Dirbags Rockin' Rockwool Revival Thread

[Dirtbag]

I'll say one thing is for sure, this crop is uniform. Its easy to see why the defoliation method is so popular among commercial growers looking for a consistently sized product. Pretty much the entire crop looks like this, nothing bigger nothing smaller. Everything equally ripened.

Quite nice. I still think next crop I will go back to the lollipop method, or possibly a hybrid method utilizing both techniques to a degree.

The smoke from this stuff is incredible. Super clean and smooth. Im for sure sticking to unislabs and dyna gro nutes from here out.

 

[tobh]

wooo! Gettin me excited. Gonna start a motivational seminar program. Call it the "Dirtbag's Grow Style to a Better Life", and promote the ever living shit outta this style of growing haha

 

[Madmax]

You in Canada?

Id like to fucken be hahaha...spose i better start hitch hiking .im only bout 20 odd thousand ks away ..

 

[Madmax]

Im keen to try this super defol aswell tobh...when do you start the defol dirtbag .do you do one in veg when plant get leafy then another heavy one in flower..sorry i missed where you have mentioned it in your thread..im getting real lazy lol..

 

[harmonics]

Im keen to try this super defol aswell tobh...when do you start the defol dirtbag .do you do one in veg when plant get leafy then another heavy one in flower..sorry i missed where you have mentioned it in your thread..im getting real lazy lol..

And this is the point I deviated hard in a direction I've never gone. I have always lollipopped and removed lower budsites and selectively defoliated. But this grow I decided to throw caution to the wind and get in there and rip as many leaves off as I could bring myself to take off. Made me quite nervous.
This was flip day..View attachment 1116128

14 days into flower, I had to strip again, as the humidity was becoming uncontrollable.

This time I stripped them a bit harder.. View attachment 1116132
View attachment 1116134

Now this is where my ass cheeks were clinched tight. I expected to shock them. And I wouldn't be surprised if I stunted them.

I believe the heavy Defoliation was Day 1 of Flip, followed by a 2nd heavy defoliation Day 14.
@Dirtbag Thank you so much for creating this thread! I’m a long term Rockwool grower and I’ve learned a ton, it finally gave me the confidence to do a proper defoliation myself!
Thank you for your insight and best wishes!!

 

[harmonics]

 

[harmonics]

Here they are Day 38, I know I still have a lot to learn (definitely overwatered early on)
I just wanted to thank you @Dirtbag for inspiring me!

 

[Dirtbag]

Here they are Day 38, I know I still have a lot to learn (definitely overwatered early on)
I just wanted to thank you @Dirtbag for inspiring me!
View attachment 1138771

Beautiful!.. and you're super welcome. It's cool to see! Comfort zones are lame, I highly recommend people trying new things once in a while. Live a little lol.

I was afraid to strip leaves for the longest time. But these plants can take way more abuse than I thought. And sometimes I believe it has positive consequences.

 

[harmonics]

Beautiful!.. and you're super welcome. It's cool to see! Comfort zones are lame, I highly recommend people trying new things once in a while. Live a little lol.

I was afraid to strip leaves for the longest time. But these plants can take way more abuse than I thought. And sometimes I believe it has positive consequences.

Thank you!! It’s true, I’ve tried to defoliate a bit in the past but always half-assed it and got too scared of stressing out the girls.

It was so inspiring to see your process and how well it worked! It definitely helped me build up the confidence to really go at the defoliation this time and I’ve never seen my grow this stacked with buds; I couldn’t be happier with the results!

 

[SpiderFarmerLED]

Great job， bro

 

[smokedareefer]

Defoliate side by side comparison small trees

It was suggested to me by a fourm member to do a side by side comparison. My system 13 gal rdwc , current culture Tangerine tonic a clementine gmo cross. I grew 4 of these out the last round and the day i flipped them to flower i cut clones from what i considered the best of the 4. Here she is...

www.thcfarmer.com

I am also of the opinion that it results in a more uniform finish for the whole plant.

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

Yes its true I too within the last year or so starting heavily defoliating and stripping near the flip. Amazing results. Surprising how tough cannabis can be. After thinking about it for a while it does make perfect sense. The whole goal is to expose as much of the bud sites to the light as possible. You don't want all those god dam water leaves blocking the light and shading your nugs. By stripping aggressively it allows the light to penetrate much further down in the canopy so all those side flowers running up the stalk can catch the light too. If you accompany this method with a good high powered efficient light like my Scorpion Diablo Board ... it works even better cuz powerful boards can punch the light rays deeper into the canopy. Like a fucking laser beam man blasting even the low and deep flowers. This cranks up your overall yield. Good show Dirtbag you definitely a great grower!

 

[Dirtbag]

Here they are Day 38, I know I still have a lot to learn (definitely overwatered early on)
I just wanted to thank you @Dirtbag for inspiring me!
View attachment 1138771

@harmonics, how did this grow turn out in the end?

 

[harmonics]

@harmonics, how did this grow turn out in the end?

The Crop was fantastic! I couldn’t be happier with the results, the Black Cherry Punch tested at 22% Total THC, very tasty

 

[harmonics]

@harmonics, how did this grow turn out in the end?

The Silver Kush tested out at 23% Total THC, record numbers for me (I’m still learning and growing, first run of these 2 strains though, very happy with how they came out!

 

[harmonics]

 

[harmonics]

I’m working on fine tuning my feeding for those strains for the next few crops. They're both looking like keepers. I definitely feel like following your steps and advice helped them massively, thank you so much!

Long term goals I have some Kosher Kush x Chemdog seeds that I need to slowly get into the rotation, very excited to see that strain in action; it won’t be until early next year though

 

[Dirtbag]

I’m working on fine tuning my feeding for those strains for the next few crops. They're both looking like keepers. I definitely feel like following your steps and advice helped them massively, thank you so much!

Long term goals I have some Kosher Kush x Chemdawg seeds that I need to slowly get into the rotation, very excited to see that strain in action; it won’t be until early next year though

It's great to see those results, did you notice that the lower buds were equally as ripe as the top ones? I sure noticed with my crop that all the buds are similar size and equally ripe. Awesome for large crops.

I was very surprised that the heavy defol did as well as it did to be completely honest.

 

[harmonics]

Yeah the buds did seem to be equally ripe, very consistent across each plant; almost no larfy soft buds until the very bottoms of the plants. I made a some mistakes last cycle though and should have trimmed up a bit higher and netted better, live and learn. Room to grow and improve though, very happy with the results.

I was really impressed by how well the heavy defol worked out, thank you for sharing your journey with everyone! I definitely wouldn’t have had the courage to take as much off the plants, I get very nervous each time that I’ll take too much and stress the plants. Your method worked perfectly though, I can’t thank you enough! Very, very much appreciated, best wishes!!

It's great to see those results, did you notice that the lower buds were equally as ripe as the top ones? I sure noticed with my crop that all the buds are similar size and equally ripe. Awesome for large crops.

I was very surprised that the heavy defol did as well as it did to be completely honest.

 

[Dirtbag]

My pleasure. Fwiw, despite the success of defoliating I'll still be going back to my lollipop strip at flip next grow. I think i just prefer having less ripe buds, but bigger buds overall. Miss the huge top colas lol.
For sure defoliating is the ticket for machine trimmed cash crops and LP's though.