Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

[Jdizzel]

first time grow

first time grow

Any advise on what i got goin on here. Not real sure it's my first go at this and I'm 15 days into bloom. Thanks.

 

[twrex]

People will fuss over which is better all the while never taking the time to think about where they are losing the most light. That is where compartment design is important.

YES! This frustrates me to no end, the constant bickering about paint vs. poly vs. mylar vs. whatever. I'm pretty doubtful that most people have their cabs/strains dialed in well enough to see the benefits of a few % increase in light reflection.

 

[Balarama67]

YES! This frustrates me to no end, the constant bickering about paint vs. poly vs. mylar vs. whatever. I'm pretty doubtful that most people have their cabs/strains dialed in well enough to see the benefits of a few % increase in light reflection.

No, but I've seen plenty of bad setups where I feel the few % difference have saved their sorry asses for being stupid enough not to do the research/reading in the first place.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

White walls are great (for old cars), I like ultraflect.

Not that Ultraflect doesn't work great but, eh.... Flat-White walls last longer, wash easier and take only pennies to re-coat with a fresh layer. So what if it's 5% less reflective. LOL


Seriously folks.... flat white paint is blindingly awesome.

Stay Safe!

 

[RustyFord]

Its just so obvious from all the pictures, defoliation seems to let the light into the center of the plant, if this is timed right, with the ability for the light to penetrate, lollipopping becomes obsolete, your bottoms get their own lolli's now that they are able to get light...

 

[k33ftr33z]

Any advise on what i got goin on here. Not real sure it's my first go at this and I'm 15 days into bloom. Thanks.

I see evidence of lollipopping. You still have a substantial canopy shading the mids, but with the lowers removed you needn't do a full stripping. Like the last poster with unprepared plants already in bloom, please go moderately at first. And like the advice I gave him, please focus on your replacement cycle. That is where the real difference can be made. Don't veg so long next time. You can get just as much spread and branching from a plant half as developed as is evidence by the growth that has been already removed.

 

[LifeLess]

Ok here we are 4 days after my second defoliation. Things are really progressing along. I havent seen any decrease in bud growth. The lowers are deff larger and more developed. My first removal of leaf was day 16 and the second was 8 days later (24). Today is 4 days later day28. Buds are just exploding. Apollolicious just loved the trim. Peace LL
Day16 Before


Day16 After


Day24 Before 2nd Defoliation


Day24 After 2nd


Today day 28

 

[angel4us]

unbeleivable . simply awesome grow dude. why some of these guys with larger wattage rooms arent doing it is beyond me. everyone need to do some trimming!!!

 

[Rox]

I have read this thread from the first post...

a day and a dozen cups of coffee and spliffs later I have done this to my veging plants and also those in week 3 /4 of 12/12...

I feel like i have butchered my girls maybe thats bcos I have!!

I have 100% confidence they will bounce back from thisI remember sum1 on OG that had a technique similar to this




Thanks for pushing the boundaries

 

[superbolan]

The first time you do it you look at the pile of leaves you clipped, and go WTF did i just do...

 

[Rox]

The first time you do it you look at the pile of leaves you clipped, and go WTF did i just do...

Thats exactly how i felt.. however my buddy that I give my trim to was very happy today They use it to make butter and other goodies

 

[puff adder]

I've been taking handfulls of fan leaves every morning. Plants are Loving it! Direct light is getting to the lower growth, which is filling out nicely. I should definitely see an increase in yield compared to leaving the plants alone.

 

[DevilWeed]

Been following this since it started. I'm happy to say I jumped on the band-wagon about 10 days ago and things are going great! My new moms are looking very hardy, nice thick stems and short stature with all the trimming. I'm shaping them in hopes of maximizing clone sites.

Did some on my flower room too. Helped with heat and humidity a ton! My dehumi was having trouble keeping up and now I'm sitting at a nice 45%. I suppose that means reduced transpiration, which in turn could mean a little less nutrient uptake. Think that would be minuscule if at all though. The girls sure seem happy. Lower buds are plumping up a bit and overall the plants look healthier.

Great job on the thread k33ftr33z!!

 

[1776]

Forgot to address the whole of your question.

1. Yes top at the second week and also remove the leaves. I prefer to not focus on 2nd week or 3rd or whatever. It is all relative to size and structure. I'm not schedule-driven in veg.

Bud is on a schedule, but I manage veg to run as a roughly 50% surplus production. That way the necessary extra veg time is built in. SOGgers fuss over veg time but the veg space is dedicated 24/7/365 at a low-wattage and minimal cubic footage. So that being the case, veg time is of no consequence in the regular production.

2. Cloning from your 4th weeks is fine and wherever you take them is up to you. You don't need many because you are producing larger shrubs.

3. Sounds about right. Hydro would be faster.

4. During those 6 weeks defoliate. I don't know the details of all these acronym techniques but just defoliate and train. I only top the main leader at the previous mentioned 2weeks or so. Sometimes not, if a clone is adequately branchy. Again, I am not in favor of lollipopping. That's someone else's technique. I preserve all growth and train to accomodate it. If things are out of hand with this much training, the plants are too large for the allotted space and that should be adjusted. Defoliation minimizes stretching while maintaining horizontal training strategy.

I never top any branch after transfer to bud. That is your production. They get plenty branchy as they grow by defoliating and training. And again, No lollipopping. If you want encouragement to lollipop you are in the wrong thread. Don't mean to sound insistent just trying to clarify.

so k33ftr33z
even if one is growing trees defoiling should work!
I'll do a side by side and get back to u

 

[smokefrogg]

The first time you do it you look at the pile of leaves you clipped, and go WTF did i just do...

lol, that's exactly what went through my head

 

[k33ftr33z]

LifeLess

Thanks so much for participating and posting. I've been a bit too busy to post enough progress pics in sequence. Also it helps to have someone, besides the one proposing this technique to the public, take it up and provide convincing evidence. Well done so far. Can't wait for the finish.

keef

 

[k33ftr33z]

so k33ftr33z
even if one is growing trees defoiling should work!
I'll do a side by side and get back to u

That would be my strategy no matter what or where the project. Are you proposing indoor or outdoor trees? How tall and wide and at what spacing? This is all critical to developing a good finish strategy.

By trees, my sense is an image of height. If you are talking indoors, height is your enemy is much as excess shade leaf.

If outdoors, height is no issue but spreading is always good for outdoor plants. Stretch is good for outdoor plants because of the usual desire for as large a plant as possible.

Whether it "works" and what can be demonstrated by a side by side is of no consequence. It is fairly well shown that defoliating causes no harm and in crowded conditions can improve yield and overall quality.

Naturally, a stretching and aggressive leaf monster will quickly outpace a defoliated starter. Outdoor defoliation is usually reserved for later in the season after bud setting. Conditions are just so different outdoors that it's a completely different strategy.

Nevertheless, please carry out whatever side by side you can do because conditions and technique will always vary and for your own experience especially.

 

[killerweed31]

all what i see is incredible cool man, continius like this and should be a serious bud

 

[ShroomDr]

Not that Ultraflect doesn't work great but, eh.... Flat-White walls last longer, wash easier and take only pennies to re-coat with a fresh layer. So what if it's 5% less reflective. LOL


Seriously folks.... flat white paint is blindingly awesome.

Stay Safe!

To each his own. I'll take the 5% higher efficiency. Painting sucks!

There is a reason the Tent companies switched from white to the new reflective interiors. I started wearing sunglasses after i added ultraflect to the inside of my (white) tents (years ago, i posted about it).

All of this is a tangent to the thread. This is an indoor forum, I assume most using this technique are in some sort of enclosed environment. Removing fan leaves brings up the light level in the grow area. If you believe in defoliation, an obvious consequence is the brightening of the shaded areas. I dont see how anyone could deny the benefit nor would want to leave behind a possible 5%.
97% > 90-92%
I dont have a product affinity, its just the best available to me. I have heard mylar is hard to work with, and i think the H0meDp0t stuff is super thick. This stuff is pretty durable, wont tear but is thin, and defuses light.

wanting sunglasses was the eyeopener i needed

 

[cannagardens]

This is Dutch Passions Skywalker at day1. I probably shouldn't have trimmed up so far up from the bottom. Second pic is 14 days later. First time trying this method, everything I've seen so far has been very impressive.