First time grower, doing it legit from the start (Need defoliation advice)

As the song says......"here we go again" lol!!!

neo12345 said:

So why isn't there a sticky on not defoliating, showing the dangers of what might happen if you pull a few leaves off?? You'd have thought there would be a warning against it, a thread packed with evidence and facts.

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I LIKE this idea.

Adjorr said:

defoliation during veg is a definate no no, but i have seen some evidence that removal of old fan leaves half way through the flowering cycle can increase yield, however i cant say from experience if it actually works. the theory behind it is that the old veg leaves are no longer feeding bud growth as that job is being fulfilled by the new sugar leaves that grow as the bud develops and that the large fan leaves end up using more energy to maintain themselves then they produce. I have been reluctant to try it though as i only do small 4-5 plant grows usually from seed so any difference in yield could be because of different phenotypes. but i cant deny the evidence ive seen has made me want to give it a try and ill likely give i a shot on my next clone only grow, but that is still several months away as im currently auditioing for a new mother plant

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Owning my noob-ness I have all of 3/4 of one grow to build credibility. For this first grow, I decided that I wasn't going remove leaves. Then during about 4 weeks into flowering, I noticed that some of the older fan leaves were yellowing and losing their turgidity. Growing a SCROG in a greenhouse at 45 degree angle (toward the sun / windows). Well a succession of sunny days can get the temps up and even though I have a fan pointed at the back of the angled SCROG, the scrog is pretty thick and reducing air flow. So these limp, faded, pale, yellowish old fan leaves block the air. So I changed my mind and have been pulling and clipping these leaves off.

My deduction was that these leaves weren't contributing much to the immediate energy production or needs of the plant.

Now I think mother nature knows a bit more about how to grow than I, so if these yellowing leaves really were useless, wouldn't they fall off? In fact some of the leaves did come off really easily with a gentle tug. But maybe these old yellow leaves were designed my mother nature to hang around as an emergency water/nutrient source for the plant when it meets severe drought at the end of it's seed cycle. So since I can ensure these plants don't get hit with a drought, then maybe there is nothing to lose from trimming these leaves.

about 4 weeks into flowering, I noticed that some of the older fan leaves were yellowing

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if these yellowing leaves really were useless, wouldn't they fall off?

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Yep, that's normal. They should start falling off in a couple weeks on their own.Personally, I leave 'em, let the plant take care of it on its own, and just pick 'em up after they fall.
The plant will close off the stem so it doesn't leave a wound when it drops the leaf.

That said, I tend to take a less-is-more approach to all my gardening.

It's been over a week tied down so I flipped them over today. They are about 20" tall standing straight up now should I FIM them soon? Anyone have good luck with FIMing the lateral growth?