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2nd grow. 2 clones. Defoliation?

420Ready

Member
Hey all, I have two clones 1 sativa (Trainwreck) 1 indica (Shishkaberry) that I plucked 30 - 35 leaves each from 5 days ago. Both have had no signs of stress or illness since and have kept growing significantly.

My issue is that alot of bud sites are still being blocked. I have had them on a 12/12 light schedule for two days now.

Is it safe to take more leaves? Or even lollipop them?

Thank you in advance!
 

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SuperBadGrower

Active member
A little lollipopping is certainly recommended. If you're not sure which parts to take away, you can wait until week 3-4. The poorly developing parts will have fewer pistils :)

When it comes to deleafing, you could theoretically take off all the fanleaves today and in 10-14 days time it will honestly look like you didn't do a thing.

If you grow organically, the plant is taking nutrients from the medium. Once that stuff is gone the plant can translocate things (mobile nutrients), like nitrogen. if the fertility of the medium is depleted, and all the leaves are taken off by the grower, there is no way for the plant to support its new growth. If you are feeding hydroponically this is not an issue.
That may be one thing to keep in mind


it's certainly safe, and recommended (from my point of view) to remove those leaves which cover growth tips.

defo.jpg

You won't be removing much. You can do that every week. A little maintenance.
Your plants are looking good, good job. I would not take too much because the canopy is not super crowded.

A rule of thumb for indoors is: the denser the canopy, the more leaves you want to take away. In a dense canopy many big leaves end up not doing photosynthesis, blocking light/wind, and pushing out water into the air increasing the humidity, especially locally (think micro-climates). That increases the chance for things like mildew, botrytis etc.

Keep on pluckin leaves as you see fit. A few grows down the road you'll be abusing them as you gain confidence with it :good:

edit: & whatever you do, defoliate before lollipopping lol. A bud that is not getting light might develop into something decent once the leaf that covers it is removed.
 

Switcher56

Comfortably numb!
IMHO the bottom 1/3 of any plant is a waste of energy, nothing of significance will grow from there. That being said, you still have a lot of "ingrowing" branches (growing inward) That should have been removed before the flip. Doing it now will slow things down a bit, but it is nothing to worry about. You'll know better for next time.

Plant mgt in your tent is key. You do have solar panels (what I call fan leaves) from one plant shadowing the other etc... Wrt removal during flower, it is a non issue AFAIC with healthy plants (check grow in sig (start at last page in album). It is next to impossible to eliminate all interference prior to ther flip :tiphat:
 

Switcher56

Comfortably numb!
A little lollipopping is certainly recommended. If you're not sure which parts to take away, you can wait until week 3-4. The poorly developing parts will have fewer pistils :)

When it comes to deleafing, you could theoretically take off all the fanleaves today and in 10-14 days time it will honestly look like you didn't do a thing.

If you grow organically, the plant is taking nutrients from the medium. Once that stuff is gone the plant can translocate things (mobile nutrients), like nitrogen. if the fertility of the medium is depleted, and all the leaves are taken off by the grower, there is no way for the plant to support its new growth. If you are feeding hydroponically this is not an issue.
That may be one thing to keep in mind


it's certainly safe, and recommended (from my point of view) to remove those leaves which cover growth tips.

View attachment 543867

You won't be removing much. You can do that every week. A little maintenance.
Your plants are looking good, good job. I would not take too much because the canopy is not super crowded.

A rule of thumb for indoors is: the denser the canopy, the more leaves you want to take away. In a dense canopy many big leaves end up not doing photosynthesis, blocking light/wind, and pushing out water into the air increasing the humidity, especially locally (think micro-climates). That increases the chance for things like mildew, botrytis etc.

Keep on pluckin leaves as you see fit. A few grows down the road you'll be abusing them as you gain confidence with it :good:
^^ what he said ^^

How long did you veg for?
 

420Ready

Member
Update lol

Update lol

So this is what I did. I feel like there are some leaves I could have taken more but I don't want to stress them too much.

Since I'm new I figure going slow is the best option.
 

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Jumanjigym45

New member
En este foro todavía se pueden preguntar cosas
creeis que la pele demasiado? Acabo de pasar a 12/12 o la dejo más tiempo a 18
 

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Creeperpark

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
I don't remove any leaves because one can slow down water transpiration by removing the millions of stomata under the leaves used to move water. People do it but the plants Vpd will suffer.

What does VPD stand for in plants?
Vapor Pressure Deficit
Definition of Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) | Plant Cultivation. VPD means the actual difference (in units of pressure) between the Actual Vapor Pressure (AVP) and the Saturation Vapor Pressure (SVP).Jul 19, 2023 Google
 

Marz

Active member
En este foro todavía se pueden preguntar cosas
creeis que la pele demasiado? Acabo de pasar a 12/12 o la dejo más tiempo a 18
si, puede criar su threads tambien
new threads to expose your views on the subject
IMO its demasiado, for sure
I like to remove it gently applying some criteria like size or positition of the leaf
 

GrayZone

Member
I don't get why people think it's a good idea to reduce your plant's energy production capacity by removing its energy-producing elements.
Lower branches, just before flowering, that makes sense. Although if you're too eager, you can end up with hermies due to the stress. Happened to me once.
 

Rodehazrd

Well-known member
Late in the grow I remove some for air circulation in the dense bud strains in fear of fungus. Otherwise taking away working parts just seems wrong. I tuck them underneath if possible. Some nutrients are mobile I think those fans give up some juice as they yellow later.
 

GrayZone

Member
Same here, if a fan leaf is covering a bud, I just tuck it under. It may produce less fuel as its exposure to light decreases, but at least it's producing some. Now, one or two leaves are nothing, but trimming them like a sheep doesn't seem to be a good idea. Would be interesting to do a side-by-side grow, one with heavy defoliation and one with minimal. Logic suggests the one with more leaves should do better.
 

albertgriffiths

Active member
I do a light defoliation+light lollipopping on day 21, up to 20% of total fan leaves feels quite safe.
It helps me pack my tent with plants while keeping a good airflow/light penetration.

It seems nobody will ever agree on how much to remove, and on which day, but:

In my understanding, there is a balance to be found between:
- fan leaves retaining nutrients and being useful for photosynthesis
- but shading bud sites and avoiding good light penetration/air circulation, which are crucial for good bud formation and mold prevention.

The more you understand your plant's needs and feel able to adjust their nutrition accordingly, the least you need the "buffer" that wide fan leaves provide.

I don't defoliate nor lollipop if I'm planing on revegging the plant after harvest.

In my opinion, the most important thing is to not remove any plant material if you dont know why you're doing it.
 
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