N1ghtL1ght said:

Thanks for that Aqua. Yes with mobile nutrients the older leaf may become the source in times of silent hunger/deficiencies but the person claimed

which contradicts this. A lot of energy that any leaf produces will be fed into the phloem which will carry it away. That's the definition of a source, not a sink. Only when a leaf is very young and in process of being formed will it be dependant on sugar that is produced elsewhere.

And we really need to differentiate between sugar/starch/energy or nutrition because the former is taken out of the air (CO2 + light) whereas the latter is taken in by the roots. So there are 2 different pathways initially how these things enter a plant, thus the way how to apply the source/sink-terminology also varies.

@Brownthumb
I'm sorry but I still don't understand what you ment by forgetting the fanleaf/meristem-interaction.


I'd be really happy to do as you suggest but I first need to understand that. Without big fanleaves the flowers won't bud out properly due to a lack of hormones? Is that what you ment Sir, I'm sorry to have to ask you again but there is apparently some physiological mechanism at large which I'm not aware of and if you could help me understand that any imput would be greatly welcomed.

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Bobrown14 said:

I mentioned fan leaves and plant growth regulators and how the plants mature ok so how does a plant know WHEN to flower??

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Bobrown14 said:

If you think taking them off somehow makes better flower have at it, I disagree.

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N1ghtL1ght said:

It's dependant on either photoperiod or plant age. In both cases the flowering hormone that is build in the leaf is being dispersed throughout the plant via the phloem and once these reach the nodes where the shoot meristems are located, will cause a cascade of genetic responses that transforms the shoot meristems to build flowers out of primal leaf tissue.

I defoliate mostly in veg to increase shoot sites and suppress stretching of shaded sidebranches.

May I politely ask why you prune all fanleaves away in flower and further, about half of all the plants foliage in an outdoor grow (as is seen in your portfolio)?

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Bobrown14 said:

I do not defoil. I dont really even clean up the undergrowth much anymore.

I grow outside and inside. Outside is mainly spillover from extra l have from inside. We get an early wet season usually before harvest time. So hit or miss outdoors without a greenhouse.

For more side shoots I use kelp meal in my soil mix and amendments. 420% organic no-till soil here. Sounds good and maybe add some crushed clamshell dust.

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