Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

[k33ftr33z]

Before and After Bi-Weekly

Before and After Bi-Weekly

It's not so easy to see but this shows before and after a good deleaf and bend session. The spears in the center foreground are bent out radially from the center and positioned wherever there is a little space to share.

 

[k33ftr33z]

My rule of thumb is if it is standing straight up more than about 6" it's time to bend it horizontal. Usually the bi-weekly schedule has all previously bent shoots back upright and showing 3-4 nice removable fans. It's the continual bending that shapes these plants to fill all the space so evenly. Plants this large do not do this on their own.

 

[delta9nxs]

Here is a plant at the end of stretch, approx 21-22 days. With this one i'm going to follow jrosek's method and strip at 21 days and again at 45 days. All shots are of the same plant, before and after. It is approx 52-54”. I have been getting 8-10 zips each from these plants. The last 3 were all between 9 and 10. the plant is in the device i've been playing around with and being fed jack's hydroponic special 5-12-26 at around 900 ppm.

 

[delta9nxs]

after

 

[stoney917]

wow delta im very interested on how that will turn out did u pull all the leaves off in on shot or did u start in veg like kc i like to abuse and stress out my women but damn u left her in the dark with 2 blackeyes broken nose and a bleedin asshole lmao i think if she takes that she will be very thankful when she finishes up u may get the biggest harvest ever even though 10oz is very good what strain is that
peace stone
ps very nice lookin plant

 

[jrosek]

great job man.
here is a few of pretty much the same results as you... gotta learn em bro! lol

 

[jrosek]

Delta, make sure to monitor your feed draw closely. I would foliar them with a strong veg feed if your using flower nutes.
good growen bro!

 

[aasin527]

ok, just so i'm completely clear. as soon as the plant starts to branch in veg? or earlier? none or almost none of my varieties can be considered hi-yeild at all. and have/ have shown the abilitu to throw out a stamen or two when unhappy. i'm assuming the stress factor won't be much of a factor at all being defoliated from young. plant will be adjusted?

 

[jrosek]

ok, just so i'm completely clear. as soon as the plant starts to branch in veg? or earlier? none or almost none of my varieties can be considered hi-yeild at all. and have/ have shown the abilitu to throw out a stamen or two when unhappy. i'm assuming the stress factor won't be much of a factor at all being defoliated from young. plant will be adjusted?

if your strains are prone to hermi, then DO NOT strip them.

 

[bs0]

My chop is tomorrow, hope to get pics. Buds are pretty big!

 

[dubbalicious]

K33 good on ya for taking this thread on!! I think that its a never ending argument, it either works for ya or it dont, trying new things with your grow scene is what learning is fucking all about, more power to ya bro!!

 

[delta9nxs]

Hey, stoney, how are you! Thank you! The picking was done by mrs. delta in about 30 min. in one sitting. She's a two row leaf picker. Both hands flying. The plant is sweet tooth #4. i'm very tuned in to it. I've grown it a lot of different ways since 2003 and so I notice any changes immediately.

She pulled approx 2.5-3 gals of material off. This is packed hard into a 5 gal bucket. This leaves a root system behind that is way overkill for the amount of remaining plant material. It should be very interesting to see how the plant responds.


Jrosek, glad you're back, buddy! We need help! I like your strategy of letting the leaves work during the stretch and then stripping them. One advantage I can think of immediately is that this maxes root growth. I believe that after stretch root growth radically slows down. I see it as a balancing act the plant does. Top growth stimulates root growth and vice versa. Sort of bootstrapping itself. Another is that when I prep a plant to go into flower i've been trimming out the small buds that usually don't get much light. With this technique I could leave the bud sites on, possibly helping yield. This plant won't reflect that as it has already been trimmed but i'll do another one if this turns out ok.

I'm using jack's hydro formula throughout life at the same dose, so they're getting plenty of nitrate nitrogen.

Let's learn something here, people!

d9

 

[John goodman]

mad props to you k33 for putting forward this method with evidence to back it up...Im slowly gain a better understanding of defoliation on some of my grows (not as extreme) and extreme lollipopping... I have certainly seen alot of improvements in many ways as mentioned in this thread...jro and few others rock this method and ive seen it with my own eyes and it today still amazes me on what these mofo are pulling perpetually aswell...got my vote! keep up the great work! horses for courses

 

[Dr. Green Thumb]

whoaa it was heated in this thread for a while but, like others have said...we are all here to learn from each other and grow this beautiful plant we love so much so lets stay open minded. I like what your doing K33 and will experiment with it next round. I currently am coming towards the end of my grow, about 9 weeks into flowering and have gradually trimmed all throughout flowering with no ill effects. My babies seem to love it....keep growing brotha

-DrGreenThumb

 

[Dropastone]

Good stuff and I'm subed.

 

[InducedSerenity]

Awesome thread, folks. I really enjoyed reading the majority of it and will stick around to see what happens with you guys' experiments. Please keep up the intellectual curiosity, it's how we got as far as we are now, and will continue to develop our knowledge base for the future.

 

[bs0]

This leaves a root system behind that is way overkill for the amount of remaining plant material. It should be very interesting to see how the plant responds.


Jrosek, glad you're back, buddy! We need help! I like your strategy of letting the leaves work during the stretch and then stripping them. One advantage I can think of immediately is that this maxes root growth. I believe that after stretch root growth radically slows down. I see it as a balancing act the plant does. Top growth stimulates root growth and vice versa. Sort of bootstrapping itself. Another is that when I prep a plant to go into flower i've been trimming out the small buds that usually don't get much light. With this technique I could leave the bud sites on, possibly helping yield. This plant won't reflect that as it has already been trimmed but i'll do another one if this turns out ok.

I'm using jack's hydro formula throughout life at the same dose, so they're getting plenty of nitrate nitrogen.

Let's learn something here, people!

d9

I underlined something that you said that I agree with completely and never thought about before. My plants are aero so I can see the roots all the time. What you describe is in fact true. All of my plants stop root growth at the end of stretch.

I have also found from different experiments that the size of the buds are related to the size of the root-mass when I place the plants into flower.

The size my plants end up after the stretch seems to also be related to the size of the root mass as well.

Maybe fan leaves are only needed during stretch to maximize growth?

 

[slackx]

I've always plucked big ass fan leaves that got in the way, this should be big for people who dont have light movers gives you all that wonderful side penetration a mover does.

 

[Yankee Grower]

Here was my defoliation technique (actually very important with the strain I was working with at that time otherwise what a mess)...page 8 post #110...and in retrospect could have pruned even tighter 2 weeks into flower and that was the only time I touched the plants:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=169496&page=8

 

[delta9nxs]

Quotes by bsO
“I underlined something that you said that I agree with completely and never thought about before. My plants are aero so I can see the roots all the time. What you describe is in fact true. All of my plants stop root growth at the end of stretch.”

nice to have visual verification of this. I have suspected that this was occurring but could not easily monitor it. Thank you! I should have thought of you aero heads always staring at the roots. You guys would know.

“I have also found from different experiments that the size of the buds are related to the size of the root-mass when I place the plants into flower.
The size my plants end up after the stretch seems to also be related to the size of the root mass as well.”

same here.

“Maybe fan leaves are only needed during stretch to maximize growth?”

we are going to find out. If I were growing outside I wouldn't even consider this approach, but indoors it's a different ball game. Again, thank you very much for your input.

later