superbolan
Active member
I keep my cutting instrument, an exacto blade. As sterile as possible so that may help prevent problems
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Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?
- Thread starter k33ftr33z
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Animal Mother
Member
Those buds are gonna be so fat and juicy come harvest! Good job and thanks for the photos!
H
HybridHydro
Should I, or should I not pinch off all those fat sucker leaves that are sticking out like sore thumbs at this point in flowering?(a month in)
Animal Mother
Member
Hell yes, i'd cut them, at a minimum it will let more light get to the bottoms
Healing wounds and openings? willow/tea?
I have seen some information on this but if y'all care to splurge, whoo-hoo.
So far I am considering this of willow water, extra precaution or non-sense? Thanks
I used to use honey on wounds but unless the plant is sick it heals fine on its own.
buddin_904
Member
how long were those 4 beauts vegged for?? and thats a 1000 watt right???? anyways....wtf! never seen any thing look so good!
Animal Mother
Member
Any feedback is greatly appreciated
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I have been defoliating for years with great results. A few comments. I like to trim top and middle canopy but I do not like to allow light to hit ground. Light is the food, so all light should hit leaves somewhere. Many leaves near the top cannot use as much light as they get, so they reflect and block alot of light uselessly. The leaves in middle and bottom can use it better.
I try to cut some branches so I do a bit less trimming, then around week 3 or 4 of flower I start picking leaves, useually a few each time I am there. In the last 2 or 3 weeks of flower I really pick leaves out alot.
What trimming does is to getcha to have good average yields. When ya dont trim leaves and ya put smaller plants in, you can get better buds sometimes, but sometimes the plants or tray may be unbalanced. So the yield vary between great and lame. Ideally, you would put smaller plants in, with less leads, dont defoliate much and still allow lots of light in. However, this ideal is rare, so trimming works better inthe real world.
We do tons of trimming in veg to shape the plant also.
I try to cut some branches so I do a bit less trimming, then around week 3 or 4 of flower I start picking leaves, useually a few each time I am there. In the last 2 or 3 weeks of flower I really pick leaves out alot.
What trimming does is to getcha to have good average yields. When ya dont trim leaves and ya put smaller plants in, you can get better buds sometimes, but sometimes the plants or tray may be unbalanced. So the yield vary between great and lame. Ideally, you would put smaller plants in, with less leads, dont defoliate much and still allow lots of light in. However, this ideal is rare, so trimming works better inthe real world.
We do tons of trimming in veg to shape the plant also.
H
HybridHydro
yeh Sarek thats what I did the first time I trimmed them up, i took all the top and mid leaf, left the bottoms for more solar energy. The new growth seems to have come back fast and twice as thick, but I did notice a bit of slow down of growth in the first 3 days or so after trimming, but now its like on steroids in that its out put in bud production is becomming quite dramatic.
Before current trimming:
Currently trimmed:
From the pictures it doesn't look like I trimmed much, but looking at the plant itself, and the leaf I had left over, I know I trimmed at least 40% - 50% off.
The main cola has just about doubled in size in a week.
Before current trimming:
Currently trimmed:
From the pictures it doesn't look like I trimmed much, but looking at the plant itself, and the leaf I had left over, I know I trimmed at least 40% - 50% off.
The main cola has just about doubled in size in a week.
nICE!
1
1quixotix
I'm sold! Gonna try this next time I put seeds in the ground. Hell, gonna try this with all sorts of vegetables!
I think you have those pretty well stripped! If that is how you did the last stripping, they recovered quite well.
Healing wounds and openings? willow/tea?
I have seen some information on this but if y'all care to splurge, whoo-hoo.
So say MJ undergoes a heavy enough pruning or incidentally has a branch or two broken off. On top of that there may be vectors in abundance such as fungus gnats and bacteria abound.
When there is an open wound,
Would it be best to use willow water to ease and promote healing re-growth?
Should a certain kind of tea function better? Bacterial/Fungal?
OR should they be wrapped in floral tape?
Any other trains of thought?
So far I am considering this of willow water, extra precaution or non-sense? Thanks
Never had any issue with just nipping off the leaves with thumbnail and forefinger. Besides to sweat injury or to have to go back and do some kind of treatment on literally thousands of removed leaf sites would be ridiculously impractical. You could always spray down the whole plant after a defoliation session. My climate is semi-arid so mold is almost never an issue.
Animal Mother
Member
Thanks. I stripped them equal to what they are in the pic about 2 weeks ago they came back fast and had to trim again which is what the pic is of, the 2nd trim. I just want to make sure i'm trimming it correctly.
Does it matter if you trim where the leaf connects to the stalk or branch or at the base of the leaf and leave that short little stem there? Or does it even matter?
dad tought me
dad tought me
yup...
to the person who said 50 year old growers are and have been doing this for ages...YES, lol, you could say an older friend has been showing me this technique. Also, he makes it important to have only 4 main stems during veg
, and then spreads these out with tie downs ( outdoor growing )...
It does make sense why this technique works....all the energy goes to building branches, and then to building buds...
the plant doesnt need leaves because it doesnt need to store nutrients. Also, it can photosynthesize through anything green, like the stems and buds. Also, it has more energy to make stems roots.
Cons.... a plant may be easier to nute burn maybe, without seeing early signs..maybe...
I really like this technique and understand the benefits. Person who taught me, his mentor got 8lbs off a plant outdoors, once.
What I don't get is why we need high power lights indoors if we're cutting all the fan leaves off. I would think this drastically reduces light requirements. Maybe this is the reason for the yields during flower. Perhaps relatively little light is needed before flower.
dad tought me
yup...
to the person who said 50 year old growers are and have been doing this for ages...YES, lol, you could say an older friend has been showing me this technique. Also, he makes it important to have only 4 main stems during veg
, and then spreads these out with tie downs ( outdoor growing )...It does make sense why this technique works....all the energy goes to building branches, and then to building buds...
the plant doesnt need leaves because it doesnt need to store nutrients. Also, it can photosynthesize through anything green, like the stems and buds. Also, it has more energy to make stems roots.
Cons.... a plant may be easier to nute burn maybe, without seeing early signs..maybe...
I really like this technique and understand the benefits. Person who taught me, his mentor got 8lbs off a plant outdoors, once.
What I don't get is why we need high power lights indoors if we're cutting all the fan leaves off. I would think this drastically reduces light requirements. Maybe this is the reason for the yields during flower. Perhaps relatively little light is needed before flower.
H
HybridHydro
dtp5150 wrote: the plant doesnt need leaves because it doesnt need to store nutrients.
Thats exactly what I've been thinking as well. Obviously it needs SOME leaves for proper photosynthesis to occur.
Thats exactly what I've been thinking as well. Obviously it needs SOME leaves for proper photosynthesis to occur.
Gentlemen,
The idea isn't to strip a plant bone dry. DO NOT remove leaves where the neighboring node has not developed. If you've followed my thread you know I am brutal but I always leave something to grow back.
Forcing the plant to grow back it's leaves repetitively is no different that we as humans working out. I consider it exercise but you need to only remove the leaves that have a neighboring chute of a half inch or more. If you remove that leaf before the chute gets to develop then YOU ARE hindering plant growth AT THAT location. Photosynthesis needs to occur at the foliar level.
It just so happens that they regrow super fast because of the light absorption but if you remove a leaf where there is a node that has not developed then that node WILL BE stunted! I've made this mistake and I learned from it.
This is a great but it is not for all! If you have a question then ask the OP and I'm sure he'll guide you correctly but again do not remove leaves where the neighboring chute has not yet developed or nothing will grow back.
The idea isn't to strip a plant bone dry. DO NOT remove leaves where the neighboring node has not developed. If you've followed my thread you know I am brutal but I always leave something to grow back.
Forcing the plant to grow back it's leaves repetitively is no different that we as humans working out. I consider it exercise but you need to only remove the leaves that have a neighboring chute of a half inch or more. If you remove that leaf before the chute gets to develop then YOU ARE hindering plant growth AT THAT location. Photosynthesis needs to occur at the foliar level.
It just so happens that they regrow super fast because of the light absorption but if you remove a leaf where there is a node that has not developed then that node WILL BE stunted! I've made this mistake and I learned from it.
This is a great but it is not for all! If you have a question then ask the OP and I'm sure he'll guide you correctly but again do not remove leaves where the neighboring chute has not yet developed or nothing will grow back.
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