Help, autos too bushy can i defoliate

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Stevenh82

Stevenh82

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I've got 3 auto ultimate which I was told to either top or fim at week 3, they are week 6 but really really bushy and in preflower. Can I defoliate some leaves or will it stunt them.
 
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Help autos too bushy can i defoliate 2
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JSH1973

JSH1973

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If there's room for them in the tent without compromising airflow then I would just leave them alone, as space is needed then I would go for biggest oldest fan leaves first and work my way down to where I'm happy with airflow again, as yo go along it obviously also helps the light penetration.
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

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Yeah I'm kinda tight for space till my other autos finish flowering, I suppose I'll need to take a few off. Thanks
 
Like2Grow

Like2Grow

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I've got 3 auto ultimate which I was told to either top or fim at week 3, they are week 6 but really really bushy and in preflower. Can I defoliate some leaves or will it stunt them.

I'd take some of the center leaves off first to get better airflow and light to the center. Take what you feel comfortable with and not all at once. Plants tend to mind gentle changes best.

The plants look very healthy and keeping them that way is a priority.
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

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I'd take some of the center leaves off first to get better airflow and light to the center. Take what you feel comfortable with and not all at once. Plants tend to mind gentle changes best.

The plants look very healthy and keeping them that way is a priority.
OK mate, thanks for the input. I've not touched them as yet I'm scared too lol but getting pushed towards cutting 5 or so a day. Is that too much.
 
Like2Grow

Like2Grow

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OK mate, thanks for the input. I've not touched them as yet I'm scared too lol but getting pushed towards cutting 5 or so a day. Is that too much.

If you're not comfortable with 5 leaves pinch 3 off every second day. Clear out the center so light and air can get in and lower leaves after that. There is no perfect answer but it will be a good thing to let more light/ air in.

I've taken a total of about 5 leaves off this plant so far. The hole in the center is a good thing for air flow and light getting to bud sites. This plant is about a month old.

DSC00403


If you had the room you could tie a couple branches down (blue yarn tied around a branch and masking tape on the side of the pot used on the other end) and really open things up. This was just done but it won't take long and the plant will move those leaves up to catch the light. Lots of light and air now.

DSC00405
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

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If you're not comfortable with 5 leaves pinch 3 off every second day. Clear out the center so light and air can get in and lower leaves after that. There is no perfect answer but it will be a good thing to let more light/ air in.

I've taken a total of about 5 leaves off this plant so far. The hole in the center is a good thing for air flow and light getting to bud sites. This plant is about a month old.

View attachment 1108254

If you had the room you could tie a couple branches down (blue yarn tied around a branch and masking tape on the side of the pot used on the other end) and really open things up. This was just done but it won't take long and the plant will move those leaves up to catch the light. Lots of light and air now.

View attachment 1108261
Thats perfect mate, thats what I will do. Cheers. Nice plant btw
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

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Thats perfect mate, thats what I will do. Cheers. Nice plant btw

See the tiny thin stems that are growing in the middle coming off the main stems of the plant is it ok to cut them off aswell or just the leaves as Theirs hundreds of them.
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

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18
If you're not comfortable with 5 leaves pinch 3 off every second day. Clear out the center so light and air can get in and lower leaves after that. There is no perfect answer but it will be a good thing to let more light/ air in.

I've taken a total of about 5 leaves off this plant so far. The hole in the center is a good thing for air flow and light getting to bud sites. This plant is about a month old.

View attachment 1108254

If you had the room you could tie a couple branches down (blue yarn tied around a branch and masking tape on the side of the pot used on the other end) and really open things up. This was just done but it won't take long and the plant will move those leaves up to catch the light. Lots of light and air now.

View attachment 1108261
See the tiny thin stems that are growing in the middle coming off the main stems of the plant is it ok to cut them off aswell or just the leaves as Theirs hundreds of them.
 
Like2Grow

Like2Grow

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See the tiny thin stems that are growing in the middle coming off the main stems of the plant is it ok to cut them off aswell or just the leaves as Theirs hundreds of them.

Many people clean off the bottom part of the plant leaves. I don't "cut". I pinch them off using a thumb nail. The down side is your hand smells after trimming :-).
 
Domon8n30

Domon8n30

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I don't know buddy all I grow is autos and I don't do much defoliation on my autos until they're already in flower for a while, they're very temperamental and have a high risk of hermaphrodising if there's too much stress early on in veg. So unless it's completely necessary I wouldn't remove anything, I do a lot of low stress training... If you'd like you can check out some of my Autos on my profile.
 
thcoso

thcoso

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I've got 3 auto ultimate which I was told to either top or fim at week 3, they are week 6 but really really bushy and in preflower. Can I defoliate some leaves or will it stunt them.
As long as they are not with in 14 days of flower, of course you may. But try to not do it right before time to flower. However, only take the fan leaves; because, if you remove tops, it only makes them more bushy in the end (Google low stress training LST). I've done both types of foliage removal tons of times on these 8 ladies, and 2 weeks later you cant tell except for the fact they grow back more bushy. I did a huge removal of both leaves and cuttings for cloning less than 3 weeks ago. I removed no less than 54 cuttings and enough fan leaves for it to look like botanical homicide from these 8 ladies And as you can tell, it's now impossible to determine it from this photo taken 2 days ago. Warning, dont end up like me, I've LST'd them to the point my canopy is now too thick for the 5x5 tent, causing the bottom parts of the plant to receive little light and I'm using 2 lights (marshydro TS3000 and SP150). As long as they are in veg, you can pretty much take almost all the leaves, within a couple of weeks, she will recover (assuming the roots are strong and not rotted and the nutes/pH is good). For reference, these ladies were planted on 1/3 and I flipped them to flower 17 days ago.
TempImageh0hVzB
 
LexLuthor

LexLuthor

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As long as they are in veg, you can pretty much take almost all the leaves, within a couple of weeks, she will recover (assuming the roots are strong and not rotted and the nutes/pH is good). For reference, these ladies were planted on 1/3 and I flipped them to flower 17 days ago.


I wouldn't advise to defoliate most of the leaves. Like you said they grow back, so all its doing is slowing progress, they just end up where they were before you defoliated a couple weeks later.

Horticulture studies have shown to remove less than 25% of total leave mass at 1 time. I keep it around 10%.

This is especially true for autos, because you don't have the luxury of extending the vegetative phase as long as you want. They will automatically flower and if a large portion of the leaves get removed they won't have time to recover.

Whenever someone gets advice from random people online, please double or triple check multiple opinions before making a decision.
 
lvstealth

lvstealth

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they are autos, i have read a lot, and many say NO. they seem to tend to hermie if they get upset. temperamental things! but, i dont know a thing! it is my first grow, and i chose autos. i decided not to do anything this first time, see if i can just get to harvest the best i can. i figure after a run or three i will expand. but for now just learning how to water and when/how to alter the environment and accumulating the things along the way to make it go better is a big enough chore. i am afraid if i do everything all at once, i wont know what i did wrong/right because i did too many things.
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

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18
On that note I'll just try n tuck leaves away, I took 3 off each plant earlier. Thanks for all the opinions I'm just going to leave them be. Thanks all.
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

72
18
I don't know buddy all I grow is autos and I don't do much defoliation on my autos until they're already in flower for a while, they're very temperamental and have a high risk of hermaphrodising if there's too much stress early on in veg. So unless it's completely necessary I wouldn't remove anything, I do a lot of low stress training... If you'd like you can check out some of my Autos on my profile.
I'll have a look, thanks.
 
thcoso

thcoso

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63
If you're not comfortable with 5 leaves pinch 3 off every second day. Clear out the center so light and air can get in and lower leaves after that. There is no perfect answer but it will be a good thing to let more light/ air in.

I've taken a total of about 5 leaves off this plant so far. The hole in the center is a good thing for air flow and light getting to bud sites. This plant is about a month old.

View attachment 1108254

If you had the room you could tie a couple branches down (blue yarn tied around a branch and masking tape on the side of the pot used on the other end) and really open things up. This was just done but it won't take long and the plant will move those leaves up to catch the light. Lots of light and air now.

View attachment 1108261
I'm a user of pipe cleaners to lst as well--works great.
 
Stevenh82

Stevenh82

72
18
I'm a user of pipe cleaners to lst as well--works great.

I use those too but with these 3 I decided to use 6 inch u pegs and bend them straight and do a small u on the top just because I'm really tight for space. Saves me trying to get round the back of them to tie them down im not that flexible lol. Thanks.
 
thcoso

thcoso

237
63
I wouldn't advise to defoliate most of the leaves. Like you said they grow back, so all its doing is slowing progress, they just end up where they were before you defoliated a couple weeks later.

Horticulture studies have shown to remove less than 25% of total leave mass at 1 time. I keep it around 10%.

This is especially true for autos, because you don't have the luxury of extending the vegetative phase as long as you want. They will automatically flower and if a large portion of the leaves get removed they won't have time to recover.

Whenever someone gets advice from random people online, please double or triple check multiple opinions before making a decision.


You're totally correct. I was just making an extreme argument. Basically, I'm saying, it most likely wont kill the lady to take a shit-ton of leaves during veg; with time, it will most likely recover with little long-lasting negative problems. I should have been more clear; thanks for pointing that out.
 
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