To Defoliate Or Not? That Is The Question

[Hchaz]

I’m hitting wk 4 of flower. I hear basically a 50/50 split on trimming leaves off. I’m leaning towards the side that leaving leaves will allow buds to get light to grow bigger....thoughts? Hydro with leds

 

[Monster762]

Personally any bigger leaves I thin out. I leave the leaves at the buds. Sometimes pluck one off of a side to let another site get lit up. Im trying to move em around early to avoid having to defoliate a lot. I keep moving branches aside n tying still. Letting everything get lit up. Sometimes leaves get in the way. Most older and lower stuff gets trimmed out early too. If I can’t get light to it it ain’t gonna be much. And they say trimming it out early directs everything to building your colas. Just don’t overstress them keep em happy.

 

[Hchaz]

I’ve been trimming the leaves but slowed down a lot when I started flowering. I’ve read the 4-5 wks into flower is the ideal time to do a heavy trim. Both of the above suggestions sound right. Thanks!

 

[GT21]

Tuck dont trim.

 

[OldManRiver]

Those leaves are the solar panels that power growth. The plant will kill them herself when she's done with them. But don't listen to me, listen to the man himself...

 

[Monster762]

Really.

Yeah it does work good. I tuck or reposition tops as much as possible before pulling leaves but usually some leaves got to go to get all the budsites exposed to direct lighting.

 

[Hchaz]

it’s bushy in there and the buds are growing down low. Bushy is good, this is my healthiest grow so far and I’m running nutrients high. The stars aligned this time.
I look at flower as a fine wine, I let my crystals get a nice deep amber for that full body encompasment.
Quality over quantity, as I can go out and by pot all day long here in SoCal.

You guys with years of going under your belt, thanks for sharing!!

 

[Hchaz]

it’s bushy in there and the buds are growing down low. Bushy is good, this is my healthiest grow so far and I’m running nutrients high. The stars aligned this time.
I look at flower as a fine wine, I let my crystals get a nice deep amber for that full body encompasment.
Quality over quantity, as I can go out and by pot all day long here in SoCal.

You guys with years of going under your belt, thanks for sharing!!

Growing, no going

 

[GT21]

Really.

Ya... I have a stick that works great..just shove the leaves under the bud site youre trying to uncover.... The stuff that gets removed is the bottom 1/3 or bottom three branches..after 10 nodes... Im just about ready to start tucking myself.

 

[Buzzer777]

I leave them on until the final few days (I take the dead ones)..
This is a Pineapple Express2 about 3-4 days from harvest..
Colas would dwarf a Bic, so check this out:)
Sorry..she is under a Burple (hate it, but it adds to my other QBs and Nextlight Mini)

 

[The OD710]

I strip all.leaves to the 1st or second node..some strains preform better stripped to the first and some to the second. And you plant must be extremely healthy before you defoliate to that degree.

 

[OldManRiver]

I strip all.leaves to the 1st or second node..some strains preform better stripped to the first and some to the second. And you plant must be extremely healthy before you defoliate to that degree.

THat's nice, but how about some evidence that this is actually useful? I'm not a believer.

 

[The OD710]

It's one of the main methods in the "three a light" book. The jungleboys also use that cultivation technique. You can check out @thr33alight Instagram and scroll through the pics and see it for yourself. I did not beleive in it either but man I do now.

 

[GreenDumb]

I believe in stripping the big fan leaves that cover the lower bud sides. Leave the leaves that are coming out of the buds and the ones not blocking light to anything.

You're growing with LEDs, while powerful, they lack penetration. You want the light to hit as many bud sites as possible. We're growing buds here, not leaves.

As for the 'Three a Light' book, forget that schwazze crap and don't ever strip that much. You should also have already stripped the bottom third of the plant since it's not getting light.

I prefer to strip a few days before flowering, after the stretch and one last time around week 5. I grow medium/large scale medical indoors and have been for the last 10ish years.

 

[WhtChocolate]

I’m a fan of photosynthesis which fan leaves promote the most.

 

[Necromancer]

I definitely in veg to slow down the plants growth if I'm not ready to go in flower because of reversal or if I need other plants to catch up.From my experience of doing this in flower it slows down bud growth. Personally I would tuck them if I was you.

 

[Okdogg]

Im experimenting with heavy defoliation myself. Here's a pic at day 18 before defoliation. Then I defoliate at day 19. Video is 4 days later day 23.

 

[Wrathoftejus]

I let my fiance defoil plants like this. I wont go that hard on them myself, but the next day im always surprised and happy with results