What happens when you stress a plant?

[the123321]

I have 2 autoflower plants on day 60 that I did a very heavy defoliation on a little over a week ago and the plant looks like it has stopped growing. I know that many people do not defoliate autos but the 2 plants were very bushy and I wanted to improve the air flow in the plants as I did not want mold problems on there. The next grow I plan to defoliate only a few leaves at a time and wait a few days between each time I do it. They are only like 1 - 1.5 feet tall at 60 days though I did very heavy lst on there. The plants have also had deficiencies on there.

Does the stress on the plants make them take longer until it is ready to harvest or does it still take around the same amount of time and just yield less on there?

 

[Jimster]

The leaves are the power source for your growing plants. When you remove too many, the plant has no choice but to stop growing or to use any stored nutrients to keep going. If you do this during vegging, the leaves can grow back somewhat, but if you do it during flowering, you are faced with smaller or fewer buds. I have seen some folks defoliate a plant and still have a decent outcome, but it isn't something that works for everyone. I generally remove only the leaves that are blocking flowering sites that they are shading. Next season, defoliate one plant like you did and compare it to a similar plant that is gently defoliated.

 

[the123321]

Thanks. The tent is small and I defoliate to be able to have the number of plants I want in the tent and keep good air flow. I think the main problem this time was that this was my first grow and I did not think to start defoliating much until flowering. I plan to start earlier on the next plant and do only a few leaves at a time. I heavily lst the plants to keep the plants from getting very tall in the tent that is only like 5.5 feet tall. With that the plants are very bushy and defoliating makes it easier to manage the plant in the small tent. Does plant stress make the plant take longer before harvest or is it usually ready for harvest around the same time but yield less on there?