Look I'm honestly doing the same thing anyone in this thread trying to help is, help you improve your results.
I'm pointing out that 99% of the time there is going to be a better, more effective, more efficient method to achieve the same results, or even surpass what defoliation ever has to offer.
It has it's place, but it really should be limited, and other avenues pursued first.
People in this thread have no idea what I'm involved with or done, just because I don't document everything I see and do doesn't mean I don't have experience.
Example,
my plants eat 20-50 ppms daily when growing vigorously. They drink a gallon per plant of water or more everyday. When stripped down before they go into flower, they eat maybe 10ppms and drink less than half of what is normal, in my experience this stalling lasts for 3-5 days if the plants were in the peak of health.
So that to me is definitive proof that they stop eating, and use reserves to repair growth, as root growth is stalled also. They drink significantly less after also which proves photosynthesis and plant growth have stalled and gone into stress/repair mode.
Now the question is why would you want to be more aggressive than that by defoliating, when my method achieves the same result. Both stress the plant but I do it right before flower so they can recover and again right before the end of stretch as not to stall swell mode.
Defoliating surely has the same effct but to a greater extent on plants that my pruning does as your removing even more leaf surface area. See when leafs are removed you are reducing the plants ability to uptake water and nutrients, as they sweat juices out leafs during the day up taking nutrients along the way.
Training plants laterally should be enough to promote strong non-dominant branching, and with a good prune after stretch you should be left with a canopy about 18 inches thick. Plants reflect green light, red light is absorbed or passes through the leafs, about 80-90% passes through.
I get strong branching because I use high watts per sqft, that right there will do more good for you than defoliating, at least veg under your flower wattage.
And honestly you didnt defoliate in those pics, not as described by the op.
I'm pointing out that 99% of the time there is going to be a better, more effective, more efficient method to achieve the same results, or even surpass what defoliation ever has to offer.
It has it's place, but it really should be limited, and other avenues pursued first.
People in this thread have no idea what I'm involved with or done, just because I don't document everything I see and do doesn't mean I don't have experience.
Example,
my plants eat 20-50 ppms daily when growing vigorously. They drink a gallon per plant of water or more everyday. When stripped down before they go into flower, they eat maybe 10ppms and drink less than half of what is normal, in my experience this stalling lasts for 3-5 days if the plants were in the peak of health.
So that to me is definitive proof that they stop eating, and use reserves to repair growth, as root growth is stalled also. They drink significantly less after also which proves photosynthesis and plant growth have stalled and gone into stress/repair mode.
Now the question is why would you want to be more aggressive than that by defoliating, when my method achieves the same result. Both stress the plant but I do it right before flower so they can recover and again right before the end of stretch as not to stall swell mode.
Defoliating surely has the same effct but to a greater extent on plants that my pruning does as your removing even more leaf surface area. See when leafs are removed you are reducing the plants ability to uptake water and nutrients, as they sweat juices out leafs during the day up taking nutrients along the way.
Training plants laterally should be enough to promote strong non-dominant branching, and with a good prune after stretch you should be left with a canopy about 18 inches thick. Plants reflect green light, red light is absorbed or passes through the leafs, about 80-90% passes through.
I get strong branching because I use high watts per sqft, that right there will do more good for you than defoliating, at least veg under your flower wattage.
And honestly you didnt defoliate in those pics, not as described by the op.
