Defoliation. How Much And When???

  • Thread starter masshole61
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None

To defoliate or not to defoliate

  • Take a hatchet and shave everything now

    Votes: 3 18.8%
  • Pluck only fan leaves that cover bud sihts

    Votes: 12 75.0%
  • I love 70's porn! Shave nothing!

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • Total voters
    16
masshole61

masshole61

238
63
Defoliation how much and when 3
Defoliation how much and when 4
Defoliation how much and when
Defoliation how much and when 2

Hello fellow farmers
The pictures are of both sides of my 5 x 10 flower tent. I have to admit everyone looks pretty happy. I'm 3 1/2 weeks into flower , have cleaned out the lowers, top dressed with coast of Maine quoddy blend lobster compost and EWC they all responded really well. Soil grown in Scotts mix #4, Heavy 16 full line with a few microbial goodies.
My question to my farm friends and family is how much would you defoliate and when? these plants are 30" to 38" tall. I topped them once and LSTed the tallest ones to achieve a somewhat even canopy. I have a tendency to stuff a lot of plants into each 5x5 area. The left side has nine, the right has 16. I'm not sure what the sweet spot is for plant count on each side, I just start with a of plants and try to make it work. But am I crowding them too much?
What I'm trying to achieve is instead of shrub like tree growing, smaller plants focused on more quality top bud growth and less second tier growth. I experiment with something new almost every time and am concerned I'm not defoliating enough late in flower and not allowing enough light to penetrate to what would otherwise be quality bud.
It seems like a fine line between keeping fan leaves to promote photosynthesis, plucking fan leaves to allow light to reach buds below the top of the canopy and attempting to develop smaller plants with more focus on top bud development.
I've been reading the farm for years now and have learned a lot from you guys.
Any positive advice would be greatly appreciated
 
GanjaNGains

GanjaNGains

599
93
View attachment 719857 View attachment 719858 View attachment 719851 View attachment 719852
Hello fellow farmers
The pictures are of both sides of my 5 x 10 flower tent. I have to admit everyone looks pretty happy. I'm 3 1/2 weeks into flower , have cleaned out the lowers, top dressed with coast of Maine quoddy blend lobster compost and EWC they all responded really well. Soil grown in Scotts mix #4, Heavy 16 full line with a few microbial goodies.
My question to my farm friends and family is how much would you defoliate and when? these plants are 30" to 38" tall. I topped them once and LSTed the tallest ones to achieve a somewhat even canopy. I have a tendency to stuff a lot of plants into each 5x5 area. The left side has nine, the right has 16. I'm not sure what the sweet spot is for plant count on each side, I just start with a of plants and try to make it work. But am I crowding them too much?
What I'm trying to achieve is instead of shrub like tree growing, smaller plants focused on more quality top bud growth and less second tier growth. I experiment with something new almost every time and am concerned I'm not defoliating enough late in flower and not allowing enough light to penetrate to what would otherwise be quality bud.
It seems like a fine line between keeping fan leaves to promote photosynthesis, plucking fan leaves to allow light to reach buds below the top of the canopy and attempting to develop smaller plants with more focus on top bud development.
I've been reading the farm for years now and have learned a lot from you guys.
Any positive advice would be greatly appreciated

To over crowded? If your ok with the lower buds not getting as much lift as the tops then no u are fine long as you have good air flow really is on your own preference and style looks like u did a good job on the bottoms I would try and clean out anything covering a top or a main bud site as best I can 3 1/2 weeks in is a good time to do this but would wait to much longer I constantly pluck leaves that I feel arnt doing the plant any good but there is a limit finding that medium comes down to your Green thumb. Good vibes your way
 
fatawa

fatawa

1,664
263
lol it made for an interesting thread to say the least!
ya it was heated a lil.lol..moral of the other thread was do wat u feel comfortable with i think?theres no right or wrong answer to this.except my opinion wud b since yur deeper n flower then other guy(if i remeber right)past wk 4 the plant is just focused on buds,it will not rapidily reproduce new leafs at this point.wen yur n stretch u can strip her bare but not yurs.you wanna remove bigger/older fan leaves covering budsites like already said,go for it.i wud keep it minimal n yur situation n im a fan of defol.
 
EventHorizan

EventHorizan

15,707
438
ya it was heated a lil.lol..moral of the other thread was do wat u feel comfortable with i think?theres no right or wrong answer to this.except my opinion wud b since yur deeper n flower then other guy(if i remeber right)past wk 4 the plant is just focused on buds,it will not rapidily reproduce new leafs at this point.wen yur n stretch u can strip her bare but not yurs.you wanna remove bigger/older fan leaves covering budsites like already said,go for it.i wud keep it minimal n yur situation n im a fan of defol.
I agree.. But didnt op tell me to defol mine???? oh shit cause I thought he did, SO I DID! :(

here they were just half hr ago before i took his advice, @masshole61 wtf did you make me do...
 
WIN 20170711 19 09 54 Pro
WIN 20170711 19 09 57 Pro
fatawa

fatawa

1,664
263
agree.. But didnt op tell me to defol mine???? oh shit cause I thought he did, SO I DID! :(
lmfao.lol.u probably b aight horizan.just my opinion but wen u c the actualy heads of the buds(usualy wk 4ish-5)i dnt touch mine.i pluck all threw veg,stretch.i understand y u left the big fat leafs cuz they arent impeeding on anyother girls space but id yank those,thats wen u get the push...im not saying do it now tho.lol.ill show u how i do i got a couple n veg to sho.let me walk out back.
 
fatawa

fatawa

1,664
263
20170714 004245
Not saying this is only way to skin this cat but this is example how i do it.i wud of lollypoppd,and then wrkd my way up the plant removing every heavy/old fan leaf it has.usualy i end up leaving bout top 4"or so of every branch.but by removing the heavy ass leafs forces new shoots and med size leafs i left will fatten up.least n my garden.idh b4 photos cuz i cut these few yesterday but this is after for me.
 
EventHorizan

EventHorizan

15,707
438
lmfao.lol.u probably b aight horizan.just my opinion but wen u c the actualy heads of the buds(usualy wk 4ish-5)i dnt touch mine.i pluck all threw veg,stretch.i understand y u left the big fat leafs cuz they arent impeeding on anyother girls space but id yank those,thats wen u get the push...im not saying do it now tho.lol.ill show u how i do i got a couple n veg to sho.let me walk out back.
looking good now that Understand your set up and your light and net pot configuration..
See that is one thing we/every one needs to understand, everybody has diff requirements..
 
EventHorizan

EventHorizan

15,707
438
Hey @masshole61
Why didnt you ever respond to my pics and comment where I was fucking with ya?

Well in about 2 hrs we will see how that defol is coming along...


I agree.. But didnt op tell me to defol mine???? oh shit cause I thought he did, SO I DID! :(

here they were just half hr ago before i took his advice, @masshole61 wtf did you make me do...

Now here they are after I took your advice! @masshole61 r my plants gonna be all right??????????

lmfao.lol.u probably b aight horizan.just my opinion but wen u c the actualy heads of the buds(usualy wk 4ish-5)i dnt touch mine.i pluck all threw veg,stretch.i understand y u left the big fat leafs cuz they arent impeeding on anyother girls space but id yank those,thats wen u get the push...im not saying do it now tho.lol.ill show u how i do i got a couple n veg to sho.let me walk out back.
 
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