Defoliation--heard a lot of great and horrible things about it so im trying myself!!!

keebo3000

Well-Known Member
week9 012.jpgweek9 013.jpg these are are my strawberry cough's and sour kush ladies, as you can see the majority of the fan leaves have been removed, this process is supposed to let in more light thus producing more buds, this is just a theory i picked up on line and because of limted space on previous grows im going to give this a whirl.. i will keep you posted week to week on grow status, so you will know fsecond hand if it does in fact make a difference good/bad i wont be flipping these ladies till about two weeks but i will be removing fan leaves every four days until 12/12 flip not going touch them after that.
 

Fazer1rlg

Active Member
You are over doing it definitely ive done the same the you are in my first couple grows. You are only suppose to take a leaf when the node that that leaf supports is over 3 inches long. All those nodes on that bigger plant haven't even developed enough to support themselves they will be stunted and take for ever to grow. This technique only works if done correctly if not it will fuck up your plants.
 

keebo3000

Well-Known Member
You are over doing it definitely ive done the same the you are in my first couple grows. You are only suppose to take a leaf when the node that that leaf supports is over 3 inches long. All those nodes on that bigger plant haven't even developed enough to support themselves they will be stunted and take for ever to grow. This technique only works if done correctly if not it will fuck up your plants.
thanks for the input:lol: but hey thats the reason for the experiment, failing( with proper notation) is better than success on the first couple of times, just chops down future mistakes, on another website i read to constantly remove them, so im trying it this way, next time ill have a little more solid information from experience (best teacher) to move forward. but thanks and please continue to give more information.
 

HTP

Active Member
I have heard a lot of bad things about Defoliation... However this is really what comes to mind.


Keep us posted!
 

Fazer1rlg

Active Member
You are over doing it definitely ive done the same the you are in my first couple grows. You are only suppose to take a leaf when the node that that leaf supports is over 3 inches long. All those nodes on that bigger plant haven't even developed enough to support themselves they will be stunted and take for ever to grow. This technique only works if done correctly if not it will fuck up your plants.
thanks for the input:lol: but hey thats the reason for the experiment, failing( with proper notation) is better than success on the first couple of times, just chops down future mistakes, on another website i read to constantly remove them, so im trying it this way, next time ill have a little more solid information from experience (best teacher) to move forward. but thanks and please continue to give more information.
Absolutely bro. I agree with you 100%. Just let the nodes come out more before u pull the leave and you will get the benefits. The leaves will be huge at that time. Cause if you keep doin it like that the plant will only push out small leaves each time. And when I did this when I flowered my plants with the small leaves I got super small buds. It figures tho so I waited until that leaf was actually shading something. And the node had to be 3 to 5 inches long that the leaf was connected to. When I was taking of leaves like that it seemed as the stems would get longer and longer from the bottom and the nodes wouldn't develop. My plants looked like mostly sticks. And I know the stems don't benefit from the light too much.
 

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
when you remove leaves in an attempt to get light to the lower parts of the plants, exactly what do you think will be there to benefit from this if you remove the leaves?
leaves are what make the foods and sugars for the plants, so by removing them you are in effect taking away the amount of foods and sugars that plants will have to eat..
also, light penetrates leaves, only about 15% of the total light is absorbed by the leaf, the rest passes right through them.

leaves grow buds, not vice versa, concentrate on growing a happy, healthy canopy and you'll be rewarded come harvest time imvho..
 

kryptoniteglo

Well-Known Member
Go for it! Most people really want to get a plant to harvest with the highest yield possible, so there isn't a whole lot of room for drastic experimentation. I'm assuming you'll run this group with the parameters you've set, and then you'll run another identical group not removing any fan leaves at all but changing nothing else and then document the yield in both cases.

Excellent!!!! Your efforts here will put to rest a long-lived argument on this site!
 

superstoner1

Well-Known Member
I am a big believer in defoliation. I have seen, repeatedly, the increase in yields, but at least I let them grow in between taking leaves. I trim a few going into flower, and then a bunch at 2 and 5 weeks in flower. I would like to see your results, but I feel you will stress them too much.
 

keebo3000

Well-Known Member
when you remove leaves in an attempt to get light to the lower parts of the plants, exactly what do you think will be there to benefit from this if you remove the leaves?
leaves are what make the foods and sugars for the plants, so by removing them you are in effect taking away the amount of foods and sugars that plants will have to eat..
also, light penetrates leaves, only about 15% of the total light is absorbed by the leaf, the rest passes right through them.

leaves grow buds, not vice versa, concentrate on growing a happy, healthy canopy and you'll be rewarded come harvest time imvho..
thanks for the input, and im in no way arguing with you, as this is my fourth grow, and what you say makes since, i've had great canopys on last couple grows, but average to low yields, was it my fault? did i do something wrong thru my grows definitely. but since i've gotten started i've loved every mistake-makin minute...i came across a couple threads and videos were people endorse de-leafing, and then others counter with almost exactly what you said, but hey (no disrespect) if columbus didnt say nay to the naysayers will would still be thinking the world is flat, i've always been a fan of the phrase "there is more than one way to skin a cat", once again not knocking you but there are alot of people that endorse leaf cutting for small grow areas like min 4x3x2 or somthing like that... here is one of the videos that sparked my interest

oh well wouldnt let me post it...
 

keebo3000

Well-Known Member
so its been ten days since last post and cut... here's how the ladies are doing right before their last de- leafing before flower....defoliation2 001.jpgdefoliation2 002.jpgdefoliation2 003.jpg
 

keebo3000

Well-Known Member
And here they are ready for the stripper pole... buck naked!! defoliation2 004.jpgdefoliation2 005.jpg i wont be touching them again( at least in an aggressive way!) until they have completed stretch ( tree weeks 21 days approx.) so what do you think??
 

BigBuddahCheese

New Member
I am a big believer in defoliation. I have seen, repeatedly, the increase in yields, but at least I let them grow in between taking leaves. I trim a few going into flower, and then a bunch at 2 and 5 weeks in flower. I would like to see your results, but I feel you will stress them too much.
Same for me.. I defoliate religiously with common sense.
 

kbmed$

Member
The only thing I and anyone with plant knowledge will remove from the plant is dead leaves and lower branches (lolly pop) to encourage larger buds up top removing all of your leaves is like removing half the spark plugs from you car shit.won't run right...photosynthesis my friend without leaves the plant will be severely stunted or die..why do you think plants grow faster as they get bigger...more leaves to create energy thru photosynthesis..
 

dtischerd

Well-Known Member
The only thing I and anyone with plant knowledge will remove from the plant is dead leaves and lower branches (lolly pop) to encourage larger buds up top removing all of your leaves is like removing half the spark plugs from you car shit.won't run right...photosynthesis my friend without leaves the plant will be severely stunted or die..why do you think plants grow faster as they get bigger...more leaves to create energy thru photosynthesis..

couldn't freakin agree more!..this ain't rocket science,but their is some knowledge and skill behind this hobby.

i think a few of the growers in this forum missed Botany 101..in Grade school!!!

ok so i'm on a rant here..ive seen countless newb growers asking how to grow in DWC..wtf..its called research!.

my very first DWC grow i did countless research till i had enough knowledge to start,and once i started my plant grew fast as hell..one big bush during veg...i knew then i didn't wanna keep lifting my plant out of the bucket everytime i had to take my readings every morning.

so when i switched to flower i built my own RDWC..and i love it!

ive had a couple bummer crops in soil,but in DWC/RDWC i haven't had one..i love that method..yea shit can go bad real quick,but its also fixable alot faster than soil.

their is a trade off..takes a bit more knowledge to grow in DWC than soil,but the rewards are much greater.

never had luck with a straight on flush in soil,but in DWC its easy as pie!


P.S. i do not consider myself an expert grower.
 

keebo3000

Well-Known Member
The only thing I and anyone with plant knowledge will remove from the plant is dead leaves and lower branches (lolly pop) to encourage larger buds up top removing all of your leaves is like removing half the spark plugs from you car shit.won't run right...photosynthesis my friend without leaves the plant will be severely stunted or die..why do you think plants grow faster as they get bigger...more leaves to create energy thru photosynthesis..
[h=2]How-To Tutorial: The Controversial Technique of Defoliation[/h] Despite all the evidence (I've posted hundreds of pictures and shown dozens of growers in person), there is still somehow so much skepticism about defoliation techniques. Growers, especially new growers, often just say variations of, "It's common sense, how could removing any part of the plant cause you to get higher yields?"
I recently attended an advanced seminar with a prominent fellow grower and got roundly booed when attempting to describe the defoliation technique, even with pictures showing dramatic benefits.
Unlike many other growers, I believe what's most important is studying how the plant actually grows, instead of assuming she grows how we think she should grow. Real experimentation and unbiased observers are the only way growers are going to learn how to get the best yields for the amount of time, money, and effort.
And it's true that some types of defoliation are brutal to the plants (such as when misguided growers removing all the leaves off extremely young marijuana plants), but other types of defoliation are actually hugely beneficial to increasing yields (I'll be showing you exactly what do do shortly).
And defoliation is beneficial for more than just marijuana, it also has been proven to increase yields for certain other types of crops. For example, it's well-known that cowpeas experience significant increases in yields when up to 50% of their leaves are defoliated during their flowering stage.
 
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