de-foil-age

[mastacheeser]

i have been taking leaves from my ladies for a long time without really any plan or evidence that it increases yeild. i know alot of famers do this but really wanting to run a couple rooms side by side to see if it really helps that much. looking for input on how other gardeners think this helps, where to pull leaves from, and when to start pulling
personally i only take dead leaves off the bottom and take from the top to leave more tops exposed
usually start whenever i notice the tops that are getting covered start turning a brighter color than the tops that are exposed to light
any insight at all is appreciated

 

[TheIronLung317]

I think you're doing the right thing. typically you would remove leaves that aren't beneficial to the environment, i.e// blocking the nug formation, yellowed leaves lacking N, or dried leaves. There are also ways to avoid plucking healthy leaves like tying down branches for further exposure, tucking them under nug formations, but it typically boils down to your specific experience and the rational behind your decision to take off foliage which is essentially vital to your plants development.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

I do the same.

 

[mastacheeser]

k cool
when i veg big i usually do slaughter the bottom foot of my plants or the area that isnt getting alot of light, a fair number of budsites and alot of leaves
could this be beneficial on the smaller plants?

 

[mittenmedgrow]

When I ran the aero I ran it tight all tubes going the same way. I would let plants root well in the aerocloner transplant and flower no veg. lollipopped em. When I ran bigger plants I scrogged and cut below screen. Did 8 plants under 1 1000 and pulled 2 1/2 pds.

 

[mastacheeser]

very nice
im running the general hydro aeroflo 60's right now, never had a root cloging prob once, never even had to think about it
got two of them set up that blow me away every day
doing rez changes every 4 days cuz these bitches are exploding
found that when i veg bigger i have to give them a few extra days at the end to finish up
camera took a dump on me but heres my logs from two weeks ago
c99/bubba kush room one/tahoe og room two/

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Ya I was running 2 60s at one time 120 plants insane. I never had a clog the drain tube is 1 1/2 in. When I did the 8 plant scrog in1 60 the roots were down in the rez and the plant closest to the pump were gettin sucked into the pump. Didnt cause any problems I just let it go. I did have spray holes clog poked em out with a paper clip in between runs. aero 60's are a money maker.

 

[mastacheeser]

yep i just relpace those bitches every four weeks
an keeps my rez clean as hell to so i dont gotta worry to much about stuff clogging
it doesnt get any better than the aeroflos
them bitches are loving every og i put in it

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Its funny because I know the guy at the local hydro store and he says everbody runs em a couple times and wants to bring em back. There a little tricky for beginners.

 

[mastacheeser]

aero is a handful
ran the rainforest units twice and never wana touch them again
everything has to be perfect for them to go great but when things are done right you cant argue with the results
YOU HAVE TO HAVE CHILLERS
have a drip system with coco running in my third room
we should just turn this into a aeroflo thread for beginners lol

 

[mittenmedgrow]

yea he dont tell people u need a chiller. His attidude is sell them what they want and not give them his real opinion on a lot of products.

 

[Melvan]

Just to hop back to the original question.

I don't remove any of the bottom branches. Those lower wispy buds are great for the trim box, good for has and cannabutter.

I do prune. I remove any fan leaf acting like a shade umbrella from day 1 of flower. At day 30 I do a massive pruning of fan leaves, I remove 1/2 of them from each plant. A few days before harvest I take the rest from the top half of the plant.

I harvest the tops, trim the rest of the fan leaves that are left on the bottoms, and leave them under the light for another week or so to finish.

 

[mastacheeser]

Just to hop back to the original question.

I don't remove any of the bottom branches. Those lower wispy buds are great for the trim box, good for has and cannabutter.

I do prune. I remove any fan leaf acting like a shade umbrella from day 1 of flower. At day 30 I do a massive pruning of fan leaves, I remove 1/2 of them from each plant. A few days before harvest I take the rest from the top half of the plant.

I harvest the tops, trim the rest of the fan leaves that are left on the bottoms, and leave them under the light for another week or so to finish.

not ripping on you or anything just totally curious
whats the logic behind taking all those leaves that early?to help stop mold?does it help them finish better?

 

[Melvan]

I grow under a 400hps right now. I find it helps harden buds further down the plant by exposing them to light they wouldn't normally receive, increasing the penetration. Can't wait to see what happens when I use this method under the 600hps, I'll have rocks all the way down to the dirt.

There are many schools of thought on whether you should/shouldn't prune and when, with valid arguments on all sides. In the end the choice to prune or defoliate is yours based on your growing conditions and what works best for your plants in your space.

It also helps increase harvest weight to keep all the branches staked so they're upright, even the smaller lower branches. I use tomato clips & plant yo-yos to keep every branch upright. This also increases their access to the limited light of the 400. My current grow/harvest is in my sig.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

sorry misread post

 

[mastacheeser]

I grow under a 400hps right now. I find it helps harden buds further down the plant by exposing them to light they wouldn't normally receive, increasing the penetration. Can't wait to see what happens when I use this method under the 600hps, I'll have rocks all the way down to the dirt.

There are many schools of thought on whether you should/shouldn't prune and when, with valid arguments on all sides. In the end the choice to prune or defoliate is yours based on your growing conditions and what works best for your plants in your space.

It also helps increase harvest weight to keep all the branches staked so they're upright, even the smaller lower branches. I use tomato clips & plant yo-yos to keep every branch upright. This also increases their access to the limited light of the 400. My current grow/harvest is in my sig.

cool thx for the tip melvan
been on you page already ladies r looking great