Darn it! I'm triple posting again, but for a good reason! :'D
I decided to get off my lazy ass and take some pictures during my watering session, which lasts a whopping 45-minutes to 1 hour depending on how swift I am. Watering, and mixing nutes by hand takes for ages! :D
I've got a few aces up my sleeves to make my life easier though. I've added a container to the bottom of the tent, and tilted it with stilts, so that when I water all the water will drain to the front of the tent. To help the water drain from the smartpots, I've also placed metal grills below them, this is also a great way to increase airflow for the bottom root area!
I've also got a few pictures showing you what is happening under the canopy. Must I say, the defoliation is really doing its thing! There is a MASSIVE difference in the health of the lower branches between the defoliation group, and the control group.
As you can see from the pictures, the control group has lower branches suffering from chlorosis, which means that the lower bud sites are not receiving enough light to photosynthesize! I've also noticed that the control group is losing leaves rapidly from the bottom. At this point, I must say that the defoliated site is much healthier looking overall. But will it have enough leaves to last out the flushing period? That remains to be seen. There also doesn't seem to be much of a difference in bud size, regardless of chlorosis, but I'm estimating that towards the end of flower, the bottom bud sites should be bigger on the defoliated plants.
Images in order:
Water vacuum
Side by sides (left: Control, right: Defoliated)
3 images of control group
2 images of defoliated plants
Image of plant trunk