Hesitant To Defoliate.

Hi all, I'm thinking I should clean up some of these leaves. I'm getting a lot of huge fan leaves that are covering up the smaller branches. I've been tucking them down as best I can, but with smaller branches constantly shooting up, it's getting hard to even do that. Think it's safe to remove some of the foliage? Gonna be in veg for another week to 2 weeks. Some leaves are easily a foot wide, possibly bigger. Also, I have no clue what strain this is. I got the plant from a friend of a friend who said the seeds were fem dutch genetics, but no strain name.

Ice-B said:

Hi all, I'm thinking I should clean up some of these leaves. I'm getting a lot of huge fan leaves that are covering up the smaller branches. I've been tucking them down as best I can, but with smaller branches constantly shooting up, it's getting hard to even do that. Think it's safe to remove some of the foliage? Gonna be in veg for another week to 2 weeks. Some leaves are easily a foot wide, possibly bigger. Also, I have no clue what strain this is. I got the plant from a friend of a friend who said the seeds were fem dutch genetics, but no strain name.

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I'm an advocate for defoliation!!! Especially if you have a week or 2 before flip, to let them recoup from the shock!

I'm a firm believer if you pull them off now the plant will have to use energy to grow more before I can bud.

Leave those solar panels alone

My gut has been telling to go for it, but yeah every time I stand over her, prunes in hand, I imagine clipping off potential food sources.

Ice-B said:

My gut has been telling to go for it, but yeah every time I stand over her, prunes in hand, I imagine clipping off potential food sources.

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Idk, IMO it's a weed, they're very resilient!
My girls didn't skip a beat after I defoliated and lolly popped before flipping, and I wish I could even defoliate now in flowering to let some more light down to my other sites!



1st pic is before defoliating!

Ice-B said:

Hi all, I'm thinking I should clean up some of these leaves. I'm getting a lot of huge fan leaves that are covering up the smaller branches. I've been tucking them down as best I can, but with smaller branches constantly shooting up, it's getting hard to even do that. Think it's safe to remove some of the foliage? Gonna be in veg for another week to 2 weeks. Some leaves are easily a foot wide, possibly bigger. Also, I have no clue what strain this is. I got the plant from a friend of a friend who said the seeds were fem dutch genetics, but no strain name.

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If you have under performing foliage or branches, your plant will be better off without them. When in doubt, less is usually more in this hobby. If you have bud sites being blocked. You should do something. leaf tuck or super crop, or remove a few of the leaves thats blocking your buds

RonnieB2 said:

If you have under performing foliage or branches, your plant will be better off without them. When in doubt, less is usually more in this hobby. If you have bud sites being blocked. You should do something. leaf tuck or super crop, or remove a few of the leaves thats blocking your buds

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When they switch to flowering, they pretty much stop growing the big fan leaves, though, huh? I didn’t really notice it with my outdoor plants (maybe it didn’t happen) but the ones I’ve got in a tent are pretty much totally focused on bud, not new foliage...

Fonzyyy21 said:

Idk, IMO it's a weed, they're very resilient!
My girls didn't skip a beat after I defoliated and lolly popped before flipping, and I wish I could even defoliate now in flowering to let some more light down to my other sites!



1st pic is before exfoliating!

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Yeah She looks great. My main concern is light penetration. I took the shot underneath the canopy to show she's not very dense below. Airflow isn't an issue at this time. I worry about some of the smaller branches not bulking up because the GIANT leaves are blocking the light. I do hate the idea of cutting off any of those big fan leaves. She has put so much energy into producing them, seems like a waste just to cut them off and her try and make more.

Ice-B said:

Yeah She looks great. My main concern is light penetration. I took the shot underneath the canopy to show she's not very dense below. Airflow isn't an issue at this time. I worry about some of the smaller branches not bulking up because the GIANT leaves are blocking the light. I do hate the idea of cutting off any of those big fan leaves. She has put so much energy into producing them, seems like a waste just to cut them off and her try and make more.

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I feel you guys and to each their own! Those are your babies and you do whatever you please with them!!! I'm sure you'll have a nice harvest either way!

Looking at your plant with pics in the lights we find so deceptive, LOL, I strongly suggest a serious defoliation. You need some air flow and reduced humidity. I'll check my folders for pics on this junk tab. If none I can get on a pc and show how I do it. Best wishes.

Mrs. Weedstein said:

When they switch to flowering, they pretty much stop growing the big fan leaves, though, huh? I didn’t really notice it with my outdoor plants (maybe it didn’t happen) but the ones I’ve got in a tent are pretty much totally focused on bud, not new foliage...

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For the most part yeah they stop and after the 3rd week in flowering almost all new leaf growth is done soooo yeah no more defoliating after week 3, those leaves are seen as armor throughout the rest of flowering!

Mrs. Weedstein said:

When they switch to flowering, they pretty much stop growing the big fan leaves, though, huh? I didn’t really notice it with my outdoor plants (maybe it didn’t happen) but the ones I’ve got in a tent are pretty much totally focused on bud, not new foliage...

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Thats a plus. Id leave it alone then. Or roll the dice and experiment. its the only way we learn lol

RonnieB2 said:

If you have under performing foliage or branches, your plant will be better off without them. When in doubt, less is usually more in this hobby. If you have bud sites being blocked. You should do something. leaf tuck or super crop, or remove a few of the leaves thats blocking your buds

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This seems like the solid middle ground approach.

MICHI-CAN said:

Looking at your plant with pics in the lights we find so deceptive, LOL, I strongly suggest a serious defoliation. You need some air flow and reduced humidity. I'll check my folders for pics on this junk tab. If none I can get on a pc and show how I do it. Best wishes.

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Sorry about the light . I don't have any decent non-grow lights in that room, I did the best I could to brighten it up.

Before defoliation.

After defoliation.

5 days later.

Ice-B said:

Sorry about the light . I don't have any decent non-grow lights in that room, I did the best I could to brighten it up.

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All good. We all started there. Expect some humor. Ignore the attacks around here.

But I would defoliate. Be few before I can get to my files to show you. Check my journal. It shows maximum pruning on 30-36 inch plants that yielded 1.5 - 3 Oz. each. But your plants need air and light. At least a haircut to reduce stress at this point in time.

MickFoster said:

Before defoliation.
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After defoliation.
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5 days later.
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Resilient as fuck!

I wish I would've schwazzedd as much as you did! They look good!

MickFoster said:

Before defoliation.
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After defoliation.
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5 days later.
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Those are really nice. And no offense but that is the norm. I would like to share some extreme defoliation, topping and LST. I use your method indoors for smaller grows in a hurry. And my method for bushes or trees indoors and out. First is last years bush for indoors soaking up some sun. Pics after are my current monster. Hope it gets some people to rethink the bro schit.

MICHI-CAN said:

All good. We all started there. Expect some humor. Ignore the attacks around here.

But I would defoliate. Be few before I can get to my files to show you. Check my journal. It shows maximum pruning on 30-36 inch plants that yielded 1.5 - 3 Oz. each. But your plants need air and light. At least a haircut to reduce stress at this point in time.

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Thanks a ton! Seems like a haircut is the way to go. At least the lower stuff.

Fonzyyy21 said:

For the most part yeah they stop and after the 3rd week in flowering almost all new leaf growth is done soooo yeah no more defoliating after week 3, those leaves are seen as armor throughout the rest of flowering!

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RonnieB2 said:

Thats a plus. Id leave it alone then. Or roll the dice and experiment. its the only way we learn lol

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So I’ve got a pretty strong fan inside my tent because I want to keep the hot air from accumulating, and some of the fan leaves have gotten whipped around enough to get damaged.

I’m guessing I still have another month of flowering, though, and worry there isn’t enough foliage to maximize my yield/quality. Will the sugar leaves and flowers make up for the damaged fan leaves, at least partially? Should I use extra nutes? I’ve seen folks almost totally defoliate and still get a decent crop — I don’t want to do anything that drastic, just looking for ways to compensate for lost fan leaves, since the plant doesn’t seem to be producing new ones. Five weeks into flower, BtW