Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

[Ember1]

They still look great. This run I intentionally let mine get a little taller than usual as well. I usually kept them around 20"-24" tall, but most this run are around 3' or so. I have ceiling height restrictions, so light spread is not optimal, so I am defoliating heavily.

Plus I am still weeding out the bad genetics since I started fresh a couple grows ago. I have a new strain, new to me, a white diesel which I have never grown before. That baby has the most dense node spacing of any plants I have had to date. It is bushy and doesn't seem to be a stretcher.
We'll see how she turns out in about a month or so.

 

[Scrogerman]

Nice work there maddy!, looks like a skinny version of one of my ScrOG's(but V-Long). Nice n clean underneath the screen/support.

Look forward to more pics from you & you too ember.

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

deleted

 

[Brassman]

Okay first of all I have not read the entire thread but I have some suggestions about why this technique works...
In a natural envirement this tech would most likely reduce the yield, with natural I meen a plant outdoors with a root system going 8 feet down in the ground.
The reason I think this tech works is becouse when growing indoors root space is VERY limited, even in the 5 gallon pots! Ofcourse light is limited to but I dont think thats the issue...
In my theory its not the amount of light penetrating the defoliated plants that makes the difference, its the rootmass against the "green" mass thats make this tech work...

Now if Im right you should have the biggest benefits indoor in soil with limited rootspace. And in a 5 gallon DWC setup you would also have benefits but not as much as in soil in a pot.
With unlimited rootspace such as outdoors you would lose out on the yield.
Just a theory, what do you think??
Leafs are on the plant for a reason, we are just compensating for the unnatural envirement we are growing in...

 

[huntingbb]

Okay first of all I have not read the entire thread but I have some suggestions about why this technique works...
In a natural envirement this tech would most likely reduce the yield, with natural I meen a plant outdoors with a root system going 8 feet down in the ground.
The reason I think this tech works is becouse when growing indoors root space is VERY limited, even in the 5 gallon pots! Ofcourse light is limited to but I dont think thats the issue...
In my theory its not the amount of light penetrating the defoliated plants that makes the difference, its the rootmass against the "green" mass thats make this tech work...

Now if Im right you should have the biggest benefits indoor in soil with limited rootspace. And in a 5 gallon DWC setup you would also have benefits but not as much as in soil in a pot.
With unlimited rootspace such as outdoors you would lose out on the yield.
Just a theory, what do you think??
Leafs are on the plant for a reason, we are just compensating for the unnatural envirement we are growing in...

combine that with the idea that thicker stalks and branches bring thicker nugs, then build in veg time to your cycle to make up for the extra time, and i think you might have something...
​

 

[CatManDoo]

When to stop trimming?

When to stop trimming?

I've only got a few grows under me so far and am VERY new to the Defoliation tech...
I have only a closet space to work with and am limited to a 8 bulb flouro with topped, LST, defoliation combo. I hope I'm not stressing out these fem clones too much...
Anyway, at what point should I stop trimming off the little popcorn branches down below? After stretch stops? Should I no longer pull off the any new new-lower branching but continue to pull out the large fan leaves? After reading this entire thread (ya right) I can't figure out at what point in the cycle am I just sacrificing yield.
Much thanks
Cat

 

[daheadies]

pull off all branches not getting light/ not producing full buds all the way until stretch stops.. So remove larfy branches for 3 possibly beginning of 4 weeks into flower, but make sure you start trimming up as soon as you flip into flower.. Every extra day w/ branches existing that arnt getting light is wasted energy for the plant that could be putting that energy into making your more top buds.

As far as pulling off the fans after flipping into flower, I only pluck them if they are touching other leaves, thus crowding other leaves...

I dont blame you for not reading through this entire thread, I have not either, almost 2800 posts and almost a quarter of a million views. Freakin crazy! Someone who's been following this thread from the beginning should make a new thread and just say the main conclusions that have been found throughout this thread

 

[CatManDoo]

Thanks daheadies,That was very helpful, so...I think from what your saying, if I can get light to the little baby branches down inside from defoliating some upper leaves, then I should just remove the leaves and let the branches be? Remember, I only have t5 so light traveled is even more limited...Or are those little inside branches just a waste of energy for the plant and I should just get rid of them?
I guess my desire here-as opposed to last grow-is to end up with more cola and less popcorn but at least the same-if not more- yield.

Thanks

 

[daheadies]

I see how you interpreted what I said like you did, but no thats not what I mean.. DO get rid of the branches to the bottom if light is not getting to them.. Heres a BOG sweet cindy that I defoliated the entire time in veg , and I mean got rid of ALL The fan leaves in veg(stopped defoliation 2 weeks before flower), then in flower let some new fans grow out, and only if they are touching other leaves do I remove them.. I need to take some good side shots of my plants so you can see how this really works.. You should know, I do SOG w/ big plants. If you were doing SCROG then obviously you wouldnt have to remove as much bottom stuff..

You can see how I trimmed up everything but what gets the light. I truly believe that for pretty much every strain this is how a good grower should do their shit. It will maximize the most heady top buds and forget the larf.
And again, the sooner you trim up the better, it will immediately stop the plants focus on the bottom part and maximize its focus and energy into the top parts that get light and will fully develop. I guarantee that if you do this well and from the beginning of flower, and keep doing it through stretch, that all the buds will be bigger on top. This is the same way the defoliating in general makes the plant focus on buds instead of leaves. So when you do both together, its the best possible outcome IMO (depending on strain, some strains require less defoliation than others) .. Ive done side by side comparison w/ trimming up and not trimming up and the difference is rediculous.. And when I said earlier "do this well" I mean trim up all the way till the buds and leaves are getting light. Dont leave stuff in the dark, even if your canopy winds up looking crazy. Its worth it!

 

[TruthOrLie]

are you joking or being serious? the _only_ buds left are the one up tops.

i honestly so look forward to lower trim to make hash and weed milk, the cream of the crop right there.

you defoliators are TRIPPING

 

[daheadies]

very serious.. I have done side by side comparison, of multiple strains.. and of each strain there were multiple plants, grown side by side, some defoliated and trimmed up, the others left almost natural (trimmed up just a little) the difference was astounding... and what the people in this thread are going for is maximizing bud production, and letting the larf and leaf go.. sacrifice to some like yourself. For others, Its the difference between yielding extra ounces on each plant of dank dense top nugget

Like I said earlier, I put my plants pretty close to eachother, so the sides and bottom dont get that much light.. regardless, the bottom, if not getting light, should be defoliated. bottom nugget is good for hash and all, but I think most people are going for dense dank nug production.. You can always still use just bud trim and little buds for hash and whatever you like..

 

[CatManDoo]

cool thanks! Guess I got some trimming to do.

 

[daheadies]

Ill take TONS of pictures by tomorrow.. I grow my plants big, defoliate 2/3-3/4 of fans during veg from as soon as they are past 7 inches tall, then in flower, when my plants are closer to each other cause they grow so much, I trim them up/ get rid of everything (branches and leaves and bud sights) that isnt seeing light, I continue doing this till stretch is done. From then on I only pay attention to fan leaves that are touching other leaves. If those fan leaves are touching other leaves, pluck them. As long as you start defoliation in veg (because it is a stunting process) the plant will react properly, and quickly start concentrating on producing more bud. If you havnt defoliated in veg, STILL trim up on your bottom branches/leaves/budsights until stuff is getting light. THE DIFFERENCE ON QUALITY NUG PRODUCTION AND OVERALL YIELD IS almost 2x I sware. You wind up with much less trimming to do, really no larf, and huge quality top buds. And since larf isnt sellable, your quality product yield is 2x.

Sooo.. i gotta say.... This trimming up thing again is for if your plants are bigger than a foot tall..

I grow 2 styles cause I like them both.. I grow huge plants & defoliate and trim up.. and then I also just grow plants about a foot, defoliate 1/2 fan leaves in veg, then put into flower.. I still wind up trimming up like 6 inches during veg doing this style.. I gotta trim up like 1-3 feet on my bigger plants depending on if its a indi or sat..

Another thing.. When you trim up, especially initially when buds have not started producing, it looks weird and your like wtf im not going to get anything off this.. But then , as w/ defoliation tech, it makes all focus go on top buds and top buds winds up being huge

Heres 1 pic of a nug (next to my hand) on a plant that was trimmed up.. The plants that were not trimmed up wound up having nugs maybe 1/3rd the size... The one not trimmed up had tons of larf/ not dense bud that was hardly sellable, and lots had to me made into hash.. This pic is when trimmed up, and all nugs wind up huge and quality top buds, no larf.
(I vegged this for like 12weeks and trimmed up like 3 feet)

 

[Cheeb]

I'm not really going to consider this the defoliation done as some of you describe, but I have had really good success doing heavy stripping all the way up to the very top bud site. I remove EVERYTHING, not just leaves which is the opposite of what this thread suggests.

I'm talking drastic where it seems very counter productive to be taking off all of the stuff we worked hard to grow for 2-4 weeks, but the results speak for themselves.

Its not popular but we let the plant grow naturally (aside from the tie down) until week 2 of flower and then stripped like shown below.

From This

To This

upskirt

May be strain permitting, but this is no sea of green. Just 24 ladies that we went wild with the scissors on.

Fuck lower hash making larf - the objective is SoQuick style colas.

 

[Greyskull]

^^^^^yep
and yep

defol for the win!

 

[ninjasmoke]

thats 24?! how much did you get? they look great! wthh.. i just had a dissapointing last grow.. say.. how long did you veg those? and you say 2 weeks before flipping to flower you stripped them like that? i want to do whatever possible to get a huge yield

 

[one Q]

This thread keeps getting better and better.

 

[daheadies]

Heres some example flower photo shots of 40 days into flower. All are reacting perfectly, as they have in the past. I really think this method works best for pretty much any strain.. Heavy sativa plants with leaves that dont overlap and cause as much shading dont really need quite as much defoliation as the others, IMO.
So again, what I do-
Defoliate 2/3rd's of fans in veg after 7 or 8 inches tall. Continued doing this until 2 weeks prior to flipping into flower. Once in flower, I trimmed up, starting the day I flipped, and went until they stopped stretching. From then on. I was done trimming up, and I only plucked further fan leaves if they are touching other leaves.


BOG Sweet Cindy2

BOG Sweet Cindy1

BOG Blue Moon Rocks

Dutchgrown Secret Recipe

Connoisseur Chem Jones

 

[notismonster]

try on veg plants you will see a big difference in internode production. then get all thoses buds in even light. i know it will work i alredy see amazing results in veg plants. i was living out of california for a long time so i did not grow but i'm back now. going to start 12/12 soon. one strain i did notice did not respond well was cheese from a cali med club. just cheese not uk cheese blue cheese ect. just plain cheese, i would love any info on this cheese strain because i am alredy thinging of scraping the strain from my collection.

another thing i noticed on outdoor plants the ones that where shaded from tree's on one side where 1/2 as small as budsites geting more sun at that point i new this was legit. All you haters get the hell out of here let us post obout our deleaf techniques and tips for max big budz.

 

[notismonster]

just too get this out of the way I'm not a new grower i grew 1lb outdoor plants when medical MJ was just starting up. outdoor or indoor more light to the bud site = bigger buds just need perfect for your style. I'm will try some outdoor leaf timing this year i think if done in the right way it would make more bigger budz or not more weight outdoors but i just like to smoke the fattys anyway.

keep testing and pushing the limits people i can't get enough i would have fell over dead years ago at some of the thing I'm doing now. "the world is flat" he sure was smart Hun.