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Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

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*mistress*

Member
Veteran
pruning/training/thinning...teehee

pruning/training/thinning...teehee

basic pl@ntie groeth
plant growth occurs when water & nutrients absorbed by the plant & transported to the leaves & combine w/ carbohydrates (formed thru photosynthesis) to produce various plant foods.

prunning

any reduction in leaf area therefore reduces the amount of plant food manufactured, which in turn reduced growth. although pruning usually causes the remaining shoots to increase their length & their leaf area, especially near the cuts, the total plant size & weight is greatest w/out pruning. thus, pruning is a dwarfing process.

reasons for pruning...
...help recovery from injury to roots
...remove or restrict unwanted growth
...encourage or train growth where it is wanted
...to promote flower & fruit production
...to facilitate light penetration thru-out the leaf canopy for more efficient light use
...to expose fruit to light when beneficial

pruning & training create conditions for maximum yield production of high quality fruit by establishing & maintaining...
...optimum fruit load
...complete leaf coverage (no light reaching ground)
...uniform exposure of all foliage

although training is, for practical reasons, uniform for all plants, pruning offers the ability to adjust the fruit load of each individual plant according to its vegetative vigor.

under a heavy fruit load, many fruits do not develop properly (malformed, short, no color). when the load becomes excessive, abortion prevents forurther development of fruit. avoid over-loading the plants by removing excess fruit, as early as possible.... allow only 1 fruit per axil...

becuase fruit will not develop w/out continuous production of leaf axils, you may need to resort to drastic pruning to stimulate growth. in this case it is more practical & equally effective to remove whole laterals than to trim back the tips of laterals...

maintain proper fruit load prevents overall plant stress & wastage of photosynthesis 7 ensures steady fruit production thru-out the season...

when vegetative growth is strong, fruit production suffers @ the expense of excess leaf development, which fuels an already over-vegetated plant. also, excessive vegetative growth results in extensive shading of the fruit, causing it to be of poor quality (slow growth, pale color, etc...)...
thinneng
to prevent the plant from becoming exhausted & to improve fruit size, control the number of fruit per plant thru selctive fruit thinning. this technique is powerful & should be used w/ caution.... the optimum number of fruits per plant varies w/ the cltivar & more, w/ the growing conditions.
 
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smokefrogg

Active member
Veteran
autoflower plants and defoliating/pruning

i searched first but am not finding it, has anyone done this with some lowryder or other autoflower strains? if so, any feedback, tips, etc.?
 
Here are some pics of my purple kush. They are short and bushy. I've been trimming them since veg. My question is, how do you all keep the plant trimmed when the flowers start getting bigger and sticky? I don't want to move them and I don't want to have my hands/arms all over them to move the branches in order to trim them to make them nice and pretty like you all have on the pics i've seen on here.

I trim these for about an hour a day, there's 15 of them. the bottoms are super bushy and full of leaves. Should I trim up the bottoms so they look more like what a lot of the "guru's" on here have shown?
 

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Knipple

New member
some gardeners have been training, thinning & pruning for several moons...not new tech in crop/fruit production... here is part of tech that been used for while, w/ success... maybe tried not pruning trees & pruning trees. not pruning only makes for 5 gal buckets full of leaves @ harvest 7 under-developed fruit when do second harvest of same planty @ day 70... pruned makes for secondaries beoming true tops & producing like that... w/out fans in way...:2cents:

basic plant growth
plant growth occurs when water & nutrients absorbed by the plant & transported to the leaves & combine w/ carbohydrates (formed thru photosynthesis) to produce various plant foods.

pruning
any reduction in leaf area therefore reduces the amount of plant food manufactured, which in turn reduced growth. although pruning usually causes the remaining shoots to increase their length & their leaf area, especially near the cuts, the total plant size & weight is greatest w/out pruning. thus, pruning is a dwarfing process.

reasons for pruning...
...help recovery from injury to roots
...remove or restrict unwanted growth
...encourage or train growth where it is wanted
...to promote flower & fruit production
...to facilitate light penetration thru-out the leaf canopy for more efficient light use
...to expose fruit to light when beneficial

pruning & training create conditions for maximum yield production of high quality fruit by establishing & maintaining...
...optimum fruit load
...complete leaf coverage (no light reaching ground)
...uniform exposure of all foliage

although training is, for practical reasons, uniform for all plants, pruning offers the ability to adjust the fruit load of each individual plant according to its vegetative vigor.

under a heavy fruit load, many fruits do not develop properly (malformed, short, no color). when the load becomes excessive, abortion prevents forurther development of fruit. avoid over-loading the plants by removing excess fruit, as early as possible.... allow only 1 fruit per axil...

becuase fruit will not develop w/out continuous production of leaf axils, you may need to resort to drastic pruning to stimulate growth. in this case it is more practical & equally effective to remove whole laterals than to trim back the tips of laterals...

maintain proper fruit load prevents overall plant stress & wastage of photosynthesis 7 ensures steady fruit production thru-out the season...

when vegetative growth is strong, fruit production suffers @ the expense of excess leaf development, which fuels an already over-vegetated plant. also, excessive vegetative growth results in extensive shading of the fruit, causing it to be of poor quality (slow growth, pale color, etc...)...

sinks & sources
plants leaves are "sources" of energy... this energy is then selectively "sinked" into shoots, flowers & fruits, called "sinks"...


good pruning takes out old, inefficient, unwanted 'sinks', such as suckers, unwanted shoot buds, branches, etc & opens plant canopy.

after the mid-life of leaves, their efficiency diminishes steadily, which means they can be pruned w/out causing harm to plant. older, lower leaves are not are efficient as newer leaves when creating hormones or energy...

every time a plant is cut, 10 million pathogens seek to get the sap... after pruning, maybe spray plant w/ weak h202, or other anti-septic, to prevent infections.... the ends can be 'squeezed off' after cut, by firm pinch, as well...

roots
it is possible to prune roots @ a certain tyme in the growing cycle, to make plant think the season is near the end, & will rush to finish its fruits. the plant has many 'sources', but less root avaialble for storage from those many sources. the plant now has to send all its energy to it 'sinks'. the flowers as a result become larger...

rootsare the energy storage organs, so the more roots a plants can generate, the greater will be its yi&ld...

layering is a tech used to create larger root systems. maybe a little different tech, but generally, burying parts of shoots/branches, etc continuously, to create more & more roots.... also, removing 'sinks', so @ harvest planty has huge root system & only desired branches & larger fruit. longer veg in big container may also help do this...

thinning
to prevent the plant from becoming exhausted & to improve fruit size, control the number of fruit per plant thru selctive fruit thinning. this technique is powerful & should be used w/ caution.... the optimum number of fruits per plant varies w/ the cltivar & more, w/ the growing conditions.
fruit to be pruned must be removed as soon as it is handled, before it grows too large...although limiting number of fruit results in premium, larger fruit, the grower may risk overstimating potential harvest, or may remove too many fruit seeking larger harvest. balance & familiarity w/ cut important...

another important factor is the stock, or gentics, or cultivar, or 'cut'. only select for the best, eliminate rest...

hope this helps. enjoy your garden!

I'm not ure what side of the fence you're on, mistress...

One second I feel like you're being critical, the next supportive..
Yes, I'm 'medicated'.. so sorry if I'm being 'dense'.. <HA!

Fruit!? I gesss it's 'fruit'. Is fruit logic the same as buds logic? Idono!
 

TanzanianMagic

Well-known member
Veteran
pruningany reduction in leaf area therefore reduces the amount of plant food manufactured, which in turn reduced growth. although pruning usually causes the remaining shoots to increase their length & their leaf area, especially near the cuts, the total plant size & weight is greatest w/out pruning. thus, pruning is a dwarfing process.
The question in growing weed really is: what are you trying to grow? A huge plant that is all leaf and branches? Or lots of calyxes?

I would also add another benefit to growing big kolas only: reduced damage from insects. Thrips, mites, etc. have a very tough time getting around on sticky buds. They get stuck and high. :) they don't have much of a food source if there are barely any leaves around.
 
yeah, great thread. I just asked this question a little earlier today. So your saying to go ahead and remove the fan leaves from this one I'm LSTing? ( Going to have it trained around the perimeter of the pot before I throw it into 12/12. )
 

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grapeman

Active member
Veteran
I'm not ure what side of the fence you're on, mistress...

One second I feel like you're being critical, the next supportive..
Yes, I'm 'medicated'.. so sorry if I'm being 'dense'.. <HA!

Fruit!? I gesss it's 'fruit'. Is fruit logic the same as buds logic? Idono!

As a fruit grower, I can say that we remove leaves at strategic times during the growing season for a variety of reasons..... not the least is increased fruit productions. But we deal with Perennials while mj is an annual crop. In Perennials, we remove leaves to allow light to mature next seasons buds. Without doing so, those buds will not be fruitful the following year.

I've tried this defoliation technique on 20 blue dream plants just now coming to harvest. The plants which were defoliated the least have more crop.

What I am saying is that I must've made a mistake. I will make adjustments on the next set as I truly believe that there is truth in this technique. I just need to find the balance.
 
How do you trim these tighter

How do you trim these tighter

Any advice on this one,

Here are some pics of my purple kush. They are short and bushy. I've been trimming them since veg. My question is, how do you all keep the plant trimmed when the flowers start getting bigger and sticky? I don't want to move them and I don't want to have my hands/arms all over them to move the branches in order to trim them to make them nice and pretty like you all have on the pics i've seen on here.

I trim these for about an hour a day, there's 15 of them. the bottoms are super bushy and full of leaves. Should I trim up the bottoms so they look more like what a lot of the "guru's" on here have shown?
 

BIGGS

**********
Veteran
how often should i be trimming during flowering? is once a week too much?

this is a great thread.
 

Anti

Sorcerer's Apprentice
Veteran
how often should i be trimming during flowering? is once a week too much? this is a great thread.

It is a great thread. You should read it. If you do, you'll see that this has already been answered for you.

Experiment for yourself and tell us what YOU think.
 

BIGGS

**********
Veteran
It is a great thread. You should read it. If you do, you'll see that this has already been answered for you.

Experiment for yourself and tell us what YOU think.

yes i read it says 2-3 weeks in veg. just wanted to know if weekly was too much in flower?
 

*mistress*

Member
Veteran
depends specific cultivar how frequently & how many leaves to cull....maybe.
older leaves & large top shade leaves that gro towards center seem best to cull.every cultivar distinct.
maybe, difference between types of leaves. long petioles & larger blades, not needed after their half-life..
maybe, trying method seems:
*sharp clippers
*cull large fan leaves that grow into center of canopy/plant every ~72h
*@ days 21, 35 & 49, cull sucker shoots + under-developed branches
*turn plants 1/4, 1x/wk

earlier post
Experiment for yourself and tell us what YOU think.
:2cents:
 
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ShroomDr

CartoonHead
Veteran
*@ days 21, 35 & 49, cull sucker shoots + under-developed branches
Over 1000 posts in this thread, how is this so hard to follow?


'Culling suckers shoots', is not what is being discussed or suggested here. They are removing fan leaves not growth tips.




Reading comprehension FTW. (waits for alternate definition of sucker)
 

BIGGS

**********
Veteran
depends specific cultivar how frequently & how many leaves to cull....maybe.
some gardeners take all leaves @ 1-3 tymes during cycle, some gardeners may take leaves every 24-72h... more about which leaves to cull, than how many.

older leaves & large top shade leaves that gro towards center of planty seem best to cull.

every cultivar is distinct creature. there are some plants that only reach 18"x18"x18" after 8wks veg under 1ks... not many leaves to cull @ all - @ any stage. some many triple in syze during same period.

1st tyme trying method seems this:

*sharp scissors
*cull large fan leaves that grow into center of canopy/plant every ~72h
*@ days 21, 35 & 49, cull sucker shoots + under-developed branches
*turn plants 1/4 1x/wk

there is difference between types of leaves. some gro long petioles & larger blades. these are not needed after their half-life...
some gro next to fruit/flowers. they grow rather quickly, especially after a fan leaf prune. even if they accumulate glands - they can be culled.

as earlier posters pointed out...
:2cents:

thanks for the info, really appreciate it. wasn't sure if trimming too often in early flower may shock the plant too much. thanks again. :tiphat:
 

one Q

Quality
Veteran
mistress- I think youre right about how youre defoliating. If I may add that as you go further away from the light, Leaving the RIGHT LEAVES ON helps. IMO/E the center of the garden gets all leaves removed but the outer edge gets only certain ones removed in an attempt to catch stray light. strategy.

on that note; just pulled from 7 plants what was pulled from 12 one grow ago. the system was a high density scrog. Cramming 12 plants that branch like mad into a 2x2 space. 6.5z both times First with 12, lots of training no leaf removal. Second with 7, little training and mostly defoli but leaves left on the edge with the method in mind. Next time everything goes except the VERY OUTER tops, and bump it back to 12. I suspect 9z in a 2x2. killer. forget to mention, no veg time on both grows. It's sorta like a SOG with a very branchy girl that gets to keep all her branches if she bends over and lets me play with her:dance013:
 
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poina

Member
Hope you don't mind newbs in this. I am just germing my first grow, from seed, and will be outside 12/12 from the git go.

I have 2 main reasons for trying this: Humidity in North Africa is hellish going into Sept and I thinking there will be a stealth factor as I'm growing close to home.
Comments, criticism, advice? Thanks!
 

k33ftr33z

Member
Here are some pics of my purple kush. They are short and bushy. I've been trimming them since veg. My question is, how do you all keep the plant trimmed when the flowers start getting bigger and sticky? I don't want to move them and I don't want to have my hands/arms all over them to move the branches in order to trim them to make them nice and pretty like you all have on the pics i've seen on here.

I trim these for about an hour a day, there's 15 of them. the bottoms are super bushy and full of leaves. Should I trim up the bottoms so they look more like what a lot of the "guru's" on here have shown?


Those are doing fine, although maybe slightly over-sized. Everything should develop well from here on out as long as you control the leafage every week or two.

Next time a little less veg and a couple fewer plants or cut them back some just as they are transferred. A net would help to shape them out horizontally and support the far reaching arms.

Look forward to the finish. Nice job.
 

k33ftr33z

Member
yeah, great thread. I just asked this question a little earlier today. So your saying to go ahead and remove the fan leaves from this one I'm LSTing? ( Going to have it trained around the perimeter of the pot before I throw it into 12/12. )

Just remove the shading ones in the center to start until the plant develops more structure. Be sure to allow for a proper veg estimating a finished size and footprint.
 

k33ftr33z

Member
Any advice on this one,

I wear surgical gloves and move around gently but confidently. I think I answered this before. Bending and training takes time to get comfortable doing but it is as important as the defoliating in my setup. I work the plants right up to the last week. If they are healthy you cannot hurt them. Any resin picked up on your gloves is quickly replaced by the dynamic nature of the flowers. Some plants have tougher branches than others so get familiar with each individuals growth pattern, rate and resistance to snapping. Most are pretty tough and unbreakable by the 4th week in bud.
 
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