Defoliation During Flower

[Bulldog916]

I've read about and done a few grows with defoliation indoors and those grows turned out well for me. When I hear defoliation mentioned in the same sentence as outdoor grow, most people shy away. They say the fan leaves are a "food source" for your plants during flower. I'm seeing it differently. The fans during veg are more for building stem structure than being food for budding phase. After the bud phase has entered its final weeks, I see the need to remove almost any fan leaf without sugar on it. You want your sugar leaves to move the most light energy more directly to the flowers themselves rather than more leaf weight. Maybe defoliating veg phase fan leaves completely after sugar leaves develop will force more resources directly to the buds, like water and sunlight. The plant itself will be cutting all resources to the fans after a time anyway. They aren't a food source, just old growth. Like spent solar panels.

 

[CaliRooted]

There is 20 plus posts on this subject, do alittle research and you'll find all your answers. I pluck from day 1 flower till the end. Every strain responds different.

 

[Bulldog916]

I've done my share on this site. The most detailed and journaled information is usually using indoor grows as examples because more factors can be controlled. Outdoor it's harder to control for humidity or hrs of light. It's not cut and dried fact that defoliation works in outdoor growing, it's still debated

 

[CaliRooted]

Well anyone can debate all they want what I do know if my OGs loved to be stripped almost bare and say cookies not as much. I never pluck outdoor ever besides normal clean out for flower. Happy Growing

 

[Bulldog916]

My thought is, outdoors there's less light availability as opposed to indoor. So it might be important to strip em outdoors as well. For example, let's say you have a chimney made of solar panels, all the bricks are brand new, efficient solar panels. Then there are older, horizontal, large panels jutting out the side. How well do you think the new fresh solar panels are gonna do when they're shaded by the old stuff? Not well, so really it's in the plant's best interest to kill those leaves off so that the bud leaves can grow fatter. Every new bud is a new chance for the plant to reproduce and it wants as many chances as it can get.

 

[Madbud]

Seems the fan leaves let you know when to pluck 'em by yellowing. You can feel it when they let go. With a good breeze they help sway the buds increasing airflow too.

 

[Bulldog916]

True but I dont see them as feeding the plant in any way after the flowering stretch is done. Plucking before yellowing might be necessary to pump up shaded buds and build fatter bottoms.

 

[Monster762]

I've read about and done a few grows with defoliation indoors and those grows turned out well for me. When I hear defoliation mentioned in the same sentence as outdoor grow, most people shy away. They say the fan leaves are a "food source" for your plants during flower. I'm seeing it differently. The fans during veg are more for building stem structure than being food for budding phase. After the bud phase has entered its final weeks, I see the need to remove almost any fan leaf without sugar on it. You want your sugar leaves to move the most light energy more directly to the flowers themselves rather than more leaf weight. Maybe defoliating veg phase fan leaves completely after sugar leaves develop will force more resources directly to the buds, like water and sunlight. The plant itself will be cutting all resources to the fans after a time anyway. They aren't a food source, just old growth. Like spent solar panels.

Seems there is a lot of different views here. I'm new so my view is no better than any other but the common sense part to me says that removing larger leaves blocking budsites would be positive. Allowing the light in and directing the plants energy toward the end goal. The buds. Just like trashing lower blocked branches that suck energy from your actually developing buds to feed a few pistils. I think your view is pretty on point. Idk if I'd remove to a naked plant point but most of the larger leaves serve no purpose. And will die off. Allowing them to block up light n suck up energy n nutes can't be positive. The small leaves coming from the buds are what feeds the buds.

 

[ItalWinston]

Bottom line either method will probably yield the same amount and quality of buds. I pluck larger leaves off when they look like they're a few days from turning yellow. If they're still green they're probably contributing some kind of growth energy.

IW

 

[Bulldog916]

I'm not any more learned than most people on here and I probably have lots to learn. From my point of view, the plant's only purpose beyond week 5 of flower is to make reproduction points. It's already as tall as the genetics and conditions have allowed. Now it's time to give as many chances to pass on the genetics as possible. If the fan leaves aren't helping with that, the plant kills them. We as the grower can do that early, prune or train selectively, and strategically and yield the most weight in bud per plant outdoors using the sun to tell you where to snip.

 

[monstacropn]

IMO and experiences I've found that defoliating out door grows is very important as I've had 2 clones of same strain. The first 1 I used as a control "all natural" and the second I started defoliating when I saw the sugar being produced. Making this post short i'll cut to the outcome.
1: has a little bigger buds but was full of leaves and hard as hell to trim, the buds also wasn't near as dense as number 2 plant and had less sugar entirely. Both was potent but #2 was preferred hands down over number 1 by all who smoked them both. I can't speak for anyone's else plants but that's what mine did.