Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

[St3ve]

show and prove. i was in this thread in the beginning, then the OP got all butthurt because i called his methods into question then the band wagoneers like yourself forced me out.

anyway lets see those numbers and pics from YOUR plants where you doubled the yield by removing all the leaves directly before and after the stretch, which is what you all claim is best. i said do all pruning during stretch because the plant is going to stretch regardless might as well redirect that energy.

You are being a douche. No one owes you anything. Its not anyones job to convince or show you anything. If you want to try and call bullshit.. then YOU'RE job to disprove it, not the other way around. When you type and act like this you just sound like an ass.

and those plants look like shit.. maybe you should start with nice healthy plants..

 

[dramamine]

i've got two identical freshly rooted clones which i just threw into flower. when they start to flower again im going to strip one of all the leaves like this thread suggests, and i will leave the other untouched. everything else aside from defoliation that i do to one plant i will do to both to keep this completely scientific.

If you stress the plant right when it starts flowering, you will probably stunt the plant right when it should start stretching. It's never recommended to do that........but that's the same approach JWP took earlier in the thread. Then he claimed he had disproven the technique. Completely scientific, huh?

If you really want to test it out, follow the recommended way. It's already known that what you're describing is likely to decrease stretch. Smaller plant, smaller yield.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

i am going to follow the recommended way or at least what all i can make of it. seems to pretty much be take off all the leaves every couple of weeks. anyway downloaded the pdf, since i was away from this thread for some time and didn't catch all the play by play. im going to follow it to the letter.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

You are being a douche. No one owes you anything. Its not anyones job to convince or show you anything. If you want to try and call bullshit.. then YOU'RE job to disprove it, not the other way around. When you type and act like this you just sound like an ass.

and those plants look like shit.. maybe you should start with nice healthy plants..

lol it's not the defenses job to prove the prosecutions case. you are supposed to be the ones doing the convincing. anyway since no one wants to come forth with anything besides you have to disprove us, i will be doing my own experiment.

 

[dramamine]

lol it's not the defenses job to prove the prosecutions case.

The prosecution would be the one putting something on trial.......that's you.

 

[magiccannabus]

I'm not sure why this discussion has gotten as negative in tone as it has. I've plowed through over 200 pages of this thread and have yet to be wowed by anything I've seen. That said, I've also started using defoliation in my own grow because this thread taught me it can have a place in certain situations. It all comes down to the needs of your grow. In my grow I have good side lights, good overhead(400W CMH), and about 90W square foot total. In a situation like that, leaf growth gets extreme. Clearing out the foliage really opened them up and will allow them to fit in my space much better. If I didn't have the space limitations I would do this more cautiously.

I also have to say that anyone who does this should be careful. Some plants in my cabinet LOVED it, but I think one may die(always been a weak plant). Since defoliating too, I've seen a lot of weird deficiency issues here and there. It clearly stressed the plants somewhat at the very least. Some like Pineapple Chunk responded by both exploding with growth and also showing deficiencies. I think this technique has some great thinking behind it, but I really don't think a new grower should risk making these sorts of pruning choices.

 

[Stoner54]

I stumbled onto this post and find the comments pretty interesting. There always seems to be a difference of opinion about whether to trim fan leaves or not. I say if it works for you then do it. If you don't think it will help than leave them. I'm 58 yrs old and started trimming fan leaves on every grow many years ago. Here is how I have been successful time and time again. Just before flower I trim away the bottom half of my fans leaving about a half inch stem sticking out. This allows the lower bud stems to develop normally right above the cut. Once I go to flower I allow the leaves to develop and then trim the ones up to the last 2 sets on top. This will leave many small fan leave sets while removing the shade creating big ones. The point here is to open the canopy and allow the lower bud sights as much light as possible. If you are growing sativa dominant plants, I tie the lower stretchy bud stems up forcing the lower buds closer to the light. This helps increase yield. You will trim the big fans about three times during flower. Finally, the last two weeks I trim all the leaves off except around the cola's. This forces the plant to thow all its energy into creating crystal covered nuggets. I water one last time and allow the plant to dry itself by sending the last moisture to the buds. I believe this also cuts down the risk of bud mold as well. I tried to post pics but had trouble so if anyone can help with that I will show my current grow two weeks into flower. Hope this helps anyone. It works for me.

 

[Bassy59]

here's what im gonna do.

i've got two identical freshly rooted clones which i just threw into flower. when they start to flower again im going to strip one of all the leaves like this thread suggests, and i will leave the other untouched. everything else aside from defoliation that i do to one plant i will do to both to keep this completely scientific.

same containers, same soil, same schedule, same everything except one will be bald.

All of above plus bolded, further proof you have a problem with reading comprehension.

1. No where does op state to strip when they start flower.
2. numerous times op states why side by side is not appropriate and nothing close to scientific.
3. Op states numerous times to prepare in veg.

Can you try to fuck this up any more to claim it's unworthiness?

 

[Bassy59]

I think this technique has some great thinking behind it, but I really don't think a new grower should risk making these sorts of pruning choices.

Op even states that. He suggests one be an experienced grower, have his strain and grow down pat, before doing this. He does not suggest new growers do this.

 

[12surfside]

After stretch I strip the hell out of mine. I do a SOG and before i strip all you see are leaves and a top on each.You cant see the 2gal bags or the floor. After stretch i strip almost every fan off. It looks so great after i strip. All these white tops everywhere. Almost like they are glowing there getting so much light. Within a week you cant see the bags or floor again but the buds look great. I run 90 plants so theres always 8-10 i'll mark NO TRIM. The trimmed ones ALWAYS smoke the untrimmed. Thats just the way i do it.I guess i leave a few untrimmed just to make sure im doing right. Trimmed always comes out better. Bigger and harderer everytime. Thats just the way i do it. I love it after the trim- they look so cool- all them white buds you couldn't see before.

 

[St3ve]

i will be doing my own experiment.

Good to hear. Sorry I called you a douche.. it just gets old reading post after post of people arguing their opinions of how they think things work versus coming from a place of actual experiencing it.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

look bassy59 i know you're busy being a fanboy and imma let you finish, but robert deniro is the biggest fan of all time. OF ALL TIME!

i clearly stated i downloaded the pdf and am going to follow it step by step, why you insist on mincing words with me is beyond me.

i said i threw 2 freshly rooted clones into 12/12 and once they start flowering again i will proceed with the experiment. maybe you just don't understand but freshly rooted clones in 12/12 have to take some time to adjust back to being in flower and will spend about 1-2 weeks growing and stretching before they start making calyxes again. and so far this defoliating for high yield is about the most ambiguous thing i have ever read.

maybe that's why you're so fanatical? you don't know what exactly it is you're supposed to be doing? no clear instructions or step by step it mostly appears to just be guidelines on how to "defoilate for high yield"

so far all im getting is "when you think there are too many leaves, just pluck em off" keeps using the word peristem, which isn't a real word by the way, he probably means meristem, which is also wrong for what he is describing, he means to use petiole.

 

[grassott's dad]

View Image
should i defoliate this? something tells me maybe, but something else says no since my g13 is pretty bushy also and it does fine without me doing anything but remove the dead undergrowth as it dies from lack of light.

This plant seems to have been grown under low light and in a grow area where air quality is poor. I would not defoliate a plant in these conditions.

 

[12surfside]

my g-13s love it when i strip em. Any side branching I leave the top 2 buds and just squeeze and rake back to main stalk. Only side branchs. the main stem is 1 solid cola.
like i said before the ones i dont trim lots of little popcorn not finished. Just trimmed a couple of days ago. went to flip lights about an h

 

[12surfside]

opps about an hour ago and just buds everywhere looks great

 

[150wpimpin]

maybe you just don't understand but freshly rooted clones in 12/12 have to take some time to adjust back to being in flower and will spend about 1-2 weeks growing and stretching before they start making calyxes again.

really mine only take 8 days

 

[stihgnobevoli]

congratulations. maybe now you can realize that 8 days falls into the category of 1-2 weeks.

#fanboyswillfanboy

This plant seems to have been grown under low light and in a grow area where air quality is poor. I would not defoliate a plant in these conditions.

nah like i said before that's just how it grows. its from a family of mutants.

 

[grassott's dad]

...nah like i said before that's just how it grows. its from a family of mutants.

What bulb was she flowered under?

 

[stihgnobevoli]

shes under 170w of hps and mh which are no more than 1 foot away at all times since my box is only 1.8sqft. currently im trying to keep the plants less than 4 inches from the bulb because even though there is a fan blowing directly over the bulbs to keep it cool, there is still radiant heat hot enough to hurt the back of my hand after 30 seconds less than 4 inches from the bulb.

i know you're trying to help but i assure you it is perfectly healthy. you guys have been growing for years right? how do you not know that leaves never recover from damage? even if it was something i was doing wrong why would you look at the old fan leaves and not the bud leaves and new growth which is all obviously perfectly healthy?

 

[Bassy59]

stihgnobevoli,

You can't do this successfully imho. I seriously don't think it's possible for you. Your grow space is way too small. Consider for example that I am doing 4 plants in a 4'x4' area and they are filling the entire tent. That's 16 sq ft. You have 2 you're going to grow in 1.8sqft? And one of them is going to be a stripper? It's pretty clearly mentioned 24" center to center on plants was too small and 32" seems to be right. You only have 18" x 18" to work with! You can't even grow one plant properly using this technique in the space you have.

To further complicate the issue, your 170w hps will not have the penetration 30" deep when the plant is at it's tallest.

In other words, because of the much tighter parameters you're working with you can't be successful trying this.

Now what get's me is how you can be so all knowing that this technique can't work when you can't even grow with the conditions required to be successful in such an endeavor.

I've looked at your cannaventure grapefruit grow and cab. Your plants are spindly little gals compared to the stuff people are doing using this type of technique. Hey you are doing what you can with what you have to work with. But it seems quite apparent to me you can't possibly use this technique to it's fullest.

As such, since you don't seem to understand this aspect, you can obviously lay claim to it not working.