Your thoughts on defoliation?

bignugdoug

bignugdoug

Well-Known Member
  • I'm all for just letting her grow. Like a poster said a above the fast! Leaves are like solar panels it get all it's energy from them. Why else should they be they. I'm a aborist, so I was taught what there was meant to be there. Just spread your canopy out to get better light now sure if you got some yellow leaves on the bottom pulled of but not healthy growth. Just my 2 CENTS
 
Dr. Who

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
Mad_Prophessor said:
Nobody put a gun to your head to make you post a reply or read this thread. If you are not interested in the topic or have nothing to offer to the discussion, just keep on moving along. Nobody cares how you feel about our discussion.
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ebcrew said:
This is a serious topic, for serious people. If you have any comments, or wish to share any experiences on the subject feel free.
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HE DID post a serious answer! I agree.....Defoliation to increase yield is like beating your head against the wall!!

This topic has been beat to death, time and again! Search it (on this site) !!! You will find comments and thoughts from grower(s) that are known world wide for their expertise! They have been featured in some of the most quoted grow bibles in the world.....NO DEFOLIATING!
That stupid web site posting you listed should be removed and burned......The poster is a nobody and does not understand actual plant science!!

Now then, I must qualify one thing.....I used to remove a very few huge fans on a cpl of strains (pure Indica's [LA Confidential]) to help with a more "even" finish by allowing more light to the "covered" bud....Now I simply use supplemental lighting....

Doc
 
Mean Gene

Mean Gene

Well-Known Member
I feel like this topic is so hotly debated due to the fact that it is all grower preference.
I dont believe in defol during veg i feel it just slows the growth. HOWEVER; i do feel that defol can be used during veg to control bud sites. Here is a link from Grow Weed Easy about Mainlining.
http://www.growweedeasy.com/mainlining-nugbuckets

Im in the last few weeks of a grow right now. Once im done my next round i am going to grow 2 white widow side by side and main line them. 1 i will defol like in that tutorial, 1 i will leave alone just to see for myself.
i also think as someone said earlier its very strain and situation dependant. All plants react differently. Just gotta check and see for yourself.

It's always worth a try.
 
Mad_Prophessor

Mad_Prophessor

Well-Known Member
Dr. Who said:
HE DID post a serious answer! I agree.....Defoliation to increase yield is like beating your head against the wall!!

This topic has been beat to death, time and again! Search it (on this site) !!! You will find comments and thoughts from grower(s) that are known world wide for their expertise! They have been featured in some of the most quoted grow bibles in the world.....NO DEFOLIATING!
That stupid web site posting you listed should be removed and burned......The poster is a nobody and does not understand actual plant science!!

Now then, I must qualify one thing.....I used to remove a very few huge fans on a cpl of strains (pure Indica's [LA Confidential]) to help with a more "even" finish by allowing more light to the "covered" bud....Now I simply use supplemental lighting....

Doc
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Come on man, that is hardly a serious answer. He wasn't looking to beat anything to death. He was looking for a discussion from current members that have experience in it. Of course you can research it and come up with plenty of studies to go either way.

Your statement is only partially correct. Defoliation is essential for growing big plants, but on a very limited application (ie. just after the stretch). If you keep all the lower growth on a plant, you can certainly take away energy from the colas. If the plant only has big nugs to focus on, that is what it will do. If you have a plant with the bottom covered in larf, I will be the first one to tell you, you could have yielded more by just removing the larf and letting the plant focus on the colas.

Removing solar panels so your buds can have light is just plain stupid. Tell me, do you think a big fat leaf or a tiny bud leaf can do more with the light it is given? Think about it. Your buds are not the panels collecting food for the plants, the leaves are.

You guys are making the point as to why this thread was created. There are some misconceptions that you guys are carrying around.
 
Mad_Prophessor

Mad_Prophessor

Well-Known Member
Mean Gene said:
I feel like this topic is so hotly debated due to the fact that it is all grower preference.
I dont believe in defol during veg i feel it just slows the growth. HOWEVER; i do feel that defol can be used during veg to control bud sites. Here is a link from Grow Weed Easy about Mainlining.
http://www.growweedeasy.com/mainlining-nugbuckets

Im in the last few weeks of a grow right now. Once im done my next round i am going to grow 2 white widow side by side and main line them. 1 i will defol like in that tutorial, 1 i will leave alone just to see for myself.
i also think as someone said earlier its very strain and situation dependant. All plants react differently. Just gotta check and see for yourself.

It's always worth a try.
Click to expand...
Most plants (strains) will react the same way. They will grow smaller buds with nanners in them. Sativas, given their lack of leaves to begin with will be considerably slower to recover. That is about the only difference. Links are one thing, but I have been growing for 20 years and have done the experiments. I am not reiterating somebody else's experience, I am telling you what I have done and seen with my own eyes. There is a big difference between the two.
 
ebcrew

ebcrew

Well-Known Member
Mad_Prophessor said:
Most plants (strains) will react the same way. They will grow smaller buds with nanners in them. Sativas, given their lack of leaves to begin with will be considerably slower to recover. That is about the only difference. Links are one thing, but I have been growing for 20 years and have done the experiments. I am not reiterating somebody else's experience, I am telling you what I have done and seen with my own eyes. There is a big difference between the two.
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Good stuff, glad someone can have a serious discussion on a topic. Question for you, so basically from your experience im wasting my time and doing more harm then good by defoliating during veg? Even though im not defoliating a whole lot, just removing some leaves that are blocking future bud sites. Defoliation should only be performed during beginning of flowering after stretch?
 
Tone5500

Tone5500

Well-Known Member
ebcrew said:
Good stuff, glad someone can have a serious discussion on a topic. Question for you, so basically from your experience im wasting my time and doing more harm then good by defoliating during veg? Even though im not defoliating a whole lot, just removing some leaves that are blocking future bud sites. Defoliation should only be performed during beginning of flowering after stretch?
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Would you trim the leaves off a apple tree in hopes of growing bigger apples , or cut the leave off a tomato plant to achieve a bigger harvest , if a cannabis plant could achieve a healthier larger bloom by shedding fan leaves , I think I the 1000000 plus years it's been a around it be doing it . Good luck with your experiment , hope you have a great health harvest , Irie
 
a mongo frog

a mongo frog

Well-Known Member
My thoughts on the subject is prune lowers for air flow only. Weather its the bottom third or less only the gardener would know. Then oscillate some air down there. I believe if your sole purpose of pruning is because lowers are getting blocked by leaves, then light management including plants to light ratio is the problem. Just my view, not looking to get bashed, but slight insults are fine.
 
marquezmurder

marquezmurder

Well-Known Member
oh-thanks-its-very-helpful.jpg
Tone5500 said:
Would you trim the leaves off a apple tree in hopes of growing bigger apples , or cut the leave off a tomato plant to achieve a bigger harvest , if a cannabis plant could achieve a healthier larger bloom by shedding fan leaves , I think I the 1000000 plus years it's been a around it be doing it . Good luck with your experiment , hope you have a great health harvest , Irie
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marquezmurder

marquezmurder

Well-Known Member
a mongo frog said:
I used to be a wanna bee skater. Ive been to my fair share of skate parks. Skated a lot when i lived in Chico years ago. Big Lance Mountain fan and Mcgill growing up. Im more of a fan now a days though.
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I just hit a bowl I never visited before today. Im not good anymore, but I cant resist riding.
 
J

jkwrestling13

Well-Known Member
Would like to see a documented side by side comparison of the same strain. Watching this thread, hopefully it doesn't fall victim to spam.
 
skinnysmoke

skinnysmoke

Well-Known Member
ebcrew said:
Heres a few pics of it after defoliation. As you can see i was a bit scared to go crazy with it like ive seen others do. It almost looks like i did nothing to the plant. You can imagine how bushy it was before, i'll try to locate a before picture.

View attachment 3425841 View attachment 3425842 View attachment 3425843
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The exposed stalk you have above soil, for best results, should be buried. The exposed area where you took leaves will now grow roots if you bury that stalk up to the leaves. You can see them wanting to grow out stalk now but there is no soil for them to grow into. More roots always helps your plants.

That is the only reason I defoliate is when I transplant to larger pot. I remove single blade leaf set, and 2 nodes after that. The defoliated stalk is buried during transplant, to create more roots. Other than that I just remove dead leaves and my space is crowded. Bud sites are still swelling.

Just my 2 cents.
 
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