Defoliation: Hi-Yield Technique?

[Bassy59]

A few pics from veg to current, 8 days into 12/12. I flipped roughly 7 days after a strip. The girls have so many big fans blocking light that I have plucked just a few here and there to just get a little more light to upper node bud sites hoping to get them to stretch a bit for future bending.

I'm so damn tempted to strip because of this crowding but know I need to let stretch finish up.

First 5 pics in veg:

 

[Bassy59]

bah, retry to post correctly

 

[Bassy59]

a time for stripping/bending:

For some reaon my pics are not attaching suddenly:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/attachment.php?attachmentid=164416&d=1335788664
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https://www.icmag.com/ic/attachment.php?attachmentid=164418&d=1335788664
https://www.icmag.com/ic/attachment.php?attachmentid=164417&d=1335788664
https://www.icmag.com/ic/attachment.php?attachmentid=164416&d=1335788664

 

[Bassy59]

On to current at 8 days 12/12 with only a few occasional large fans taken. I have to slap my hands to not strip now.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

back again. been like a week since i posted the last picture so i thought i would give an update and see if i should defol or not. i had to pluck like 10 yellow leaves today, and at this rate i don't think i will need to defoliate.

3 weeks flower just about. end week2 begin week 3.

 

[agoutihead]

Just defoliated for the 2nd major time, we're about day 70 and ready to flip to flower. Should I wait another week since I just did it yesterday or go ahead & flip now to 12/12?

I'll post some updates pics later.

Thanks.

 

[agoutihead]

Here are the before & after defoliation pics.

Should I flip to 12/12 now for flower or wait another week? I was thinking just wait another week to help them stretch a bit more.

 

[grassott's dad]

After a defoliation in veg, you should wait at least 2 weeks before throwing into 12/12, then again AFTER the stretch.

Much of it also depends on how dialled in you got your grow environment. If your environment is sub par then I would NOT recommend defoliation.

Nice plants JonnyScience. I'd give them a coupla weeks before 12/12.

 

[eman resu]

After a defoliation in veg, you should wait at least 2 weeks before throwing into 12/12, then again AFTER the stretch.

Much of it also depends on how dialled in you got your grow environment. If your environment is sub par then I would NOT recommend defoliation.

Nice plants JonnyScience. I'd give them a coupla weeks before 12/12.

what are the adverse effects of not waiting until after the stretch to defoliate?

 

[stihgnobevoli]

you guys are waiting till after the stretch to remove leaves? im not a master defoliator or anything but i do have some experience with trimming and topping plants during stretch. in my experience you really don't wanna chop off much after the stretch is over since the only thing the plant will be producing from that point is buds. if you remove all the leaves as you guys seem to be doing with your defoliation, after the stretch then all you will be doing is making the plant make more leaves instead of buds which will either decrease your yield or increase flowering time.

i asked about my plant up there, when it first started flowering, its past the stretch now, no one said anything so im not gonna defoliate anything now. maybe prune the heavy leaves and thin em out, pluck off the leaves as they die from not receiving light, and towards the end i will strip off all the larfy branches. i don't recommend chopping anything major after the stretch it can only hurt.

 

[grassott's dad]

what are the adverse effects of not waiting until after the stretch to defoliate?

My mate defoliated TWICE whilst in 12/12 before the stretch and this is what happened to him...

50 days 12/12. Normally (if not defoliated) the colas would have been much thicker. Still harvested 11 zips under just a 400w bulb though.

On this run, same grow space/bulb etc he's expecting much more because he's going to defoliate AFTER the stretch. They've already been defoliated and lst'd bigtime during veg. Currently been in 12/12 for about 2 weeks in this pic...

Defoliating before the stretch decreased his yield. The current run will be ready in about 6 or 7 weeks.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

i look forward to the results. everything i have seen from chopping/topping/etc after the stretch only slows the plant down.

 

[Bassy59]

you guys are waiting till after the stretch to remove leaves? im not a master defoliator or anything but i do have some experience with trimming and topping plants during stretch. in my experience you really don't wanna chop off much after the stretch is over since the only thing the plant will be producing from that point is buds. if you remove all the leaves as you guys seem to be doing with your defoliation, after the stretch then all you will be doing is making the plant make more leaves instead of buds which will either decrease your yield or increase flowering time.

i asked about my plant up there, when it first started flowering, its past the stretch now, no one said anything so im not gonna defoliate anything now. maybe prune the heavy leaves and thin em out, pluck off the leaves as they die from not receiving light, and towards the end i will strip off all the larfy branches. i don't recommend chopping anything major after the stretch it can only hurt.

You obviously have not read much of this thread. Nearly everything you stated above is incorrect. As has been proven many times already in this thread with pics.

You strip after stretch and bud sites from top to bottom get light and grow bigger and thicker. While you personally don't pull leaves, you have popcorn or worse buds down low and many mid bud sites are 1/2 the size they could be because of all the shading from the fans you refused to pull. You said it yourself, leaves die from not receiving light. So you also dont want your bud sites to receive light?

You DON'T defoliate during stretch because it will hinder the stretch! Bending is fine and needed during stretch often. Bend laterally, even up the canopy, lower the light, more penetration, more & bigger buds from top to bottom.

People using this method are not using stretch to get tall girls. They are using stretch to get WIDE BOTTOMED GIRLS!

Here's 4 plants in a 4'x4' grow, 8 days into 12/12. I'm bending a lot now. Notice nearly the entire tent is covered by just 4 plants, barely 20" tall. By end of stretch they will be filling the tent totally and get stripped naked of fans damn near.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

how is everything i have said false? i said in my own experience AKA SHIT THAT I ACTUALLY DID!

leaves take in light and make food and grow bigger leaves to take in more light.

if you remove all the leaves that will obviously slow the plant down some as it makes more leaves. in veg and early flower this isn't a problem as the plants are growing really fast. but like i said IN MY OWN EXPERIENCE, a.k.a THE SHIT I HAVE OBSERVED WITH MY OWN SENSES. if you trin and prune after the stretch is over it slows the plants down and or reduces the yield since after flowering starts the plants concentrate on growing buds and nothing else. if you remove leaves, or ALL THE LEAVES as it seems you guys are doing how is that possibly a benefit? the plant has to switch from flower mode and go back to growing more leaves and killing and replacing roots.

maybe you guys don't realize it but it's just like the bible. AS ABOVE SO BELOW. if you have a lot of leaves you have a big root system, if you don't have a lot of leaves you don't have a big root system. if there is more growth above ground than the roots can support, the plant drops some leaves, if there are more roots than the leaves guess what the roots get cut back some.

THESE ARE FACTS !!

also stretch seems to be the perfect time since the plant grows the FASTEST during stretch than it did during it's entire life. why the fuck wouldn't you choose the time of fastest regenerative growth to remove leaves that will be regenerated. why do you think people prune back growth tips during stretch? to redirect all that STRETCHING energy from the main growth to the side branches.

 

[Bassy59]

You really don't get the concepts involved here. k33f has done a lot of very good explaining in this thread too. I highly suggest you grab the pdf also as it's a more compiled list of his comments and answers to questions including "during stretch".

If you strip them during stretch, you will in fact slow the stretch down. EXACTLY what you DON'T want to do. During stretch, our goal is to bend the shit out of these girls laterally. Every time you bend a branch sideways you OPEN THE CANOPY, and EVEN OUT the canopy. In turn, this allows more and better LIGHT PENETRATION all the way down. You're also (this is REALLY important, try to grasp the concept) LOWERING the light as a result of bending the stretching branches laterally. No longer do you have (just a simple example) 4 tall top branches 18" from the light and 12-16 side branches 24" from the light. You now have ALL 16-20 tops at the same height and 18 inches from the light! THIS IS A HUGE HUGE GINORMOUS BONUS!

Now you say you want to do it during stretch because well, you state: "why the fuck wouldn't you choose the time of fastest regenerative growth to remove leaves that will be regenerated."

Feel free to do it, grow the living shit out of those leaves baby! The rest of us doing this are growing buds, not leaves.

Just go back through these 200 pages and take notice of the many pics of growers with 50 HUGE BUDS per plant and no popcorn below, but instead real actual buds.

The fact that you argue how it should be done when the evidence of growers getting 10-19z PER PLANT indoors, under 36" tall is astounding.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

you guys continue clipping all the leaves off the plants at the time it most needs them. lemme know how that turns out for you.

 

[dramamine]

you guys continue clipping all the leaves off the plants at the time it most needs them. lemme know how that turns out for you.

You think the plant needs fan leaves the most after the stretch? Really?

 

[Bassy59]

you guys continue clipping all the leaves off the plants at the time it most needs them. lemme know how that turns out for you.

We have been you big dummy! That's what this thread is all about! It's all about showing you and others how it turns out!

I objectively read 190+ pages of this thread over a 3 week period at least twice before I tried it. I took notes, and like the author said, gave it a shot, starting in veg. I'm now on my 2nd grow in flowering using this technique, and just popped seeds for my next grow using this technique.

I doubled my yield on my first attempt and I screwed it up with too many in too small of an area! And I still was running less than my previous grow.

If this isn't for you that's fine and dandy. But don't come out here saying how everyone is doing it wrong when they have yields of 10-15z PER PLANT using this technique.

How can you possibly argue with that? Ignorance is bliss I guess.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

show and prove. i was in this thread in the beginning, then the OP got all butthurt because i called his methods into question then the band wagoneers like yourself forced me out.

anyway lets see those numbers and pics from YOUR plants where you doubled the yield by removing all the leaves directly before and after the stretch, which is what you all claim is best. i said do all pruning during stretch because the plant is going to stretch regardless might as well redirect that energy.

here's what im gonna do.

i've got two identical freshly rooted clones which i just threw into flower. when they start to flower again im going to strip one of all the leaves like this thread suggests, and i will leave the other untouched. everything else aside from defoliation that i do to one plant i will do to both to keep this completely scientific.

same containers, same soil, same schedule, same everything except one will be bald.

 

[St3ve]

you guys continue clipping all the leaves off the plants at the time it most needs them. lemme know how that turns out for you.

Wow.. another person bringing sarcasm in. Lemme guess.. you've never personally tried this technique either right?