Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

k33ftr33z said:

I like your spirit, bro. And I can assure you it is possible to get more than 4 or 6 oz out of one plant and a 400w. That setup is a similar footprint to one of my plants.

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ya got to try new things even if it does go against everything you've done or have been taught in the past, even if it is taboo.

I for one don't want to be left behind kicking myself in the arse because I didn't try this sooner.

I don't like to speculate or be a critic until I know for myself from first hand experience.

On another note, I'm curious to know what your feeding your ladies?

Peace.

Just a few ideas.

In nature, plants undergo leaf senescence as part of their strategy to survive. Senescence can be described in plants as a change process as much as a dying process.

At some point in flower, I believe it is at the end of stretch, when maximum root and shoot mass have been achieved, I think the fan leaves radically slow down photosynthetic production, starting with the bottom leaves first.

Outdoors, uncultivated plants, which usually have had to make a meager living from whatever nutrients occur naturally in the soil, begin consuming the nutrients stored in their leaves for flower production. This is mostly true of indicas as they usually have a much shorter season than sativas and grow in areas with pronounced wet/dry cycles. Usually wet during the vegetative stage and dry during the flowering stage.

This is important as the roots are not as effective at extracting nutrients from the soil in dry cycles. The energy stored in the fan leaves becomes a food bank during those times. I have seen research papers that indicate a direct relationship between soil moisture and nitrogen uptake, for example.

Indoors, cultivated plants are still getting fed high quality nutrients and do not need the stored leaf nutrients as much.

I strip the fan leaves at the end of stretch because I am looking for maximum plant mass. I have strong vertical lighting and a 10 ft ceiling.

K33ftr33z and most other indoor growers, are using horizontal lighting with height restraints. As they need to keep the plants shorter they can use vegetative defoliating as a means of restricting plant height. As k33ftr33z has demonstrated, restricting height does not necessarily equate to lower bud count. So the point at which you defoliate is dependent upon your technique.

The decision to defoliate or not is dependent upon your strain. My plant reacts well to it. Some won't.

As the cannabis plant can only propagate in the wild by seed, seed production is it's primary function. It is genetically programmed to produce seeds at all cost. Since we usually don't allow seeds this energy gets focused on flower development. The plant will grow flowers, no matter what you do to it.

Research has demonstrated that almost all parts of a plant are capable of photosynthesis. When the large fan leaves are stripped, the plant shifts whatever photosynthetic production is needed to other plant parts. And immediately begins new leaf growth. As the fan leaves are now gone and the only option left is the bud leaves, growth occurs there.

I believe the same hormonal stimuli that redirects growth to the bud leaves causes enhanced bud production.

The fans leaves of an uncultivated plant are there primarily for developing plant mass and to store nutrients for flower production.

d9

sweet post delta........i'll have to give it a go

I started trying it.. let's see how it goes..

Delta, that's an unbiased, well thought out addition to this thread! Great post!

wow delta, very well put, basically the defoliation is redirecting hormonal growth, interesting about the nitrogen storage in the leaves, i would guess then that it may be even more important to feed your defoliated plants well as opposed to non defoliated plants

Im amazed how freaked people are about pruning. Pruning wasnt so controversial say 10-15 years ago. Then the dont-toucha-leaf mindset...its more of a sociological phenomena...its like people forgot that they use to prune due to info overload or something.
This is a new technique however with nice documentation and info. It's the "new thing" perhaps. AP:aggressive pruning. AD...

I have had problems in the past with leaf removal with some mold forming in that one area. I snip the leaf(sharp scissors) off at the very end of the 'peristem' so if some juice flows from the plant its not up against the plant or flowers.
ADF might be catchier.

Chlorophyll has been found in the stems of some plants.

Carl Carlson said:

Chlorophyll has been found in the stems of some plants.

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I think I remember reading that all green parts of a plant get their color from chloroplasts (which contain chlorophyll), which allow photosynthesis. I'm guessing stem photosynthesis isn't as effective as leaf photosynthesis (why would plants grow leaves otherwise?) but not negligible.

Edit: most orchids are able to photosynthesize(sp?) through their roots (ever noticed how their roots turn green when watered?)

sECOND HAIRCUT FOR THESE NIRVANA MK

Going into Week 4 of forced outdoor flower

Going into Week 4 of forced outdoor flower

k33ftr33z said:

Week 7 of veg and 5'5" plants is not a good place to start. Not sure how big a plant you want for a finish but that is HUGE. A little confused on the setup, Seems like a indoor start with outdoor finish but you say you are forcing into 12 now June1 for outdoor flower...hmmm. Confusing. Do you know what you are doing? Is this something you have been doing for awhile. Not accusing you of being a noob. Just not getting the scenario from your description. 3-4 weeks of veg will get you plenty large plants. You may be wheel-spinning away a month of good production time in search of overly large plants with that extra month of veg.. I can't ever imagine needing 7 weeks of veg for any scenario, inside or out. Only in the case of placing as large a plant as possible outdoors in late summer would this seem logical.

Maybe I'm speculating too much, got any pics of your most recent finish.

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I did want to say that these plants were moved several times over a 3 week period causing enormous shock. That being said they seemed to handle it very well Check out the Super Lemon Haze in the lower left corner.

superusa said:

sECOND HAIRCUT FOR THESE NIRVANA MK

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Looks like they are making nice progress. So many visitors are asking for side by side but the before/after would seem to suffice.

vwgtiron said:

I did want to say that these plants were moved several times over a 3 week period causing enormous shock. That being said they seemed to handle it very well Check out the Super Lemon Haze in the lower left corner.

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

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Very nice.

I'm sure that removing as much leaf as possible made the moving much easier. Are you still moving them to force or do you have a different method now that they are larger and heavier.

I see alota talk about a side by side run. Ive been growing this same amount of plants,same soil, same nutes, same light. I can deff see a huge diff in bud size. Not only are the lowers more developed, the uppers are larger. The last pic is today day 36 ill post again in 4 more days. Theres no question in my mind ill do this again. Peace LL

Day16 Before


Day20


Day24


Day28


Day32


Day36


These will go 55-60 days

@lifeless - Fuckin nice girls there

@keeftrees - This is really the first time I have done the trimming like that. They look a little spartan to me, but i also had to do it to keep the air moving through the canopy (i hate the powdery mildew)

@Lifeless

I love seeing your progress. Would you happen to have pics from your previous grow of this strain at day 32-36?

superusa thnx

!!! i have pics ill get a few up tomorrow. I just took a look and you can see a diff. thnx by the way.

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

The re-growth is so fast i don't believe anything is required

I only ask because I believe I have seen wounds cause festering disease.

Like twangy curvey growth and swelling stalks and nodes...

thinking it may have been nematodes brought to the stalk via gnats