New room
- Thread starter Leeski
- Start date
Why take leaves off when those are what produce the energy the plant needs to grow?
Renfro
Well-Known Member
TBH I didn't used to think defoliation was a good thing, but I first experimented with it in veg and noted how quickly the plants blow up afterwards. Secondly I tried it on some of my really leafy strains at about week 3 of 12/12. I learned that the lower bud sites developed much more than if not defoliated, any site more than about 12 inches below canopy was better with defoliation and I didn't notice any sign of loss on the top for the lack of a few fan leaves.
Now I do my defoliation in veg from the bottom up, removing all fans except the top two on each branch, when the plants are about a foot tall and again about 4 - 8 days before I move them into flower. When I defoliate in flower I work from the top down, only removing large fan leaves that are blocking lower growth and leaving lower fans that can serve as a nitrogen reserve in later flower. I like to see those remaining lower leaves fade during ripening indicating the plant is using mobile reserves of nitrogen and I am thus not over feeding.
When defoliating I find that too much lolipopping is counter productive as those lower sites are getting more light now. Only remove lower branches and sites if they are getting no light after day 21 of 12/12, or after stretch as some strains it may be later like GMO has another 14 days of stretch over any other strain I have ever ran. That strain will grow right up into your lights if you aren't expecting that lol. I find that leaving the lower branches until stretch is finished can help limit excessive stretch on the top a little.
Now I do my defoliation in veg from the bottom up, removing all fans except the top two on each branch, when the plants are about a foot tall and again about 4 - 8 days before I move them into flower. When I defoliate in flower I work from the top down, only removing large fan leaves that are blocking lower growth and leaving lower fans that can serve as a nitrogen reserve in later flower. I like to see those remaining lower leaves fade during ripening indicating the plant is using mobile reserves of nitrogen and I am thus not over feeding.
When defoliating I find that too much lolipopping is counter productive as those lower sites are getting more light now. Only remove lower branches and sites if they are getting no light after day 21 of 12/12, or after stretch as some strains it may be later like GMO has another 14 days of stretch over any other strain I have ever ran. That strain will grow right up into your lights if you aren't expecting that lol. I find that leaving the lower branches until stretch is finished can help limit excessive stretch on the top a little.
RangiSTaxi
Well-Known Member
Defoliating works amazing, but you must have a strong root system first and strong and healthy established plants.
When you remove leaves (with a stalk), i.e the fan leaves, remove top down, you want to maintain a 80-90 percent leaf canopy at the lower level to trap the light, its your solar panel, we are light farmers after all. after defoliation the leaves supporting the buds grow rapidly, energy is directed into the bud leaves. carbohydrates from the lower level flow upwards before flowing downwards to the roots.
If your a advanced grower you can research girdling, and girdle a max of 2 mm, 3 weeks prior to finishing, this will restrict the carbohydrates heading back down to the roots and boost bud dry matter, the girdle will heal over with cambium with-in 4-10 days, dont go wider than 2 mm and don't go too deep, some times 2 girdles can be done on long flowering plants.
When you remove leaves (with a stalk), i.e the fan leaves, remove top down, you want to maintain a 80-90 percent leaf canopy at the lower level to trap the light, its your solar panel, we are light farmers after all. after defoliation the leaves supporting the buds grow rapidly, energy is directed into the bud leaves. carbohydrates from the lower level flow upwards before flowing downwards to the roots.
If your a advanced grower you can research girdling, and girdle a max of 2 mm, 3 weeks prior to finishing, this will restrict the carbohydrates heading back down to the roots and boost bud dry matter, the girdle will heal over with cambium with-in 4-10 days, dont go wider than 2 mm and don't go too deep, some times 2 girdles can be done on long flowering plants.
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Leeski
Well-Known Member
I always train my plants they were super cropped yesterday they will bounce back by the wk end mum is out of control lol clones will be scrogged but mother plant will be left to her self she’s been super cropped so many times she’s got more knuckles than mike Tyson and more heads than a bin bag full of pound coins
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etruthfx
Well-Known Member
Well if you think about it, if you defoliate a leaf in the middle getting low light, it tells the plant to start producing more fan leaves that it will need to use. So yeah defoliating too much is bad but in the right amount it actually stimulates new growth and gives light.
RangiSTaxi
Well-Known Member
After 6 days
etruthfx
Well-Known Member
@OP What is that plant you have in the middle there? Not marijauana?
That's crazy I always stop LST around 2 weeks into flower, unless I get an accidental break or something I have seen them recover like that though.
RangiSTaxi
Well-Known Member
Yep and its all documented for times on rollitup. Defoliation in action.
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Leeski
Well-Known Member
there’s all sorts of plants in there I was going to use one big raised bed but changed my mind last min the one in the middle is coriander there’s also basil clover marigolds they were going to be companion plants in the raised bed
etruthfx
Well-Known Member
I would be very concerned having any type of plant in your garden that's not weed. Looking at the original images theres alot of them.
Be careful, other plants do not have the same resistances to pests as Marijuana does. If you have a bean plant etc. in your room, it will be the first to get bugs and cause problems for your other plants.
Be careful, other plants do not have the same resistances to pests as Marijuana does. If you have a bean plant etc. in your room, it will be the first to get bugs and cause problems for your other plants.
Leeski
Well-Known Member
really I have used companion plants lots over the past no issues but thanks for your input !!
etruthfx
Well-Known Member
Yup just looking out
Leeski
Well-Known Member
Check out Joshua steensland on YouTube
Dryxi
Well-Known Member
The point about some plants being less/more resistant and causing problems can be true but typically you can use that bean plant as a trap plant. I put red clover in my beds (along with a bunch of other plants like dill, fetch, etc) because spider mites like red clover over cannabis and I will see the damage on the clover long before the cannabis and can fix the issue while it is still small and below the threshold that will hurt production. Many times companion planting can cause other benefits, many insects outright avoid certain plants (stuff like dill can keep ants away) as well as some produce chemicals in their exudates that can help to prevent some nematode species.
They can also cause harm if you don't pick the right plants though, since some produce alleolochemicals that can stunt nearby plants, or if you put some fruiting plant in their (like a tomato or something) you can expect that it's going to be using a larger amount of nutrients causing competition with your cash crop.
