Pruning/defoliating outdoor plants

[Organilush]

Is defoliating something that outdoor growers do?

Just curious how some of ya'll go about pruning/defoliating before & during early flowering?..Your technique/what you're aiming for, and the timing of when you do so.



The extent of such that I've done is simply clearing out the lower and inner portion of the plant, removing fan leaves that don't get much or any direct sunlight and removing any bud sites along the lower/inner portion of the plant that are not going to receive much sunlight. I also cut away a few small branches entirely that were not going to develop fat buds....And I did some low stress training/bending starting early and through out the grow.

I know some folks seem to go a bit farther and will remove some fan leaves from the colas/main buds, but then other folks say that all fan leaves should stay on the plant since they collect the energy the plant needs. Some say outdoor plants don't need to be defoliated at all.....Is removing some fan leaves for more sunlight exposure on the buds more beneficial than the energy those leaves would have provided the plant if left intact?

Also curious about when ya'll do any pruning/defoliating...Do you do a little bit at a time through out pre and early flowering? Or do you do most of it all at once?


Last year was my first time growing this plant and besides doing a little bit of low stress training/bending I mostly let the plants do their thing and didn't prune or defoliate much at all. Since it was my first time growing I wanted to see how the plant grew with out being touched/trained/pruned much. I learned how big of a difference there is between buds that receive a lot of sunlight and those that don't, and how big of a difference there can be between buds along the lower portion of the plant and the tops. So this time around I have removed a lot of leaf and bud-sites along the inner and lower portion of the plant.

....I want my plants putting all their energy into only the most prime of buds/branches. No larf lol.


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[PDX Dopesmoker]

Buds sites that get good sunlight on them seem to be the ones that produce best.

 

[St. Phatty]

It takes TIME.

I understand doing it indoors - limited light, limited ventilation.

But outdoors - so what if there are popcorn buds ?

As long as the root system is taken care of, do the popcorn buds make the bigger buds smaller ?

 

[Hookahhead]

Thanks for posting the question organ, I had been wondering the same myself.

I have heard different pros and cons of leaf stripping for indoor growing. Personally I think its a good thing. As you pointed out, cleaning up the bottom helps prevent soil pathogens “climbing” onto the plant. Increased airflow reduces the risk of mold. I don’t think anybody argues that these are good things.

Where it gets tricky is trying to figure out if cleaning up the larf or extra leaf translates into bigger buds. This is a bit harder to pin down unless you run the same plant multiple times in the same conditions. It’s something that is going to be plant/strain specific. In a commercial setting that larf requires more time to process and is less profitable.

I know of one respected researcher that studied the rate of photosynthesis and transpiration under different light levels. Leaves receiving less than 200 umol we’re not photosynthesizing efficiently, but they are still transpiring. Meaning they are not making food, but are still contributing to humidity. However, the study does not correlate how this effects yield.

The whole episode is great, but listen to starting around 38:30 for the part about stripping leaves.
https://www.kisorganics.com/pages/cannabis-cultivation-and-science-podcast-episode-43

 

[Chunkypigs]

seed plants MIGHT not need much work but some of the Clones I grow OD need heavy thinning deleafing.

cultivars that throw branches off branches every inch or so like cookies and ECSD tend to grow straight up through the inside of the canopy thin straggly growth that I pull.

every one needs different treatment depending on how they stretch or how long their petioles grow.

Forum GSC after trim.

OGKB type GSC Blissful Wizard 32 is a real pain, every branch and leave grows straight up and will make total larf without work.

before

after, forum pictured before is next to it on the right.

I want to see a little bit through the middle when I'm done, in a week it will fill out again until stretch is finished.

if there is space I'll open them up with some bondage when I finish.

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

seed plants MIGHT not need much work but some of the Clones I grow OD need heavy thinning deleafing.

cultivars that throw branches off branches every inch or so like cookies and ECSD tend to grow straight up through the inside of the canopy thin straggly growth that I pull.

every one needs different treatment depending on how they stretch or how long their petioles grow.

Forum GSC after trim.
View Image

OGKB type GSC Blissful Wizard 32 is a real pain, every branch and leave grows straight up and will make total larf without work.

before
View Image

after, forum pictured before is next to it on the right.

I want to see a little bit through the middle when I'm done, in a week it will fill out again until stretch is finished.
View Image

if there is space I'll open them up with some bondage when I finish.
View Image

I noticed what you mentioned about the canopy restricting bud growth on broader leafed clones grown to big sizes outside, all the flower growth inside the canopy is weak and seems restricted by the lack of direct sunlight. I guess removing the canopy foliage from the upper and south side of the plant could fix that problem some, but I never tried it.

 

[G.O. Joe]

It seems strange that causing injury to a plant at a hundred sites would not cause problems of some sort - especially outdoors where there are so many more insects, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

 

[indagroove]

It depends on the variety. Thin leaf strains need little defoliating, whereas broad leaf strains may benefit. In addition to light penetration, air flow is also a factor for successful outdoor crops. Too many large board leafs may restrict airflow in the canopy, and encourage mold.

It seems strange that causing injury to a plant at a hundred sites would not cause problems of some sort - especially outdoors where there are so many more insects, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

In my experience any sort of pruning only makes plants grow stronger. Leaves are biologically designed to fall off at some point anyway.