superbolan
Active member
Because it goes against the common belief that the fan leaves are the factories the plant uses to photosynthesize . just about every book out there tells you not to do it
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DEFOLIATION::the_Feild_Test::
- Thread starter vprising909
- Start date
ITryToGrow
Member
Respect for doing this experiment dude!
vprising909
Member
Thank you for the overwhelming support and response. I am taking everything I have read into consideration and will continue to focus on making this grow as successful as possible!
vprising909
Member
Due to lack of grow space this experiment will NOT be completely scientific. Please note that before cloning the Afgoo I tested 6 different versions of the strain (you can see them in the ghetto grow room picture). The one I decided on was a NorCal Tahoe version. You can see that some are stringy, some are weak and even falling over. I know the setup is not ideal, but it's all I have to work with.
Here's a pic of the winning plant:
It ended up stacking pretty nicely. I did not trim, super crop, bend, or train the plant AT ALL. I admit watching both grow simultaneously would be better, but I know that the plant (allowed to grow wildly) yielded about 3 ounces (not bad for no in-lines/recirculating nutes, eh?)
vprising909
Member
I understand your concern, but I do believe my root zone is established enough to hack 'em to bits.
...and although voting threads ARE fun, I'm going to say neigh to that. This thread is more about exploration than betting.
vprising909
Member
I've done this, too, but I've never done this from the get go. There was a comment made that questioned why to pluck when there is ample light penetration. The answer is: to find out what happens when I do. There is no question that my humble experiment will not result in the eye-popping buds that we are all so used to seeing here on ICMAG, but I'm having fun so what the hell
vprising909
Member
I put them straight into the cloner @ 18/6. You can tell the leaves are all funk still. The point is though when you clone like this the mature plants usually end up all spindly and wild, so I'm curious to see is plucking leaves makes the plant focus on stacking and not stretching.
vprising909
Member
Wow how true...
I've never had this train of thought. I'm sure we all know people who do. It's not like I designed the plant or invented hydroponics. That would be something to brag about. I agree with you that there are sometimes selfish motives involved, but for me it's about clearing up the muck. With all of this information out here (web, books, etc) you'd think that we could organize a comprehensive and complete method on Cannabis.
Such is human nature....
vprising909
Member
superbolan
Active member
By performing this experiment you are doing your part as well, mad props to you
dachieftan
Active member
just started doing this technique myself in early flowering w/ critical sensi star. I also have a control plant that didn't receive the defoliation but they were both lollipoped. The one that did receive treatment has a host of bottom branches reaching for the light. It looks like the defoliated plant will have more bud sites but the control plant will more or less have one main cola. We shall see which one yields more... bear in mind that they are from seed so they could be different phenotypes all together. The treated plant had a little less than a foot more than the control plant in height going into flowering. I did put a pot under the control plant to give them equal light level. I will be lurking to see how this goes b/c I was unable to utilize this technique in veg. Best of luck to ya 909
On a sidenote: I am proud to say that I am winning the war w/ spider mites. It seemed to me that the mites favored to colonize leaves w/ a greater amount of surface area (i.e. fan leaves). Taking off the fan leaves in combination with cool room temps and a humidty of 50 seem to slow the spider mite reproduction numbers. Been using organic based soap and water and have dr. doom bombed three times within two weeks. Sprayed them w/ pyrthean mixture as well and hopefully they will not come back as it is harder to fight them w/ developed buds.
On a sidenote: I am proud to say that I am winning the war w/ spider mites. It seemed to me that the mites favored to colonize leaves w/ a greater amount of surface area (i.e. fan leaves). Taking off the fan leaves in combination with cool room temps and a humidty of 50 seem to slow the spider mite reproduction numbers. Been using organic based soap and water and have dr. doom bombed three times within two weeks. Sprayed them w/ pyrthean mixture as well and hopefully they will not come back as it is harder to fight them w/ developed buds.
newhiddengrower
Member
Hey i am counting on you for the results!! dont leave me hanging bro.
I am also going to do the same test, i have 18 plants flowering ima deleaf 9 plants and lolly pop the other 9 and see what yields more. They are all from Bubba Kush Clones. This will be interesting....
Yes i know some ppl believe that u have to start deleafing at earlier stage for this to be effective but my personal belief that thats bullshit, they will stress the same amount veg or flower...
vprising909
Member
GOOD!!!
Please do this. It will be interesting. I went into this experiment expecting to not notice anything life changing... but today I did.
vprising909
Member
This is the defoliated plant just THREE DAYS after COMPLETE DEFOLIATION. If this isn't proof of the beauty and resilience of Cannabis I don't know what is. Better yet the plants have only grown about an inch (far less than I'm used to with this setup) by the end of last week. As the third week of veg reaches its close, I am optimistic. I have been very busy, mostly with harvesting some LA Confidential.
I don't have this one down quite yet. She's a picky woman.
On the good news I found a good nutrient combination for the Afgoo. I originally planned on doing all GH through the cycle, but I had just enough PBP stuff left over to do this experiment.
On a side note: I'm in the middle of buying a house and will more than likely be moving very soon. Good news for me, it's a huge property. With complete legality around the corner I need to prepare myself for commercial production. Hopefully it doesn't affect the experiment, but I will if I think I have to. For this reason I will try to veg these babies as long as possible. I have a lot of plants to move and unfortunately my test plants aren't my #1 priority.
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vprising909
Member
BUT HERES THE REALLY COOL NEWS!
BUT HERES THE REALLY COOL NEWS!
Eureka!
I noticed today how symmetrical the new growth is. This type of growth is typical from seed, but when the plant is switched to 12/12 the growth becomes asymmetrical as it buds As you remember these clones are from a budding plant. This type of symmetrical growth is not typical this early in vegging. I am wondering if this could be from the defoliation. Could removing old leaves have encourage correct growth of new ones?
Too cool!
BUT HERES THE REALLY COOL NEWS!
Eureka!
I noticed today how symmetrical the new growth is. This type of growth is typical from seed, but when the plant is switched to 12/12 the growth becomes asymmetrical as it buds As you remember these clones are from a budding plant. This type of symmetrical growth is not typical this early in vegging. I am wondering if this could be from the defoliation. Could removing old leaves have encourage correct growth of new ones?
Too cool!
ugmjfarmer
Member
No a reveged plant will throw single leaf and spiral leaves until it regenerates, which is like being reborn. The symetric nodes are next, followed by alternating nodes every time. Once the plant is done throwing singles and spirals, it follows the pattern of a seedling.
You'd probably have to experiment with defoliating a reveged clone and not to determine if the defoliation speed up the re-veg trigger period. I have no experience to back that up, just re-veg experience.
You'd probably have to experiment with defoliating a reveged clone and not to determine if the defoliation speed up the re-veg trigger period. I have no experience to back that up, just re-veg experience.
vprising909
Member
Just got the word that I got the house... 3 acres to myself.
Gotta go prune see ya in a few!
Gotta go prune see ya in a few!
if I may add. Let a reveg go as long as possible just left alone to grow. once it is healthy and fully going at it with new growth all over the place, then train.
vprising909
Member
Just got done trimming...
Here's the OG BEFORE:
Here it is after:
The Afgoo is growing slower. It's foliage is much thicker:
Here's the after... didn't go as crazy on this one:
Here's a group mugshot:
Here's the OG BEFORE:
Here it is after:
The Afgoo is growing slower. It's foliage is much thicker:
Here's the after... didn't go as crazy on this one:
Here's a group mugshot:
vprising909
Member
Keeping it clean...
Keeping it clean...
One thing I'm focused on when growing hydroponically is keeping organic matter (like dead leaves) out of my media. I hate gnats and they love to hang around damp decaying leaves. Once the gnats' larvae are laid, you roots are history.
One thing I'm liking about this process is clearing out the brush. Yeah, the plants look ugly (like tumbleweeds), that's hard to get over for me. But check out this dead leaf, I wouldn't have found it if I weren't checking over my plant with a fine tooth comb in the veg chamber. Am I saying that this prevents disease? No. It's arguable that opening up so many wounds could make these plants far more susceptible to bad things.
As far as the comments about re-vegging and whatnot I totally get what you're saying. There are multiple ways to do this, a lot of which are much better than my way... at least I'm doing it. Things are going to be hectic coming up. I'm going to have to move very very soon. I'm thinking I will keep these in veg until then.
Keeping it clean...
One thing I'm focused on when growing hydroponically is keeping organic matter (like dead leaves) out of my media. I hate gnats and they love to hang around damp decaying leaves. Once the gnats' larvae are laid, you roots are history.
One thing I'm liking about this process is clearing out the brush. Yeah, the plants look ugly (like tumbleweeds), that's hard to get over for me. But check out this dead leaf, I wouldn't have found it if I weren't checking over my plant with a fine tooth comb in the veg chamber. Am I saying that this prevents disease? No. It's arguable that opening up so many wounds could make these plants far more susceptible to bad things.
As far as the comments about re-vegging and whatnot I totally get what you're saying. There are multiple ways to do this, a lot of which are much better than my way... at least I'm doing it. Things are going to be hectic coming up. I'm going to have to move very very soon. I'm thinking I will keep these in veg until then.
