Would you defoliate your auto plants for it?

[the123321]

I am new to growing. I am looking at the 32x32 tent with the 240w kingbrite quantum board with the ac infinity 6" fan with filter with 3-4 auto plants in coco coir in 3 gallon fabric pots for the perpetual harvest to plant every few weeks to where you could harvest 1-2 plants every few weeks for it. Then you would only have 1-2 plants that are large in the tent at one time on there for it.

Do you defoliate your autos? The 32x32 tent is not very large and it looks like if you trim extra leaves it may make it neater and give more room in the tent for the buds to get the light on there for it. It looks like some people like to defoliate their autos and some do not. I think I would like to defoliate but I do not want to stunt the plant growth. I am looking at doing lst on the plants on there for it.

Would you defoliate your autos for it? What tips do you have for training to make extra room in the tent on there for it?

 

[damien50]

I am new to growing. I am looking at the 32x32 tent with the 240w kingbrite quantum board with the ac infinity 6" fan with filter with 3-4 auto plants in coco coir in 3 gallon fabric pots for the perpetual harvest to plant every few weeks to where you could harvest 1-2 plants every few weeks for it. Then you would only have 1-2 plants that are large in the tent at one time on there for it.

Do you defoliate your autos? The 32x32 tent is not very large and it looks like if you trim extra leaves it may make it neater and give more room in the tent for the buds to get the light on there for it. It looks like some people like to defoliate their autos and some do not. I think I would like to defoliate but I do not want to stunt the plant growth. I am looking at doing lst on the plants on there for it.

Would you defoliate your autos for it? What tips do you have for training to make extra room in the tent on there for it?

6 in fan is too much for that tent get the 4 inch

How do you plan to irrigate the coco? It does best with multiple feedings a day.

I would stick to LST for your first time. A lot of people pull so many leaves while having a poor environment and or nutrition to their plants that they look burned or riddled with issues.

I don't defoliate anything but I would LST and even super crop for shape if I was going to pack autos in there. You might have to prune some of your plants get out of hand otherwise you could be creating micro climates for pathogens and mold.

 

[the123321]

Thanks. The 6" fan is only like $20 more than the 4" fan and I may want the extra power of the 6" fan as I may put a drying box outside the tent with the duct from the top of the drying box to the intake on the tent to pull air from the drying box into the tent for the filter to do odor work on it. I have read that you can run the 6" fan on a lower power level which also makes less noise which is one more reason I would rather do that. I also read that the 6" fan with filter is better for odor control than the 4" filter and I want really good odor control in the tent for it. I am looking at the blumats watering system for the plants though I may hand water due to the perpetual harvest I may need more than one reservoir if I do auto watering for it. I like the look of plants that have the leaves trimmed though I did not know if that worked well with the autos for it. I want the extra room in the tent and if it would not hurt the plants I would likely want to trim the plants as much as you can to make more room in the tent for it.

 

[damien50]

Thanks. The 6" fan is only like $20 more than the 4" fan and I may want the extra power of the 6" fan as I may put a drying box outside the tent with the duct from the top of the drying box to the intake on the tent to pull air from the drying box into the tent for the filter to do odor work on it. I have read that you can run the 6" fan on a lower power level which also makes less noise which is one more reason I would rather do that. I also read that the 6" fan with filter is better for odor control than the 4" filter and I want really good odor control in the tent for it. I am looking at the blumats watering system for the plants though I may hand water due to the perpetual harvest I may need more than one reservoir if I do auto watering for it. I like the look of plants that have the leaves trimmed though I did not know if that worked well with the autos for it. I want the extra room in the tent and if it would not hurt the plants I would likely want to trim the plants as much as you can to make more room in the tent for it.

Defoliation isn't for beauty but supposedly yields and airflow. The leaves are the vascular system of the plane transporting water and nutrients to plant while photosynthesis occurs creating sugars that go to the microbes and fungi at the roots. Trim them if you want.

You'd probably be better off letting them grow naturally maybe with a top here and there, that be less leaf development strain dependent, cause the tent is small. Maybe even consider 1 gallon pots with the blumats.

 

[the123321]

Thanks. I listened to the coco for cannabis podcast and it looks like he recommended to defoliate very little and only lightly lollipop the plants for it. I think I may try that on there for it.

 

[damien50]

Thanks. I listened to the coco for cannabis podcast and it looks like he recommended to defoliate very little and only lightly lollipop the plants for it. I think I may try that on there for it.

Well hello from over at AFN lol. Everyone over there is going to tell you to defoliwte for x reason with no evidence besides anecdotal.

A good healthy plant has high brix - sugar content - that wards off pest, pathogens, and mold. Not every beginner will get it all right on the first try so leaving those leaves is a buffer for your mistakes. Reading the leaves let's you know what type of stress or nutrient issues are occurring.

Plus there is the transmittance effect that nullifies light issues commonly cited as to why you should defoliate.

 

[Jimster]

The leaves are the energy supplies for the plant. Any time you remove some of them, you remove a little energy. There is a trde off between bud sites and leaves. I remove only the leaves, or part of the leaves, that shadows a bud site underneath it, as buds generally need direct light to grow well. If the plant is rotated every other day, or daily, then the need for partial defoliation is minimized. Indoors it's much harder to get the light penetration that you get outside since the sun moves.LST training will help to minimize your need for removing leaves as well. Everyone has their own way of growing, but after growing for nearly 40 years, I try to leave as much leaf on as possible.

 

[the123321]

Thanks for the information. I am reading on a few of the forums and youtube. I think that I may defoliate very little and instead only move the leaves out of the way in the tent and I may try rotating the plants each day. Do you do like 1/4 turn every day or what? What do you think about remove leaves and stems from the lower plant that is below the canopy level of the plants. The ones that would not have light to it?

 

[BigCube]

I would suggest not using autos.
And a bit more light than that would be nice. But 240w would do.

Any reason you want to use auto?

 

[the123321]

Thanks. I am looking at the perpetual harvest in 1 tent. I also think not having to worry about light leaks is nice and also the tent is only a little over 5 feet tall and I read that autos often do not get very tall with training on there. That is interesting that you said that I may need more light. From what I have read the 240 250w kingbrite quantum board is perfect for the 32x32 tent on there.

 

[Edinburgh]

All i grow is autoflowers, advice run 1 strain at a time, some plants will be bigger and the smaller ones will suffer for it, i do a run of 4 plants of same strain, i have a bloom booster in my closet so when it's time to flower the first batch i take them out of tent and flower them in closet, then i start another grow, by the time the first batch is done, the next batch is ready to flower, and i start 4 more, i have been doing it this way for years and pretty much allways have weed. Mixing strains of autos causes trouble, just a bit of advice.

 

[the123321]

Thanks. That does look like 1 way to make it easier to keep the plants to 1 level in the tent on there.

 

[BigCube]

Thanks. I am looking at the perpetual harvest in 1 tent. I also think not having to worry about light leaks is nice and also the tent is only a little over 5 feet tall and I read that autos often do not get very tall with training on there. That is interesting that you said that I may need more light. From what I have read the 240 250w kingbrite quantum board is perfect for the 32x32 tent on there.

I wouldn't say perfect, but it would be good. I ha e a 36x36 tent and I run 2 x kingbrite 240w and extra red

The math is almost perfect if you dont take a couple things in to account.
The common formula is a minimum of 35w per sq foot. If you do the math it works out to about 250w in a 32x32. But I consider 35w per sq ft absolute minimum. Most of us are up around 50w + per square foot. Having the ability to dim your light down also helps with efficiency and lifetime of your LEDs.

Just my opinion, by no means is your light inadequate. I'm just saying, I would want more and you may too.

 

[the123321]

Thanks. Do you think that putting a few cfls in would help the plants in the tent on there?

 

[BigCube]

Yeah specially if you can get the in the corners of the tent as side lighting.

Maybe check these out too. It's a quick way to add more red and or blue as well.

HIGROW 36W All Deep Red 660nm LED Grow Light Bulb for Indoor Plants Flowering Bloom and Fruiting, Grow Spectrum Enhancement and Light Therapy

 

[Edinburgh]

Oh sorry yea i have allot of experience with autoflowers got off track, yea some autoflowers take pruneing just fine others do not like it, just ran a run of critical, plants were stacking up on themselves and growing out not up, so i pruned off 2 sets of fans then the f rs streched lol, this strain had no problem with pruneing and the end result was good see pics, before that i ran toof decay an easy strain to grow but does not like pruneing so i basically left her alone, you can tell if a plant can take pruneing by pruneing off a few leaves if it does not hold the plant up much and the leaf stems dry quickly and fall off your good, if it slows up your plant and the stems do not dry out it wont like it, first 2 pics critical witch i pruned extensively last pic toof decay witch i did not prune and left alone. Some like it or rather dont mind it some do.

 

[the123321]

Thanks. The kingbrite quantum board has 660nm red cree on it. I may try a grow with only that 1 quantum board in the tent then if it looks like I need more I may look into doing more in the tent. The images look like nice plants. I think I may try mostly only moving leaves and lightly lollipop plants for the first grow the may try different in the future if I want to on there.