand it! And I have to believe it after seeing the growth in the forest where no one has ever removed parts of plants thinking it will help them! Same with the pear, apple and cherry trees in my yard. If I were to remove the leafs I would not get a ton of fruit from them and my dog would not have the runs all summer.
But lets pretend you could give 10 young men sustanance to perform a task for job A
And you feed one old guy to do the same job while letting 10 young guys eat his scraps on job B. (Old fans vs new fans)
It wouod make sense that (retiring) older leaf matter to expose more, new fans, could benefit your plant to some extent... but there is an unknown point of diminishing returns.
Nursejanna
Active Member
This is what my plants looked like post-trim. I left the tops and apical fan leaves alone, just cleaned out the centers and removed all traces of mildew. My girls seem happy! I'm still confused about whether this will stunt their maturation...will they need more time to fully ripen? Also, should I bump up the nutes to compensate? Thanks guys, great discussion!!
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brodietheconeking
Well-Known Member
I've had my first humidity issues for the first time this grow night humidity was hitting 90% without me knowing however I caught it in 2 weeks into flower and had no bud growth but now 6 weeks in humidity been fine for the past month I'm smelling a funky smell,do your plants smell with wpm? I don't have 1 trace of mold I've checked every inch even with microscope bur the smell is rather odd so I'm just guessing it's the strain "I hope"
Nursejanna
Active Member
Hmmm...no, I don't have any unusual odors. My plants smell good! What strain are you growing? I find that even though my operation is indoor, the outside weather impacts humidity and temp needs. Always altering my room control module.
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chuck estevez
Well-Known Member
for those that LOVE to pull leaves, watch what the man says at about 58 seconds in, Play it over and over until you get it
ButchyBoy
Well-Known Member
No form without function!!!
Eggsackly!!
If the plant did not need it, it would not grow it!!
Milovan
Well-Known Member
Wow, didn't I say this forum is great!
Look at all the help you received.
What you say now?
Nursejanna
Active Member
Yes! Very helpful discussion, thanks everyone!
High Grade Only
Active Member
our canopy is packed very tightly. flower sites need direct light to form at optimal levels. also, the stripping allows for much better air flow and aids in preventing pm. as far as feeding goes, we feed them as much as possible along with keeping c02 levels as high as we can.
High Grade Only
Active Member
no form without function in nature huh? two words bro, hyena pseudo-penis
well three words sort of
lolPruning techniques work well in specific types of agriculture. The comments referencing "nature knows best" doesn't always correlate to agriculture production. evolution does not dictate elevation.
your comments would be like suggesting that we not breed down the size of banana seeds because the plant must need them. The plant did need them, we did not. or that grapes should not be pruned and vined in straight rows because nature intended it to be bushy. Why don't you just leave males in your flower room as well with the rationale you are using.
proper pruning isn't questioned when talking to any agricultural producer.
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calicocalyx
Well-Known Member
Nukem works wonderfully. Look at the active ingredient in eagle 20 and potential health affects.