Time to Defoliate?

[Voidrealmz]

Hello, I am 2.5 weeks into flowering and my plants are pretty bushy. I was wondering if now is an appropriate time to defoliate the largest fan leaves off of them? Or should I wait a little longer for the start of week 3?

Here they are:

 

[Old_fart_stoner]

Anything that is getting little or no light can go anytime

 

[Detroitwill]

Remember the leaves are her solar panels. So, sure you can defoliate anytime, but do it smart and definitely try to leave as many top fans as possible. P.s... you coulda had three times to yield off one of those girls by scroging. You could fill that space corner to corner with a single plant and a proper scrog net.

 

[Voidrealmz]

Thanks fellas, I'll take out one more level of fans underneath and leave the top growth. I'll take out any fans that get in the way of the colas throughout the rest of flowering, if they can't be bent out of the way. Today will be my last major defoliation, and then I get to just watch the girls grow until harvest!

 

[Detroitwill]

You could bend them gently to spread them out n let in more light. Just use a piece of 14 ga wire to hold it at the rim of the pot and leave the tomato cages in place n use em as the bending point.

 

[hydroScript.js]

I'm wondering the SAME question but I'm only in my first week of flower. I'm wondering because it's either I do it now...or not at all because I won't be able to reach it soon......I kept it small my bending, topping, bending, topping, should I go to town underneath or since my plants are already low I should be good?
I'm hitting them with 310 watts actual draw LED for 6 square feet spider farmer 2000w plus 1000w

 

[Detroitwill]

And yes guys you defoliate in the flip. It should’ve been done the day of. But if your a week in you need to get it done

 

[JSB99]

Hello, I am 2.5 weeks into flowering and my plants are pretty bushy. I was wondering if now is an appropriate time to defoliate the largest fan leaves off of them? Or should I wait a little longer for the start of week 3?

Here they are:

View attachment 4855838

They don't really look all that bushy to me, IMHO. I always do a few major trims during my indoor grows, but thats because mine get so dense with fans that there's little to no circulation getting to the inner parts. These look fine. If these were mine, I wouldn't bother trimming. I don't think you'll gain much.

 

[Failmore]

They don't really look all that bushy to me, IMHO. I always do a few major trims during my indoor grows, but thats because mine get so dense with fans that there's little to no circulation getting to the inner parts. These look fine. If these were mine, I wouldn't bother trimming. I don't think you'll gain much.

I agree. Mildly bushy plants. You got lots of room to play with. Not sure you would gain anything from trimming fan leafs at this point. Tucking is the better option for you

 

[Star Dog]

Hello, I am 2.5 weeks into flowering and my plants are pretty bushy. I was wondering if now is an appropriate time to defoliate the largest fan leaves off of them? Or should I wait a little longer for the start of week 3?

Here they are:

View attachment 4855838

There's not much to the plants as it is?
Totally unjustified removal of leafs imo

 

[Bushbaby11]

Hello, I am 2.5 weeks into flowering and my plants are pretty bushy. I was wondering if now is an appropriate time to defoliate the largest fan leaves off of them? Or should I wait a little longer for the start of week 3?

Here they are:

View attachment 4855838

Judging from the picture, there's not too much on there i can see you've lollipopped, leave her be

 

[JSB99]

This is bushy...

 

[OldMedUser]

Two and a half weeks and barely any bud formation yet. Sure you don't have light leaks? Have you fed any bloom nutes yet?

I recently got an LED light like the type you have but am just using it for vegging and the plants seem to love it. I flower under HPS.

I give my plants a half dose of Big Bud a week before the flip then the other half at the flip and expect them to look like this Critical Mass plant at 21 days.




I wouldn't be taking any leaves off your plants at this time.

 

[JSB99]

This is bushy...

View attachment 4861738

This was right before I trimmed. If I let these go into flower like this, they will stall out because all the huge leaves on top block all the light to the bud sites below. The tops would barely push through. However, if these were outside, the sunlight is powerful enough that 95% of the light passes through the leaves, reaching the inner leaves. Inside lights aren't powerful enough to do this effectively, so trimming to top leaves (yes, I said "top leaves") will give the plants a huge boost of energy, and they will start exploding with growth. When I trim, I end up with a full 5-gallon bucket full of huge fans.

Bushy plants are mostly that way from the genetics, or plant type (indica vs sativa), but it also comes down to how close you can safely have your lights above the plants. Too high and they'll stretch, and grow thin. But, if you can safely get your lights real close, that'll keep them squat. I've kept plenty of sativas short by having the lights close. They do end up stretching like crazy during flower though. Knowing exactly where your lights should be comes down to practice.

 

[JSB99]

This is mine around 2.5 weeks into flowering. These are already trimmed, and are much more bushy than yours



And now (around 6 weeks, I think). I've got my lights as close as 6" above some of the tops at around 88k lumens. No complaints yet. I'll raise them a bit if I start seeing bleaching.

 

[hydroScript.js]

This is mine around 2.5 weeks into flowering. These are already trimmed, and are much more bushy than yours

View attachment 4861751

And now (around 6 weeks, I think). I've got my lights as close as 6" above some of the tops at around 88k lumens. No complaints yet. I'll raise them a bit if I start seeing bleaching.
View attachment 4861752

oooo mines is better then yours lmao....I don't think he wanted you to show him how awesome your shit is....your shit is badass by the way...i think he wanted to know if his was bushy.....Dawg your setup is sweet af...most people's grows aren't going to be a "bushy" as yours...I know mines ain't....

I'm angry cause i'm jealous.....straight hate running thru my blood!!!

 

[Voidrealmz]

Here's an update for everyone. I did do a defoliation right before the flip. I pruned, lollipopped, and removed unnecessary fans. But the stretch was nuts! The stretch has basically just now finished and we are getting bud production now. We are now 3.5 weeks into flowering. I feel they may have stunted and delayed producing bud from stress before the flip. They are receiving plenty of bloom nutes. I will be ONLY tucking from now on, no more trimming.

Nutrients are down to a gallon each, I will be refeeding after work today and the buds should boom. Hopefully we can get a good yield off of this if I leave them be for the rest of their flowering stage. Wish me luck!

 

[steve870]

you removed alot of leaves !

 

[hydroScript.js]

I just feel like there's so much wasted Veg time if you are going to lollipop that much.... i'd rather have shorter veg time So i purned the week before f

flower
to now this. I'm not an expert but I feel like it;s a better usage of my limited space.....


My little plants 18 days veg...Reggie-Bushed out day four of starting to flower....so basically veg...

 

[Voidrealmz]

I just feel like there's so much wasted Veg time if you are going to lollipop that much.... i'd rather have shorter veg time So i purned the week before f

flowerView attachment 4862522
to now this. I'm not an expert but I feel like it;s a better usage of my limited space.....
View attachment 4862523

My little plants 18 days veg...Reggie-Bushed out day four of starting to flower....so basically veg...
View attachment 4862524

You're 100% right. I did have wasted veg time, but this was not intentional. I had my lights set wrong for the first month and a half of its life without knowing. And the reasoning behind lollipopping for my particular setup, is poor lighting, and the fact I am manifolding. I'm aiming to divert all growth to the tops rather than under growth that will be shaded by the canopy. It's a sacrifice, but also not really considering you are boosting growth at the spots that matter rather than producing lower "larf".

But you also have to keep in mind, longer veg time = larger roots = faster nutrient absorption = larger buds. With growing cannabis, you get to pick and choose. Was it bad I vegged longer? Not necessarily since I am not under a time crunch or doing this professionally. I'm learning and working out the kinks, so I don't mind the extra time I took this time. I would rather add extra weeks to make up for mistakes than roll with the punches and get a bad final product I wasn't proud of due to impatience.