Week 6 - Defoliate or not?

[Cannagar]

Damn. I lollipped. My plants are screwed

Lol man. Your plants look good! I do think they could have been even healthier if you hadnt though . But that doesnt change the fact that you clearly got a sizable harvest from your plants and must be a knowledgable grower!

All I’m saying is it is not something I would ever recommend to a new grower. Surely we can agree on that?

 

[Shaded_One]

Lol man. Your plants look good! I do think they could have been even healthier if you hadnt though . But that doesnt change the fact that you clearly got a sizable harvest from your plants and must be a knowledgable grower!

All I’m saying is it is not something I would ever recommend to a new grower. Surely we can agree on that?

Nope :)

Lollipopping is just a tool that any farmer/grower should have in their toolbelt, especially if they grow indoors. Your advice definitely holds true for outdoor plants but that's not to say that there isn't outdoor growers who don't benefit from some selective trimming/defoliation. I can provide you with some pictures in a few hours to kind of show you the importance of removing lower branches/bud sites to promote the growth in the right spots(the top colas). These are just a few reasons why some growers might want to lollipop:

-improve energy flow to more important bud sites
-remove the larf/popcorn buds
-increase airflow and reduce risk of mold/disease

You are correct that fan leaves are like solar panels & storage facilities for your plants and perhaps any LST or HST is best left to the more advanced growers but I think anyone with some recognizable intelligence can remove the lower 30% of branches and bud sites lol. But your plant will survive AND thrive with some skilled trimming

 

[Cannagar]

Nope :)

Lollipopping is just a tool that any farmer/grower should have in their toolbelt, especially if they grow indoors. Your advice definitely holds true for outdoor plants but that's not to say that there isn't outdoor growers who don't benefit from some selective trimming/defoliation. I can provide you with some pictures in a few hours to kind of show you the importance of removing lower branches/bud sites to promote the growth in the right spots(the top colas). These are just a few reasons why some growers might want to lollipop:

-improve energy flow to more important bud sites
-remove the larf/popcorn buds
-increase airflow and reduce risk of mold/disease

You are correct that fan leaves are like solar panels & storage facilities for your plants and perhaps any LST or HST is best left to the more advanced growers but I think anyone with some recognizable intelligence can remove the lower 30% of branches and bud sites lol. But your plant will survive AND thrive with some skilled trimming

Welp. Im always about improving my grow knowledge. So if im wrong im wrong. Id love to see the pictures your referring to.

 

[Shaded_One]

Welp. Im always about improving my grow knowledge. So if im wrong im wrong. Id love to see the pictures your referring to.

That's the most fun part of the game, constantly evolving and growing! Lights come on in a few hours and I will show ya. One of my closet plants didn't get trimmed nearly as neatly as the others so it's a good sample to use.

 

[SchwiftyGrower]

Just did my lower third removal today, A lot of larf removal that wasn’t getting any light and removed all the dead leaves. Bigger colas in the future :)

 

[Cannagar]

Just did my lower third removal today, A lot of larf removal that wasn’t getting any light and removed all the dead leaves. Bigger colas in the future :)

So I have never seen lolipoping that turned out well without a scrog net. Is that true in your experience?

 

[Anthem]

So I have never seen lolipoping that turned out well without a scrog net. Is that true in your experience?

Net or stakes it does not matter. The purpose is to help support the plants as the buds mature.

 

[2Bad]

I'm liking stakes ...first time using them this round

 

[Shaded_One]

I just started using the scrog nets but have always used lollipop indoors. Here's some examples of what/why you should remove lower branching and bud sites. Plants only have X amount of energy why not focus it on the most important spots?

Not trimmed as well, lots of larf:

Trimmed better, barely any larf:

SCROG nets & lollipop are typically used in combination due to the way that indoor lighting penetrates or spreads out. At a certain height horizontally there will be a sweet spot for PPFD levels. Every inch of grow space that a plant fills up underneath that "sweet" spot will get less and less par intensity as you go down the plant with traditional grow styles. The trellis nets help you maintain all of your tops/important growing bits in the "sweet spot" for par intensity.

 

[Cannagar]

I just started using the scrog nets but have always used lollipop indoors. Here's some examples of what/why you should remove lower branching and bud sites. Plants only have X amount of energy why not focus it on the most important spots?

Not trimmed as well, lots of larf:

View attachment 1314138

Trimmed better, barely any larf:

View attachment 1314139

View attachment 1314140

Now I want to do a competition to see which method gets a bigger harvest. Lol. using the same size pot I wonder which will yield a larger harvest. Lolipopped or not. lets get experimenting!

 

[Cannagar]

Net or stakes it does not matter. The purpose is to help support the plants as the buds mature.

Oh for sure. I meant more so for an even canopy since when you lollipop the canopy is even more crucial than it already is because its all you have.

 

[Shaded_One]

Now I want to do a competition to see which method gets a bigger harvest. Lol. using the same size pot I wonder which will yield a larger harvest. Lolipopped or not. lets get experimenting!

Not laughing to mock you, just laughing because it's kind of like coming across The Wheel before you knew it was invented, even though it's being used elsewhere and has been proven to be efficient/effective :p

Lollipopping is one of the more well known and established/tested methods for increasing yields would like to see your test results either way though

 

[Cannagar]

Not laughing to mock you, just laughing because it's kind of like coming across The Wheel before you knew it was invented, even though it's being used elsewhere and has been proven to be efficient/effective :p

Lollipopping is one of the more well known and established/tested methods for increasing yields

No worries! Like I said; im not upset to be wrong. In fact im glad to be. Learning new and better information can only help me and my future grows. But some things you just have to test for yourself because your hard headed Haha.

 

[Anthem]

I'm liking stakes ...first time using them this round

I try to always get new growers to use stakes. Stakes allow you to still get in and move plants around. Once I put up my netting moving plants around it not going to happen with 3 1/2" squares. With stakes it takes a little longer to take down plants but the ability to move plants around out weights the extra time. If you are using the tie material you find in the vegetable department at the supermarket, here is a tip. Always tie off in the same direction. Righty tight lefty loose. It makes things easier when you go to take down plants

 

[Cannagar]

I try to always get new growers to use stakes. Stakes allow you to still get in and move plants around. Once I put up my netting moving plants around it not going to happen with 3 1/2" squares. With stakes it takes a little longer to take down plants but the ability to move plants around out weights the extra time. If you are using the tie material you find in the vegetable department at the supermarket, here is a tip. Always tie off in the same direction. Righty tight lefty loose. It makes things easier when you go to take down plants

Im always nervous to use stakes because I dont want to damage any of the roots. Any advice on that?

 

[Shaded_One]

No worries! Like I said; im not upset to be wrong. In fact im glad to be. Learning new and better information can only help me and my future grows. But some things you just have to test for yourself because your hard headed Haha.

Haha absolutely and you've definitely got the right mindset in the way you approach the situation. We all started off in the same boat! Most of us learned from Jorge Cervantez and God forbid if you snipped off a leaf or cut a branch - you'd be headed for the Gallows. Times change and so do we as people. Ideas and methods grow and evolve. Knowledge expands.

We should all try new and different things for ourselves instead of relying on what people tell us or what we read or hear.

 

[2Bad]

Im always nervous to use stakes because I dont want to damage any of the roots. Any advice on that?

Fabric pots constantly air prune the roots. They are tough. I jabbed my stakes in from week 3 to now week 6 I just put more in yesterday and they havent skipped a beat.

 

[Anthem]

Im always nervous to use stakes because I dont want to damage any of the roots. Any advice on that?

It is not an issue. If you have health plants, I would just stick the stakes around the perimeter of the pot and I never had any issues. Sure it you stick one right down the middle of the pot it might cause a problem but the outer edges of the pot has never posed a problem for me. I want to say 14 or so stakes is about the most I have every had to use

 

[2Bad]

It is not an issue. If you have health plants, I would just stick the stakes around the perimeter of the pot and I never had any issues. Sure it you stick one right down the middle of the pot it might cause a problem but the outer edges of the pot has never posed a problem for me. I want to say 14 or so stakes is about the most I have every had to use

I've stuck them all over in the roots no issue and they are fat colas can't wait to post em

 

[BigBlonde]

I tend to think in terms of pruning. It's interesting how similar -- in principle -- pruning cannabis can be to other plants. Some of what I do when pruning my apple trees is very much like what I do when I prune my cannabis. Examples would be opening up the middle of the plant to increase air flow or shaping the plant for productivity or to fit the space available. There are many situational differences that require different pruning techniques, resulting in advice that can also vary. My thinking is that the most important pruning is when the plant is young. As the plant grows, pruning becomes a matter of shaping the plant for the best production of buds.