Bushy plant defoliation questions

So, hello everyone. First real indoor grow of OG Kush and Sour Diesel. Decided to do the manifold technique. Og Kush, I guess, is responding well, but the SD is very bushy and has a lot of branches.

Should I cut of all the big fan leaves and most little growth tips, to uncover the 8 main ones and allow better light penetration or do I just keep it as it is?

Do the plants look good and set up correctly?

They are about 1,5weeks in flower and growing under COB lights.

Your plants look very healthy - good job. According to www.growweedeasy.com - when topping - all of the growth is removed below the node where you topped. The plant is topped 3 times in order to achieve 8 colas, and each time the growth below the top is removed.

Defoliation is almost as controversial as flushing. Because this is your first grow, i would let them be. Learn what happens if you don't defoliate. If you defoliate correctly, you can increase your yield by a marginal amount. If you do it incorrectly, you can decrease your yield by a significant amount.

deno said:

Defoliation is almost as controversial as flushing. Because this is your first grow, i would let them be. Learn what happens if you don't defoliate. If you defoliate correctly, you can increase your yield by a marginal amount. If you do it incorrectly, you can decrease your yield by a significant amount.

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+1
I honestly do not remove any leaves unless they are dead or dying. I do however tuck leaves out of the way that are directly above the bud. I also remove all of the large fan leaves a light cycle or two before harvest. Think of leaves as your solar panels. Removing them decreases the amount of energy a plant can produce for itself.

GreenHighlander said:

+1
I honestly do not remove any leaves unless they are dead or dying. I do however tuck leaves out of the way that are directly above the bud. I also remove all of the large fan leaves a light cycle or two before harvest. Think of leaves as your solar panels. Removing them decreases the amount of energy a plant can produce for itself.

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Not sure- don't you think constant selective defoliation would actually stimulate growth and promote good airflow/penetration?

I think its a good idea if things are just jammed smashed together bad, but ur not, and first go round id let her go they look great... one on right in first pic looks a bit lime green but i have a good idea thats the lighting/photo....

True- these do look good and not too thick for sure!!

Huckster79 said:

I think its a good idea if things are just jammed smashed together bad, but ur not, and first go round id let her go they look great... one on right in first pic looks a bit lime green but i have a good idea thats the lighting/photo....

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Yes it is very light green. But the one on the left is very dark. Is that a problem?

May just be strain difference or could be the lighter one is a heavy feeder and wants more N

Huckster is right i think- doesn't look quite N deficient yet, but might try giving one on right a bit more to see how she reacts. You could try bumping up both, just to see if you can get away with one nute mix per feeding. Left doesn't look too dark, so probably okay.

MickFoster said:

Your plants look very healthy - good job. According to www.growweedeasy.com - when topping - all of the growth is removed below the node where you topped. The plant is topped 3 times in order to achieve 8 colas, and each time the growth below the top is removed.

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Just curious. How much time does it take in veg to top that many times before it's ready to put in flower?

xtsho said:

Just curious. How much time does it take in veg to top that many times before it's ready to put in flower?

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Lol. I have never mainlined a plant before so I can't answer your question - I do a scrog. The picture was downloaded from growweedeasy.com to show the OP how a mainlined plant should look.

xtsho said:

Just curious. How much time does it take in veg to top that many times before it's ready to put in flower?

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Mine took about 8 weeks, but I did wait a little bit for them to get bigger after topping. She did look like this after about a week of the last topping. 5weeks old in this one

ColoradoHighGrower said:

Huckster is right i think- doesn't look quite N deficient yet, but might try giving one on right a bit more to see how she reacts. You could try bumping up both, just to see if you can get away with one nute mix per feeding. Left doesn't look too dark, so probably okay.

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The lest one is doing great, yeah. I did feed it a little more. The color on the new growth is looking better,but it is showing some nute burn. I just recently started feeding it bloom nutes, so maybe that's why. Will try do give less bloom nutes and a little more veg.

Alex77145 said:

The lest one is doing great, yeah. I did feed it a little more. The color on the new growth is looking better,but it is showing some nute burn. I just recently started feeding it bloom nutes, so maybe that's why. Will try do give less bloom nutes and a little more veg.

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yes-definitely needs higher N-ratio nutes at this stage, but go easy/just water 2 or 3 times if you stressed it with too much P and K....