Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

[med4u]

^^^ in 12/12 wait till the budsites are at least an inch or so big, then you can take off it's accompanying fan leaf

it is good to not go willy nilly taking them all of, but if they are blocking budsites or potential good budsites then it would be best to remove the fan leaves blocking these in 12/12

just don't go too hard mode with it imho, it can screw your yield up if you go nuts plucking the crap out of the poor plant

true that smoke,a little at a time for the first couple of weeks in 12/12, try cutting just 1/2 to 1/3 of the leaf at a time up to 4 wks,seems to plump the buds up comparatively,gets those auxins and hormone juices flowin to the injured sites,much in the same way super cropping works,haha this could be grounds for lynching on some sites,oh and those lower popcorn buds that pop out are perfect for seeding good luck

 

[Sacra Frasca]

Hi growers,
Great job "k33ftr33z", this is my version of Defoliation and I will try this technique for the first time. I hope it will work. I'll be glad if you share any advice or recommendations with me.
Thanks a lot.

 

[grassott]

^ man you got some guts raping the plant like that. hope it works for you. I'm considering the leaf removal skills myself after reading the first 20+pages of this thread today for the first time. this one's a white rhino 4 and a half weeks into flower at the moment. Not sure if I'll start plucking on her, but next run (girls now in veg as we speak) is gonna surely get some leaf plucking and build it up-ish, if you know what I mean.

 

[grassott]

...If you are lollipopping in veg you are dedicating too much time to veg. Defoliating yes, lollipopping no.

Why not do both? I lollipop to make watering easier. I'm still in the middle of dialling it in, but a lollipop on a short stem along with fan leaf removal, you get the best of both worlds I reckon. No???

PS. That veg pic above, I just removed them dumb fan leaves from all the vegging girls and already I see the plants looking happier. Serious! Glad I came across this thread.

 

[grassott]

....I would much rather invest in some side-lighting or vertical lighting between my plants to increase my yields, rather than removing fan leaves to allow the light from above to reach the bottoms....

If I had to choose between spending money to increase yield, or chop off some dumb fan leaves, I'd choose the latter.

This one sentence out of your lengthy post indicates to me that you work in a hydro store, perhaps? If so I regard it as spam.

 

[FRIENDinDEED]

Hi guys!

I just started my 2nd grow when i found this great thread.

I have 7 mango haze under a 600w lamp, going directly in to 12/12, today is day 7.

Is this Technique recommended when going directly in to 12/12 with no veg time? If so, when and how much?

Read a lot in this thread but dident find so much info on 12/12.

I like this idea, but am i little scared as well

First ever post aswell.

Cheers JustInSane

the first thng i do b4 12/12 is take all the fan leaves off of the main stem. as the bud sites start to stretch then i start my bending.

i normally bend the side branch a 1/4" above/past a bud site on the branch, that way the bud site at the site besides the ones below it will get a greater amount of light,

once you take those leaves off the rest of the plant will pick up the slack, and where is the rest of the plant? the bud sites!

i would think that a plant going straight into 12/12 woudl be perfect for defoliation, IMO the earlier the better and its something you'll see as you do it.

the side branches start to form like tops and popcorn buds start to look like regular side branches.

 

[grassott]

OK After reading this thread I just had to try it on my veggy garden. Wish me luck folks lol...

 

[kayag]

hello all. just found this thread today. in reading, i think iwill side with the people who experiment instead of going with "conventional wisdom" i do have a few questions tho. im thinking of doing my second grow. the grow area is 4ftx4ftx7ft. will be growing using a 600watt dual core bulb. carbon filter. air cooled bulb. 6in inline fan. circulation fan.

will be growing from seed. my question is, at what stage should i begin defoliating? should i be using the scrog technique? or should i just let the girls grow naturally? should i pinch the main shoots to promote an even canopy? this is only my second grow and i want to make the most out of the limited space and learn a simple technique to improve yield. thanks in advance for the help

 

[RetroGrow]

i scrog,therefore i defoliate,even thou i have not read this entire thread,i have read many many others on this very subject,my take on it is,the leaves are for feeding the root system,the root system is for feeding the plant,once a healthy root system has been established,the need for an over abundance of leaves becomes less important as we induce the flowering process the energy is focused more on the bud sites,the plant too wants to produce large sticky buds to collect as much pollen as possible,with the leaves and lower growth gone the energy(auxins and nutrients) are transfered directly to the bud sites,i know this is a rudementry description of the process,obviously it is abundently more complex,however in practical applications it holds true, in my experience,limited as it may be,i have managed 7lbs of 8 to 10 inch fat buds from 9 plants in a 3x4 scrog,it works hope yours does too well second post out of the way,figured id bury it back here

I would love to see 7 pounds of dried buds from 9 plants in a 3X4 area. Got pictures?

 

[prowler]

In My Humble Opinion:

All of you 1st, 2nd, 3rd and even 4th time growers should drag your asses back to the basics dialing your skills and environment before even looking this topic..mmkay?!

If you (mentioned above) need to up your yields this is not the way to go. Hard core pruning steps in when you've fully learned what stress does to a plant and how to let it heal and avoid futile stressing of the plant. Please.

I'm not here to diss your skills or diss defoiling...I'm just repeating what other growers have said again and again in this topic: This is not just something you should do "because others do it!" f*** that. I've messed so many grows with stressing out plants that i've lost the count. Stressing your plants at improper timing leads to reduced swallowing of the buds - understand this, not a hard thing to remember.

There are a lot of resources here in icmag which will give (us) rookies more benefits than this.. Bookmark this for later and learn the basics first.

 

[kayag]

In My Humble Opinion:

All of you 1st, 2nd, 3rd and even 4th time growers should drag your asses back to the basics dialing your skills and environment before even looking this topic..mmkay?!

If you (mentioned above) need to up your yields this is not the way to go. Hard core pruning steps in when you've fully learned what stress does to a plant and how to let it heal and avoid futile stressing of the plant. Please.

I'm not here to diss your skills or diss defoiling...I'm just repeating what other growers have said again and again in this topic: This is not just something you should do "because others do it!" f*** that. I've messed so many grows with stressing out plants that i've lost the count. Stressing your plants at improper timing leads to reduced swallowing of the buds - understand this, not a hard thing to remember.

There are a lot of resources here in icmag which will give (us) rookies more benefits than this.. Bookmark this for later and learn the basics first.

so what u r saying is that i should just continue to grow naturally? no super cropping or anthing? just let the plants do thir thing?

 

[prowler]

Don't twist my words - did i really say that? Defoiling stresses plant a lot more than supercropping, LST'ing and topping.

And as a side note: Everyone should see how a plant grows naturally too before starting to tame them. A plant grown naturally produces more buds than overly stressing the plant with the lack of knowledge and experience.

 

[dramamine]

I would love to see 7 pounds of dried buds from 9 plants in a 3X4 area. Got pictures?

Me too! What did they weigh once they were dry?

 

[grassott]

In My Humble Opinion:

All of you 1st, 2nd, 3rd and even 4th time growers should drag your asses back to the basics dialing your skills and environment before even looking this topic...

This is not a humble opinion. This sounds more like an order from Hitler.

However, I would advise NOT to try this at home if you don't know what you're doing. Also, do NOT do this to plants that are already in flower. This is more like a humble opinion.

Research this technique before trying it. That's what I've done.

Just 3 and a half days after defoliation and the leaves are coming back from my "massacre". Notice how the structure's forming nicely? The lower/inner budsites are growing towards the top. Without any defoli, these potential budsites would turn out to be airy fluffy popcorn IME.

Here's a plant I harvested last night...

I don't normally name my plants, but I had to call her "Bloody Crap!" I got so sick and tired of looking at her so I chopped her down to give me some personal smoke next week. She was topped once or twice which is why she's got these long skinny arms. She was not defoliated. She was shaded by fan leaves. A pretty pathetic runt. As she was growing up all leafy and shit I decided to research defoliation. Based on what I've read and the results I've seen I decided to experiment for myself in my veggy garden.

 

[bs0]

Don't twist my words - did i really say that? Defoiling stresses plant a lot more than supercropping, LST'ing and topping.

And as a side note: Everyone should see how a plant grows naturally too before starting to tame them. A plant grown naturally produces more buds than overly stressing the plant with the lack of knowledge and experience.

Many of the people don't seem to get the basic tenant of defol: to open up the plant to more light.

Instead they see 'defol' and then remove all the leaves. For best results only defol in highly crowded situations or to open up the inner portions of a plant.

I've been doing this a long time (I was way back before this thread started) and it does not significantly stress the plant if you do it in moderation.

 

[kayag]

ok people. can anyone suggest a method thats less stressful on the plants? and please, when u name the method, tell exactly what it is and what is does. thanx

 

[grassott]

ok people. can anyone suggest a method thats less stressful on the plants? and please, when u name the method, tell exactly what it is and what is does. thanx

It's not quite as simple as that mate. You gotta research, research properly, then apply what you have learnt into your grow.

When you have the confidence to go to the extreme (as what I'm doing at the moment) then experiment. Know what I mean?

 

[prowler]

This is not a humble opinion. This sounds more like an order from Hitler.

Had to take a breath before answering - and actually you're right...although comparing my statement with hitler is a bit harsh - so is my advise. Sorry bout being so aggressive.

However, I would advise NOT to try this at home if you don't know what you're doing. Also, do NOT do this to plants that are already in flower. This is more like a humble opinion.

Research this technique before trying it. That's what I've done.

Grassott can you PM me please bout this.

 

[grassott]

Prowler, you can PM me anytime mate as long as it's not to start an argument. And sorry, I didn't mean the Hitler thing mate.

Happy plant. Just before defolied.

Sad plant. Just been defolied.

An even happier plant, just six days after her first defoli.

So far in this experiment I've made these observations. Just one week after her first defoli she's bounced back stronger than before. Notice the beautiful structure forming. Notice the lower budsites developing. Normally I'd chop off the lower branches, thinking that it's just gonna be popcorn anyway. During this experiment I no longer need to cut off anymore budsites. To get this strucure going I also lolly pop. Just a few lower branches being removed earlier on, about a week before her first defol. This aids watering (I hate it when I accidentally splash water on the lower leaves).

My whole garden 6 days after their first major defoli...

Remember when they all looked like this? A sorry sight I must admit. When Britney Spears shaved off her hair she looked a sore sight too if you dig me.

And look at them now. Dam near fully recovered. They'll be going in hempy buckets tonight and due for their second major defol in about a week's time, after they've leafed up a bit.

 

[kayag]

ive been researching and have pretty narrowed it down to 2 methods. either the scrog method or the pinching method, using nirvana master kush. the scrog seems simple enough and doesnt seem like it will stress the plant as much as pinching. im really leaning toward toward a 5 small plant grow using one big screen. any suggestion on either method?