Defoliation - removing fan leaves for higher yield

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plaguedog

Active Member
johnsmithinmi said:
Wow!! roll it up?? This should be called Put um up.. This started with someone sharing there grow and lots of guys bashed him and called him stupid and said he had no common sense.. Then alot of people keep talking about mother nature and out doors.. This method was done indoors and and there is nothing naturalabout that.. Not the light not the nutrients hell prob not even the water.. Some things work for some people and some things don't.. I bet the first person who wanted to try to grow indoors was called stupid.. And the first person to try to keep the males away from the females was called stupid.. I mean with common sense wouldn't it tell you plants cant grow without the sun and how can you continue to grow with out seeds..Plants in nature would all die off if never pollinated and what about the first time someone talked about cloning a plant I bet they called him stupid.. I'm not saying it works or it don't I'm just saying if people only stuck to what is known at that point in time then we would all still be in the stone age. Open your mind and maybe you might learn something new or maybe not .. Like maybe the guys who swear the leaves are workers and cutting them of is like firing workers.. I have seen the pics in veg in a week after defo. The plants have twice as many wouldn't that help you?? The only thing I know is that calling people names and putting people down is not helping anyone and some times the people we think are the most stupid might just be ahead of the curve.. So with that said role one up and relax its not your trees hes messing up or making better its his.. Maybe just let him know were you stand with out all the trash talk.. Thanks and cant wait to hear what you have to say about me..
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Well then why don't you put up?

A lot of us tried this same shit YEARS ago, this is nothing new. You act like this guy or the guy at Icmag is the first to ever try this????? Best yeilds I have ever had was when I kept the fan leaves on and had a HEALTHY and HEARTY plant all the way until harvest.
 
JohnnySocko

JohnnySocko

Active Member
look, this whole thing with defoliation is half bunk, half truth.... (proly why opinions are likewise split half & half)
...fact is plants evolved with animals, well animals eating them that is...grass needs grazers and some plants respond with faster growth in response to "browsing" from like deer, antelope, et et ....if you think about it; the re-growth response its not totally fueled by the remaining foliage; while the plant has lost foliage it still has the same amount of roots feeding what is now: less foliage...

So of friggin course the plant appears to grow faster (recently suckered tomatoes grow faster also)...its like removing homeless people from the streets leaving more food in food bank to feed fewer junkies: hence the remaining crack heads get fatter faster...

but thing is, there is a point at which this exercise is not properly thought out... the plant we just "defoliated" just went through all the trouble to make a fan leaf (which by the way represents a banked currency tied up in combo of time, light and nutes), and we (the defoliators) just threw that "green currency" away w/o letting the plant re-absorb some of it back via natural processes: like decomposition back into the soil or the natural yellowing/dying of older foliage for instance...(its akin to removing raked leaves from your lawn in the fall or not using mulching lawn mower blades)

I'm not 100% against it, it actually makes "some" sense (esp to re-direct light or for air flow)...but some of the "defoliating" tutorials on Youtube IMHO do newbs/uninformed a disservice....
 
JohnnySocko

JohnnySocko

Active Member
... and again, I've seen 1st hand a plants response to browsing, harvesting, defoliation, whatever....

...tubers are roots and to a lesser extent, roots are tubers (roots represent "some" stored energy/food) ... moreover, (all things being equal/normal) there is always a equivalent root mass to foliage; removing foliage imbalances this allowing the remaining foliage to get the full use of all the roots; hence remaining foliage growth is accelerated....
...this works to a point, esp. if/when you are diverting root energy to flower ....but like I said; to a point...gotta remember roots have one job (absorbing nutes), and foliage has another (using light energy to convert nutes to sugars)... IMHO there is a law of diminishing returns with defoliation, in fact some of what I've read/seen is sheer folly...
 
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Dyold

New Member
I have to agree with the diminishing results. I have tried defoliation on my current grow and I am not in favor of taking the fan leaves off, nature does it for you. They are a source of stored N mainly and the plant will use it near maturity. Of the plant that I removed all of the fan leaves with 3 weeks until harvest is falling behind fattening up and way behind in overall height. I do however feel that moderate fan leaf removal does have its benefit, just don't get carried away with it, their is a balance to maintain after all.
 
Beefbisquit

Beefbisquit

Well-Known Member
I've tried both methods, and what worked best for me was adding side lighting. Don't need to defoliate if your plants are getting nice even coverage all the way to the bottom of the plant. Defoliating works too though.... Defoliating and LST'ing works really well.

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The last two pics, I didn't defoliate the fricking buds just ate the leaves... :D
 
nazzlow

nazzlow

Active Member
I do this with all of my plants, and it works quite well. I have height restrictions, so it helps keep them shorter (slows their growth in veg), but yields heavier at the end due to more light to the bud sites. To each their own, though--do what works for you, that's what I do. Peace.
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
I can not understand why people on these sites get into heated debates over new ideals like this one aggressive pruning works very well on roses and when I got tired of seeing flowers turning white and dying due to lack of light I began removing fan leaves that were shading them.I did aggressive defoliation about two weeks before putting them into flowering to give them time for recovery.I assumed the plants needed to keep as many fan leaves as possible for vegetative growth.during flowering I removed any fan leaf that was shading a bud site. the end result was more buds and higher yield.there are many ways to grow cannabis and different techniques work well for different strains.instead of fighting don't be afraid to test new ideals and see if they work for you. you are never too old or too experienced to learn something new and none of us are perfect. we can all learn and grow
 
axl

axl

Well-Known Member
what i see is the one school blindly follows the dogma in their text books, while the others validate their own individual experience, even if it contradicts what they were taught. Science is always changing, never static as we find new discoveries, so why limit yourself to what was "true" yesterday, when you have your eyes wide own today? Funny, the ones who are deathly against defoiling, are the ones who get all butt hurt and defensive of their little belief structures being challenged by the "blind" who suggest methods that do not fit their pre conceived notions. I personally defoil the shit out of my plants and get waaay bigger yields, and a muuuch higher percentage of quality buds. I am not alone either lol.
 
axl

axl

Well-Known Member
another thing i notice is the defoil-ers are constantly showing their pictures of their insane yields and massive buds, while the anti's are always saying, "well the leaves contain such and such so its impossible!"

Go ahead, allow your dusty text books to guide your present experiences from the past, while I will use my present understanding and experience to navigate the "evolution" of my growing skills.

Peace
 
Uncle Ben

Uncle Ben

Well-Known Member
axl said:
what i see is the one school blindly follows the dogma in their text books,
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I base my positions on 45 years of hands on gardening experience both private and commercial, networking with bonafide horticulturists, book learning, trial and error and of course that one thing you "high tech" power leaf butchers fail to understand - what makes a plant tick.
 
9leaves

9leaves

Well-Known Member
axl said:
another thing i notice is the defoil-ers are constantly showing their pictures of their insane yields and massive buds, while the anti's are always saying, "well the leaves contain such and such so its impossible!"

Go ahead, allow your dusty text books to guide your present experiences from the past, while I will use my present understanding and experience to navigate the "evolution" of my growing skills.

Peace
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AXL totally agree.

I totally agree. A little of everything or going your own way. Learning the plant first. See how plants grow in your garden. Do what you think will help your grow. After all you are in control of your plant right?

9
 
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TrichGnome

Member
The energy savings alone is probably enouf to make a serious hater turn newbs away from such a practice. Could you emagine just goin around and telling people not to flush their bud on every "flush you weed or not thread"? Lol rediculus, people are gonna read these forums if they want to learn in the beggining wether they continue to try to miss guide the masses or not. Thats what they don't relize
 
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Azraelstrom

Member
Been following a LITFA(leave it the fuck alone) method for this grow and it's worked fine. The unnecessary leaves wilt and fall off, or I pull them off. I leave healthy growth. Sitting on two 3+ foot plants with a very thick canopy, and I'm not going to mess with it. Anecdotal evidence doesn't trump actual science when it comes to anything, including plants.
 
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TrichGnome

Member
That's sweet man, those big fan leaves would be cool to have at the end of harvest for something like a scrapbook, or a big pile for a dog to play in.
 
Vonkins

Vonkins

Well-Known Member
Deflating is the way to go. I just read and seen pic of a guy that defoliates at day 30 and 45. His plants were completely naked on day 31. You should see pics of this guy's final outcome. Freaking amazing!!!! I will post the website so u can see for yourself. This is a must!!!!!!
 
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