Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

[DIGITALHIPPY]

I think I overlooked some of your query...

As for when to allow releaf. I don't get too scientific about it. Usually if things look leafy, meaning that you see more leaf than budsites when viewing the crop, it may be time for another deleafing. It usually takes a week to 10 days for a plant to releaf to the point that there are 2-4 new leaves that have flattened and greened enough to deleaf again. This repeated releafing process allows that lower growth to benefit from the maturing of the immediate leaf mass. But this releafing must be contained as it will again produce undesirable shade that, of course, must be removed.

As for slowing down the natural budding term... I have not seen this at all. The only time that will be added is for a little additional veg time to add structure and sites.

Again, it sounds like you are not intimidated by all of this so pluck away at your hearts content and guage the results.

it seams like youallow only one leaf to use upany given area...
i used to be like "cant remove any leafs"..lolz..
so what doyou thinkabout leafing while toping?
as you stated before 'not removing expanding leafs' i try to nip the bud, but sometimes i just have to remove some fresh onesto get light down to the lower nodes...

I'd not describe my stripping as "reckless", rather I'd call it aggressive. Reckless would suggest that they are removed without regard to result. "Aggressive" suggests I do not sweat the outcome. I am confident of the outcome. .

thats a better way of sayin that,sorry,no offence.

also-
tellme how you think of
wayy too many leafs?

 

[puff adder]

Here's some pics of my plants that I'll be chopping tomorrow.

I took all the fan leaves at 30 days flowering. Optimally I would have gradually taken the fan leaves, but I discovered a tiny bit of powdery mildew, freaked out and decided I needed more ventilation and air flow to combat the PM.

It all worked out great, the extra air flow kept the PM in check, and all the lower growth is full and useable.

 

[k33ftr33z]

it seams like youallow only one leaf to use upany given area...
i used to be like "cant remove any leafs"..lolz..
so what doyou thinkabout leafing while toping?
as you stated before 'not removing expanding leafs' i try to nip the bud, but sometimes i just have to remove some fresh onesto get light down to the lower nodes...

tellme how you think of
wayy too many leafs?

Definitely would be plucked clean if I was there. Looks good but will look even better when defoliated. Those yellow leaves hide some sparkly nugs that could use the light.

As for the first question, The objective is not to reduce the leaf cover to allow just one leaf in a given area. It's to remove all of the leaf to remove all the shading. It should be quite clear after several posters besides myself have found that leaf removal stimulates lower and mid bud growth by exposing those normally shaded out areas to premium light. Of course those new to the technique should start slow, but if you start too slow you won't remove enough leaf to see the best result. Still, start slow, and at your own comfort with deleafing. I have dabbled in allowing some strategic leaf to stay, but it always gets removed within days. The plants just look and perform better when stripped clean.

 

[k33ftr33z]

"so what do you think about leafing while topping?"

Forgot to address that...

I only top once, if at all, at the 5th or 6th node(approximately) depending on the height and structure of a given clone. I also deleaf them at this time. The only plants that get more topping than that are because they had clones taken from them. I don't usually keep dedicated mothers, instead, I just clone the clones and cycle everything through.

 

[k33ftr33z]

There may be still some confusion as to which leaves can be plucked...

All of them.

That was the short answer.

I remove everything that is easily pinched off with the thumbnail and forefinger. I keep a little bit of a cutting tool for a thumbnail specifically for that purpose. I don't try to get in super close to the buds once they get sticky unless it is just intolerably crowded. Any leaf that is attached by enough of a peristem to be plucked easily is fair game. Bud leaves are attached deeper in the bud cluster and are difficult to remove by hand. I do not yank or pull down on the leaf. I snip it off with the thumbnail. Don't sweat the stubs that are left, they dry out and fall off. Best not to try to cut so close to the plant, especially in mold prone climates.

 

[k33ftr33z]

Here's some pics of my plants that I'll be chopping tomorrow.

I took all the fan leaves at 30 days flowering. Optimally I would have gradually taken the fan leaves, but I discovered a tiny bit of powdery mildew, freaked out and decided I needed more ventilation and air flow to combat the PM.

It all worked out great, the extra air flow kept the PM in check, and all the lower growth is full and useable.

Great job. I would have removed a lot more but clearly the lowers took benefit.

PM is a bitch. Just picked up a little from some import stock. Fortunately it's arid here. Screw those folks who pass infected stock through dispensaries. Uncool. Probably had no clue.

A little recommendation. Never allow foreign stock into the op during early spring for PM, ESPECIALLY mid-summer for spider mites, and anytime if they are in soil for gnats and you are a soil grower. Just my ground rules. You only get hurt by those pests once to have to get serious about boundaries. Everyone will offer stock with good intentions. Closet producers can purge a lot easier than someone with more at stake. Use your own best judgement.

 

[steve green]

just read 19 pages..my eyes hurt but what a chill thread ..
nothing wrong with thinking outside the box . thanks k33ftr33z and the others who helped make this a good read. Im' off to bed......Dreaming of stripping plants Bare.
goodnight everyone. gonna have to try this.

Thanks again

peace

 

[k33ftr33z]

so i bought into this thread and decided to test it out
i used to lollipop my buds but now realize maybe the bottoms will fill out if i thin out the fans leaves - plus there is so much vegetation who cares if i pluck some fan leaves
my room is pretty crowded right now so getting rid of excess leaf doesn't worry me
i have been taking off the older fan leaves now starting at about 10 days into the stretch
i love seeing all the budsites exposed to the light and growing towards it
within a couple of days of regrowth you can't even tell they have been plucked
air flow is improved - i'm loving this idea
now when i look down at the plants all i see is exposed budsites
thanks for starting this thread - always fun to try new things
i'll post some pics soon

Look forward to those pics. Great to hear of your confidence and results. Once you start removing leaves and see the results it's easy to move ahead with full on defoliation. Take it at your own pace and adjust according to plant size and the space they have to fill out. If you have adjustable lamp height, try some bending and then lower the lamp once you have made more headroom.

 

[puff adder]

Here's what my plants looked like right after taking the fans at day 30. Edit, whoops, the first pic is after lollipopping, wrong pic. I'll see if I can post the right one.

The other pic is my new room, just flipped to 12-12, after the first round of deleafing. I'll prune more leaves when they fill out a bit more.

 

[smokefrogg]

i gave this a try on a mystery bag seed plant, and on one of the branches on my thai plant

the mystery bag seed hasn't had a growth spurt or anything, seems to be growing at the same rate

the thai, after about 4~5 days i did notice that the branch that had fan leaves mostly removed was bulking up noticeably quicker than the others. so yesterday i went ahead and continued the process to the remainder of the plant

next time around, i'll be more liberal, i don't have a huge amount of experience so am being very frugal

here is a before, then an after on the thai:

 

[LifeLess]

Well i figure i might as well give this a run. Im tired of the under develpoed buds under the canopy even after trimming off the lower branches. The big fan leaves sure can block some light. Heres a pic of my jungle at 14 days bloom today. Theres 2 Chemd , 1 Indiana Bubblegum and 2 Apollolicious. Im prob not gonna totally strip them bare. Im scared. there my babies and i dont wanna hurt them. Haha
Im sure if theres a diff in this grow ill know. I grow this many plants every run in the same spot under the same conditions. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Great thread by the way ive always wondered about this. Peace LL

 

[superbolan]

I was told years ago about this and i thought it sounded crazy. recently i found that hempy removed the fan leaves the entire grow and his plants looked phenomenal. so last week I performed this on 2 out of twelve plants sure enough the plants i trimmed have much better bud development than the untrimmed ones, i have been growing for decades and it just goes to show there is always something new to learn, an open mind is a great asset. thanks for sharing your experiences with us

 

[ass2mouth]

everyone else is posting pictures so i thought i'd join the party

killer chemdog freebie

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

That plant has far too many leaves to be posted in this thread!

 

[smokefrogg]

That plant has far too many leaves to be posted in this thread!

maybe it's a before, and an after will come soon?

if not, i have to agree...

 

[El Toker]

Defoliation of a SCROG?

Defoliation of a SCROG?

Thanks for a really interesting thread, it certainly gave me a lot to think about.

I grow in a SCROG which results in all the buds being above the screen and leaves below, more or less. My first thoughts are that it probably wouldn't benefit me that much in terms of yield and that it's just not suitable for my style of growing. I'd be really interested to know what other's think though and why.

 

[LifeLess]

GrnMtnGrwr if your refering to my plants thats what they look like right now. A before picture if you will. Im asking where and when do i start picking off the leaves. im at day 15 bloom today. Peace LL

 

[smokefrogg]

^^^ wherever there are bud sites that are doing alright on their own, you can take the fan leaf off

try to strategize so that the fan leaves you remove, allow light to get in deeper into the plant, the idea is to allow more light to hit the small leaves on the bud sites, clearing out fan leaves that are blocking light will allow much more light to get to these spots, thus a deeper penetration of light!

 

[k33ftr33z]

Well i figure i might as well give this a run. Im tired of the under develpoed buds under the canopy even after trimming off the lower branches. The big fan leaves sure can block some light. Heres a pic of my jungle at 14 days bloom today. Theres 2 Chemd , 1 Indiana Bubblegum and 2 Apollolicious. Im prob not gonna totally strip them bare. Im scared. there my babies and i dont wanna hurt them. Haha
Im sure if theres a diff in this grow ill know. I grow this many plants every run in the same spot under the same conditions. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Great thread by the way ive always wondered about this. Peace LL

That's a nice healthy plant. Just needs a pound or two of leaves removed. Go moderately to satisfy your own hesitation.

In every instance of advise I am forced softpedal the technique to satisfy the beginning defoliator.

If you have the courage and confidence, strip her down.

In all the discussion there has not been a single example of any damage done. If you only pull a few leaves you will not benefit from the exposure so while you are tired of undeveloped buds, it is the stripping you fear that will save them.

I will take no responsibility for results though. You are on your own and must experience to gain confidence and knowledge. The experience of others posting in this thread should defy all doubts as to the benefit of deleafing.

Pros: So far we have heard reports of better Air circulation, better light penetration, better flower development, better stature and stem development, ...


Cons: uh, none so far.

 

[k33ftr33z]

everyone else is posting pictures so i thought i'd join the party

killer chemdog freebie

OK so far with the first 2(?) leaf sets removed, but you now have a couple more sets and she looks like she's stretching. My guess is that you just removed those now, as the way the plant is shaped, it reveals that it had all of it's leaves to get to that stature. I try to shape plants so that by the time they are that tall they have several strong arms and ready to launch into half pound shrubs.

Of course it depends what kind of plant you want in the end.