Should i prune?

Second grow and I have been reading all these articles that say you shouldn't prune or defoliate. That it causes herms and stress etc...

I pruned buckets of leaves off these girls over the five weeks of veg and in the last two weeks of flower I have only taken maybe 8 fan leaves total that were blocking multiple bud sites. I am just not sure what the right thing to do is.

Plants are big and bushy. About 27 inches tall and each plant takes up about a 2.5x2.5 area. But ALL the leaves are healthy, even the huge fan leaves at the bottom of the plant that get very little to no light. I did experience my first light burn incident when I let my light sit to close to the plants for a few days before I noticed it. You can see those few leaves in the pics.

I have lots of airflow in the room. Coming from above, below, and sides. Daytime Temps stay steady at 72 at canopy and 62 at night. The issue is that humidity is 45% during day but spikes to 80% at night. I'm worried with all this foliage and high humidity I might run into issues.

Should I clean these up? Any other issues you see please let me know!





Thanks!

Without controls how do you know removing leaves actually helped or if your plants would have been better off without it?

Observe & Report said:

Without controls how do you know removing leaves actually helped or if your plants would have been better off without it?

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Right. I assume many people have done test and controls which is why I'm hoping to get some points of view from people who have done so. I've recently read threads of people vehemently against any pruning at all while most all threads on this forum promote pruning and defol. Seems like there wouldn't be soo many conflicting opinions if there was a clear winner out of test and control runs.

With that said, it's my second grow. I just want some good folks with alot more experience then myself to give me some guidance based on what they see. Lol.

what are you doing for fresh air?

Severed Tongue said:

what are you doing for fresh air?

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I have a hvac vent feeding the room. There is also a large gap under the door that allows for fresh air into room. It's a larger room. 6 x 12 x 11ft ceilings.

62 night temp is pretty cold, and likely also contributing to why your humidity is spiking. Can you add a space heater with built in thermostat to keep your temps moderated?

There is not right or wrong way and the only experiments have been stoner experiments and it all got smoked. It’s up to your preference. There are pros and cons. Keep reading and you will find your way. One tip is to leave more leaves on, because if you run into issues, there will be more leaves to act as a safety net for the plant to draw from.

ColoradoHighGrower said:

62 night temp is pretty cold, and likely also contributing to why your humidity is spiking. Can you add a space heater with built in thermostat to keep your temps moderated?

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Yes! I have a portable A/C unit that also has a heat mode. I use it to keep Temps low during the lights on period but could easily change it to heat mode at night. What is the best night temp? I can also run a dehumidifier which I have if needed.

SnidleyBluntash said:

There is not right or wrong way and the only experiments have been stoner experiments and it all got smoked. It’s up to your preference. There are pros and cons. Keep reading and you will find your way. One tip is to leave more leaves on, because if you run into issues, there will be more leaves to act as a safety net for the plant to draw from.

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The tip makes sense. I had a pump go bad on me in my first grow and I didn't know the signs and ended up losing one plant at 7 weeks into flower qnd the other lost every fan leaf she had and I was able to save her right before she fully died and she actually ended up surprising me with a good yield of awesome bud, but had I not had the leaves I bet I would have lost both.

I prune or defo on an as needed basis during veg, and that’s not very often. The fans are the engines that drives your plants growth. Massive defoliation to me would just slow down the drive, but not bring it to a screeching halt. Tucking can only be done to a certain extent, leaving defoliation as the only option to open up shadowed areas, but this particularly pertains to the flowering stage for me. Training and trellis nets help guide the plants the way you want them to grow. I allow my plants to grow however they want during veg, rarely removing anything at this stage. It’s not until flowering kicks in that I strategically remove fans for a purpose, otherwise I let them do their thing. I have however butchered plants in my early days out of inexperience, and the plants never hermied on me once. If they did, it would have been a result of weak genetics trying to ensure survival. I suggest trying it both ways and see the difference for yourself, you may like one way over another.

Get a humidity controller, and run a dehumidifier in the room instead of a heater at night, because you are only wanting to slightly raise the temp and remove the extra moisture from the room, and in that case, a dehumidifier will do that better than a heater! And as far as defoliation goes, I feel like that is simply a personal preference, but if you are NOT planning to (lollipop, defoliate, etc), then you should have at least (1) small floor fan, per plant, running on low, blowing up on an angle, through each plants canopy, to completely control leaf-2-leaf condensation, because you don't want mold or mildew infecting any of your plants!

Lockedin said:

Defoliate vs didnt do jack vs lollipop

Sup RIU. Was in another thread about why defoliation is such an at odds topic. I had mentioned I was doing a side by side by side comparison of the 3 styles. I will show some pics of begining of flower and document them going forward for all of us. Some variables that probably will cause many...

rollitup.org

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Great read! I think Lollipopping is the route I'll go. So I'm at day 17 from 12/12 flip. Am I good to do the lower cleanup now?

phishmanforlife said:

Great read! I think Lollipopping is the route I'll go. So I'm at day 17 from 12/12 flip. Am I good to do the lower cleanup now?

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A lot of people - myself included - do their lollipop / defol at week 3 of flower, so I'd say you're good.

Ok. So here is where plant 1 stands after cleaning up the bottom. Did I do enough? Too much?

I do more - but that's because my 4x8 has some heat / humidity / airflow issues - so I lollipop AND some moderate defol to improve airflow.

Looks good to me - others might argue to take more.

phishmanforlife said:

Yes! I have a portable A/C unit that also has a heat mode. I use it to keep Temps low during the lights on period but could easily change it to heat mode at night. What is the best night temp? I can also run a dehumidifier which I have if needed.

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I usually get up to about 80-85°F during lights on and let the room cool to 75°F during night hours. My hearer only kicks in occasionally and as needed to maintain 75° at night. I shoot for 65° in late flower to induce colors and help the ladies realize the end is near.

Adiabatics cause relative humidity to rise proportionally to air mass cooling in a sealed system.

I also lollipop with great results! Helps with airflow qnd redirects most growth/flower energy to the upper canopy.

phishmanforlife said:

Ok. So here is where plant 1 stands after cleaning up the bottom. Did I do enough? Too much?

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As others have said it is so much personal preference. Some like to do some, some like to do a little, and some don't like to do any.

Personally I like to lollipop mine to a degree. Here's a side shot in mid flower. The lower stuff that only gets minimal light only turns into larf anyways so I don't care to keep it.

Ok. I am done! Almost filled a five gallon bucket with leaves and low branches. Could have went more probably but this is enough. If they handle it well. Next grow I'll be a little more aggressive. But now I'm gonna set and forget. At least as far as pruning goes. Thanks all!

phishmanforlife said:

Ok. I am done! Almost filled a five gallon bucket with leaves and low branches. Could have went more probably but this is enough. If they handle it well. Next grow I'll be a little more aggressive. But now I'm gonna set and forget. At least as far as pruning goes. Thanks all!

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looks good, yea you could do more if you wanted imo, get a fan blowing under canopy FTW.