Ripping it Hardcore, like Defoliation Porn?

After a bit of of reading on this defoliation stuff, I decided to cut on the lady in my closet. She is about one months into flower, and shortly after 12/12 began, I went of vacation for two weeks while the plant was only watered once, and she didn't look too hot when I got back. Question for experienced growers who know a thing or two about how to prune a plant: Do you think too many leaves have been cut off? Will this likely decrease her yields? Pretty much got rid of anything in the way of buds sans the tiniest of leaves.

This is my first grow, will let anyone interested know how this unfolds.

Any feedback is much appreciated, thank you.

Yes you can remove too many leaves, very quickly. Think of leaves as solar panels for the plant. The more you remove the less energy the plant takes in. Why would you want to limit that? If the plant didn't want/ need all the leaves it wouldn't put them there.

DesertGrow89 said:

After a bit of of reading on this defoliation stuff, I decided to cut on the lady in my closet. She is about one months into flower, and shortly after 12/12 began, I went of vacation for two weeks while the plant was only watered once, and she didn't look too hot when I got back. Question for experienced growers who know a thing or two about how to prune a plant: Do you think too many leaves have been cut off? Will this likely decrease her yields? Pretty much got rid of anything in the way of buds sans the tiniest of leaves.

This is my first grow, will let anyone interested know how this unfolds.

Any feedback is much appreciated, thank you.

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Fuck, in pic one you have a beautiful plant. Should of tied her lead down at a 90. Would of had a monster.

a mongo frog said:

Fuck, in pic one you have a beautiful plant. Should of tied her lead down at a 90. Would of had a monster.

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So the yield will be decreased significantly? Getting a bit close to the 600 watt hps, 16 inches away. Temps are getting in the upper 80s after 5 pm unfortunately.

PeyoteReligion said:

Yes you can remove too many leaves, very quickly. Think of leaves as solar panels for the plant. The more you remove the less energy the plant takes in. Why would you want to limit that? If the plant didn't want/ need all the leaves it wouldn't put them there.

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Thanks for the feedback!

DesertGrow89 said:

So the yield will be decreased significantly? Getting a bit close to the 600 watt hps, 16 inches away. Temps are getting in the upper 80s after 5 pm unfortunately.

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Tie her over at a 90. I can't really give an exact answer on your yield, I've never taken that many leafs off before.

a mongo frog said:

Tie her over at a 90. I can't really give an exact answer on your yield, I've never taken that many leafs off before.

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Assuming that will give the buds more light exposure? Went to do that and the stem kinked near the apex, hope it wasn't bad for the plant.

I went a little overboard on 2 of mine and they're fattening up just fine but I did a light defol at week 3 and the heavy one at week 5-6. think you be alright but it might add a week or two. Don't worry bout that kink.

DesertGrow89 said:

Assuming that will give the buds more light exposure? Went to do that and the stem kinked near the apex, hope it wasn't bad for the plant.

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Tying it bent over at a 90 degree angle will divert the growth hormone in the plant from primarily the top growth down to the lower growth. These auxins will allow the lower growth to match the top growth, giving a bushy canopy rather than one tall spear.
However I think it is a little late to bend that extremely now. It's something you would generally do earlier, like before flowering.
Look into LST, low stress training

And what's done is done dude. So just try to keep it a happy plant from here on out. It'll still keep growing its buds, its not gonna turn the current buds into hot wheels cars. Keep us posted!

Contrary to popular noob myth, plants gather energy in their leaves, and generally put it into their fruit, seeds ect.... this is not a guess, its fact. The Buds you intend to expose to light, do not photosynthesize nearly as much as a large"fan, sucker,or shade" leaf.... Plants generally are not confused about which flesh is needed to keep or drop.... they do it naturally to leaves when they are not receiving adequate light or when the plant deems it necessary to transport nutrients from an old lower performing leaf to a higher performing one.Nice for the plant to have that reserve when its needed as well... I believe people desire to impact the general outcome more than cutting a plant will do.... it has some desired responses, but cutting off the energy gathering portion of the plant will NOT increase production of fruiting/flowering. sorry, it just doesnt.

OMG. Well here we go again, The Biggest issue here is misunderstanding the how/what/why and when of defoliation technique. Probably from bad information you read or misinterpreted online.

You need to
A: Know your strain
B: know when you should and shouldnt use this technique
C: Know how the process works
D: why you want to defoliate

I think you got bad information and believed removing any leaves during any stage of growth would help your plant out, this is soooo wrong!! I think many people find that defoliation fucked up their grows or reduced their yields because they dont understand these steps and the process for when it should/shouldnt be done.

That plant you have shouldnt be touched. Untopped plant that arent bushy and dense and have been vegging for a long period should not be touched or defoliated, because they dont need to be. There isnt enough foliage on the plant to support the removal of the leaves.

Simply put this is a common mis application of the technique and makes me wonder if many of the ppl who say defoliation doesnt work just arent applying the technique correctly and when it should be done.

Smh...

PeyoteReligion said:

Tying it bent over at a 90 degree angle will divert the growth hormone in the plant from primarily the top growth down to the lower growth. These auxins will allow the lower growth to match the top growth, giving a bushy canopy rather than one tall spear.
However I think it is a little late to bend that extremely now. It's something you would generally do earlier, like before flowering.
Look into LST, low stress training

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Will try the lst method for round 2, with far less defoliation, if any. It does say in the indoor/outdoor bible to avoid pruning up to a month before inducing flowering.

"Plants need all their leaves to produce the maximum amount of chlorophyll and food. Removing leaves slows chlorophyll production, stresses the plant, and stunts its growth. Stress is a growth inhibitor. Remove only dead leaves or leaves that are more than 50 percent damaged."

Cervantes, Jorge (2011-04-13). Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible (pp. 61-62).

MoMoGrows said:

And what's done is done dude. So just try to keep it a happy plant from here on out. It'll still keep growing its buds, its not gonna turn the current buds into hot wheels cars. Keep us posted!

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Dang I was expecting hot wheels.. lol. Do you think the leaves can be made into hash or did I cut them off too early?

Just toss em. If they coated in resin, then yea but yours prolly to early.

They will be tossed in some cheesy, peppered pasta soon (extra dank). 133 views and only 5 people care to comment? Sighz.

I target leaves that overlap other leaves & larger fans near the bottom that begin to turn yellow. If there's a leaf blocking out a developing bud site I try to tuck it behind but will just pinch it off if it gives too much shade.
It's like when you veg out a clone for awhile like I do in my perpetual system it grows back very bushy. Once in mid to late flower cycle it becomes apparent you need to help get more UV light to the lower buds in order to ripen them. Taking a few targeted leaves can make more of the lower nugs harder & denser. If you grow under the sun I would say don't take off shit but indoors under lights you usually need to prune some leaves especially near the end of flower cycle. In the final week begurr harvest I go a little more nuts removing most of the fans but the plants are finishing at that point & less energy is needed. My 2 sense

Richard Drysift said:

I target leaves that overlap other leaves & larger fans near the bottom that begin to turn yellow. If there's a leaf blocking out a developing bud site I try to tuck it behind but will just pinch it off if it gives too much shade.
It's like when you veg out a clone for awhile like I do in my perpetual system it grows back very bushy. Once in mid to late flower cycle it becomes apparent you need to help get more UV light to the lower buds in order to ripen them. Taking a few targeted leaves can make more of the lower nugs harder & denser. If you grow under the sun I would say don't take off shit but indoors under lights you usually need to prune some leaves especially near the end of flower cycle. In the final week begurr harvest I go a little more nuts removing most of the fans but the plants are finishing at that point & less energy is needed. My 2 sense

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Next grow I may try lst and keep leaf picking to a minimum. Do you think that much defoliation (pictured) will cause a lower yield? Also can't make much hash when you half the leaves, so that's another reason why I'd limit pulling foliage. Moved my metal halide to about 18 inches from the plant, lower leaves and buds are coming in nicely. Buds are already turning amber, need to check them out with a microscope.

Thank you for the input, trying to learn something useful every day!

Small plants require desperate measures huh? Really with a plant that size already in flower you should have just let it be. Not trying to be rude and If I sound it sorry but IMO it needed all the help it could get and some of that help is gone .