Defoliation yay/nay?

reggie1387

reggie1387

Active Member
Hi guys I’m currently 2 weeks into flowering (flipped 4/2/19) and I’m noticing my 3x atreum qb288 lights aren’t penetrating through to the bottom and the sides of my 3 plants. They are going well since going under the qb288. I know some people say yes to defoliation some say no. Also thinking of trimming off lower struggling branches/lollipoping? Thoughts on my plants?

1st pic of 3 plants.
2/3/4 lower pic of each plant
5/6/7 pic each plant top
 

Attachments

Major Blazer

Major Blazer

Well-Known Member
I think most defoliation debates are about yield but I don't think anybody debates the practical use case, for example I do it to keep humidity in check and it absolutely works for that. If you need light to break past the top canopy, I say go for it. Looks like you have some heat issues to address (just a guess) - at least one of them looks stressed
 
reggie1387

reggie1387

Active Member
Major Blazer said:
I think most defoliation debates are about yield but I don't think anybody debates the practical use case, for example I do it to keep humidity in check and it absolutely works for that. If you need light to break past the top canopy, I say go for it. Looks like you have some heat issues to address (just a guess) - at least one of them looks stressed
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Im having humidity problems now. I vegged with 2 600w meizhi LEDs and couldn’t get higher humidity so had to use a humidifier. Then made up my qb light frame to flower now I’m getting high humidity. So I’ve put damprid in the bottom until my dehumidifier gets here. Yeah I actually noticed the heat stress after checking on them today after 2 days due to work. It was hot last 2 days so I just lifted the light from 16” to 20” and see if that helps.

What humidity do you grow in?
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
reggie1387 said:
Thanks for the reply. Im having humidity problems now. I vegged with 2 600w meizhi LEDs and couldn’t get higher humidity so had to use a humidifier. Then made up my qb light frame to flower now I’m getting high humidity. So I’ve put damprid in the bottom until my dehumidifier gets here. Yeah I actually noticed the heat stress after checking on them today after 2 days due to work. It was hot last 2 days so I just lifted the light from 16” to 20” and see if that helps.

What humidity do you grow in?
Click to expand...
Lift the light higher. Start at 24".
 
A

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
I always seem to do better with defoliation, I don’t always go extreme but I always try and get better light penetration. If I don’t do enough, stuff gets larfy way higher up than it should. My best yields have been from crops that were heavily defoliate. But it’s scary plucking all your leaves off and I rarely can bring my self to do it. But as long as my plants are 100% healthy and my humidity is stable I do better the more I strip. I like day 21 and 42. I still strip big leaves and inside leaves regardless of humidity fluctuations. The only thing I’ve noticed is that if your humidity drops after strip you can get some tacoing due to the plant trying to slow down respiration. Hopefully my new room won’t have that issue, going sealed instead of venting which has worked great so far but has left me dealing with humidity fluctuations depending on the season.
 
callies

callies

Active Member
nooooooo leave it alone because its already stresses to the shit. normally id say yes but if your plant is already unhappy as it looks dont stress it more by stripping it
looks like its too hot in that room for the plant. them leaves are telling you something is wrong
 
callies

callies

Active Member
Logan Burke said:
That's a beautiful plant man, I wouldn't go crazy trimming off leaves...I always try to bend and pull leaves out of the way as much as possible before resorting to clipping them off.
Click to expand...
not beautiful.. stop being nice be honest its how people learn
 
reggie1387

reggie1387

Active Member
Thanks for the reply’s guys. I know 1 of my plants wasn’t happy and was struggling with heat issues. I’m also having some troubles with high %humidity and lower temps 22C-26C. Since swapping from 2x 600W meizhi LEDs to the 3x 288 qb my dramas went from having a hot tent due to the LEDs and summer in Australia (tent temps 30C-40C) and needing a humidifier to get to %60-70 humidity while vegging. Now im looking at a dehumidifier and possibly a heater as it’s cooler in my tent due to the QBs and summers now coming to a end. I had been at work and hadn’t checked them for 2 days and it was hot as hell typical Australian weather. I lifted my light to the 24” recommended. Gave the plants a nice water and some kelp. I also found in them 2 days my plants got spider mites. So yesterday morning hit them with eco neem oil and eco oil insecticide. Checked them last night %99 of the mites were gone and plants were looking better. As of this morning this is how they look, and the plant that was struggling.

Once the plants are back to %100 I’ll give them some defoliation. Thanks for everyone’s reply
 

Attachments

callies

callies

Active Member
reggie1387 said:
Thanks for the reply’s guys. I know 1 of my plants wasn’t happy and was struggling with heat issues. I’m also having some troubles with high %humidity and lower temps 22C-26C. Since swapping from 2x 600W meizhi LEDs to the 3x 288 qb my dramas went from having a hot tent due to the LEDs and summer in Australia (tent temps 30C-40C) and needing a humidifier to get to %60-70 humidity while vegging. Now im looking at a dehumidifier and possibly a heater as it’s cooler in my tent due to the QBs and summers now coming to a end. I had been at work and hadn’t checked them for 2 days and it was hot as hell typical Australian weather. I lifted my light to the 24” recommended. Gave the plants a nice water and some kelp. I also found in them 2 days my plants got spider mites. So yesterday morning hit them with eco neem oil and eco oil insecticide. Checked them last night %99 of the mites were gone and plants were looking better. As of this morning this is how they look, and the plant that was struggling.

Once the plants are back to %100 I’ll give them some defoliation. Thanks for everyone’s reply
Click to expand...
i stop growing in summer too hot in aus for that unless you run your ac 24/7 but that depends on if you want a $2000 electricity billl. aus and electricity cost suck. it is not worth growing indoors in aus over summer it will permanently be 28-30c in your tent even with good leds that produce less heat like them QBs plus its outdoor season. fill your back yard and produce a 6 month worth. unless you got them nosey neighbors that need to be shot or want to be for looking over the fences
 
Jypsy Dog

Jypsy Dog

Well-Known Member
I find it's strain dependent. I grow a Strawberrry Glue that THRIVES on being striped down twice, preflower then 2 weeks later. Doubles her yield. 3rd generation clones. Did it to a Wonder Woman and she hated it.
Don't be afraid to try it... No matter what your told.:weed:
 
reggie1387

reggie1387

Active Member
callies said:
i stop growing in summer too hot in aus for that unless you run your ac 24/7 but that depends on if you want a $2000 electricity billl. aus and electricity cost suck. it is not worth growing indoors in aus over summer it will permanently be 28-30c in your tent even with good leds that produce less heat like them QBs plus its outdoor season. fill your back yard and produce a 6 month worth. unless you got them nosey neighbors that need to be shot or want to be for looking over the fences
Click to expand...

Yeah the heat is just ridiculous. I have a old granny flat/shed and it’s tin roof and it’s so hot. I had a old school kelvinator ac in the window but it’s couldnt cool it down to even 30C. I went through different fans, DIY swamp coolers everything to get the heat out of my tent but it was pointless cause of the room temp. I did the same as you last yeah had 4 outdoor plants along my fence. But decided to give indoors a go. But I’ll stick to your suggestion next year I think.
 
reggie1387

reggie1387

Active Member
Jypsy Dog said:
I find it's strain dependent. I grow a Strawberrry Glue that THRIVES on being striped down twice, preflower then 2 weeks later. Doubles her yield. 3rd generation clones. Did it to a Wonder Woman and she hated it.
Don't be afraid to try it... No matter what your told.:weed:
Click to expand...

I’m growing with thc bomb not sure how the strain handles it. In my picture about it’s actually 3 plants in single 5gal fabric pots. They are all so different plants. Left one is so much smaller it’s actually on top of 2 bricks to get it the same height as others. Right one obliviously doesn’t like heat much and the one at the front is just a mutant that’s twice the size that loves to be fed lol so it’s all a experimenting for me so I can only give it a go and work out what works best for each plant.
How much do you defoliate on your plants?
 
callies

callies

Active Member
reggie1387 said:
Yeah the heat is just ridiculous. I have a old granny flat/shed and it’s tin roof and it’s so hot. I had a old school kelvinator ac in the window but it’s couldnt cool it down to even 30C. I went through different fans, DIY swamp coolers everything to get the heat out of my tent but it was pointless cause of the room temp. I did the same as you last yeah had 4 outdoor plants along my fence. But decided to give indoors a go. But I’ll stick to your suggestion next year I think.
Click to expand...
i like indoors in winter free heater well kind of. i only stop for 3 months over the real hot summer. you can always take clones off your outdoors and ether reveg them indoors or take clones before autumn if you want to keep the strain alive but watch out for them bugs. bring bugs inside with the clones can happen and isnt fun. i like to keep my clones in a different room for the 1st two weeks if i took them from my outdoors. there is one big problem to consider though when deciding to do what i do. it is plant count.. outdoors take most of the year to finish so having 4 or more outside when having several indoors isn't really the best idea and can probably put you in jail for a while even if its only personal smoke. im 100% off to jail if the cops come knocking yet i never sell
 
reggie1387

reggie1387

Active Member
What’s temps do you get here in Aus through winter? Since swapping to the QBs my temps have dropped just like the weather most days but my tent is about 23-25C when I got out and check them bout 930pm. I’m hoping I won’t need a heater through winter.
I think that’s how my bugs may of got inside the plants I grew outdoors last yeah started going to shit I continued to veg them inside before putting them back out to flower. Other then that I’m not sure. I didn’t have a filter on my intake fan but do now. But it seems to be mixed opinions on that to. Yeah it’s not worth the risk sometimes. I now just really enjoy growing it more then smoking it’s relaxing lol
 
callies

callies

Active Member
reggie1387 said:
What’s temps do you get here in Aus through winter? Since swapping to the QBs my temps have dropped just like the weather most days but my tent is about 23-25C when I got out and check them bout 930pm. I’m hoping I won’t need a heater through winter.
I think that’s how my bugs may of got inside the plants I grew outdoors last yeah started going to shit I continued to veg them inside before putting them back out to flower. Other then that I’m not sure. I didn’t have a filter on my intake fan but do now. But it seems to be mixed opinions on that to. Yeah it’s not worth the risk sometimes. I now just really enjoy growing it more then smoking it’s relaxing lol
Click to expand...
about the same. 25c in a 3x3x5ft ish tent. 2 6inch extract fans one as intake one as outtake plus a box fan. depends on your light though. i have been using old tec leds so i cant speak for QB and the heat as i haven't has 1st hand experience with them yet . if you grow in soil bug eggs love hatching out once it gets warm. i prefer dwc for indoors never any bugs. i dont see the need for a carbon filter on the intake side. i use custom made dust filter on my intake and a 6 inch carbon filter on the outtake to kill the smells. a good way to reuse your old carbon filters is to empty them out. cut them down by half (eg 6 inch to 3 inch) and pack them full of wool or cotton and use it as a dust filter doing that also helps stop light getting in your intake what is probably the most important part screw light leaks. you'll need to replace the wool or cotton every 6 months though
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top