Defoliation Experiment - Side by Side Sister Clones

I know with my experiments, the growth has not stopped at all. The the leaves come back pretty fast. After the first 4-5 weeks of flowering leaf regrowth is rather slow however.

dannyboy602 said:

I don't think so either. It's just an educated guess but if you reduce a plants ability to make food it stands to reason it would be quick to make new leaves to replace the lost ones.

Click to expand...

That's sort of the whole question I guess. I've never proclaimed to be an expert or botanist so I can only speak from personal experience, but I would also like to understand the reasons why the plant reacts in a certain way when this technique is applied.

All the experts say don't pull any leaves off as the plant won't grow without them, yet they seem to do the opposite. It does appear to induce a growth spurt with twice as many leaves growing back to replace the ones that were removed, how is this possible though when you have removed so many of the leaves to start with? If you've removed the thing that makes them grow, how can they possibly grow?

I am just guessing that there is a hormonal response to a plant being defoliated, just the same as it would if a branch were removed or growing tip? That response to regrow the leaves must be being fueled by some source other than the leaves which aren't there any more, so it must be a very big source to fuel that amount of growth in such a short time?

Is it tapping into the roots massive store of energy which it is saving for a rainy day? Or is the root mass still creating enough energy for a plant which should have twice as many leaves, could this be the source of energy for the extra growth?

If it's possible to manipulate these growth spurts by defoliating a plant, then it could possibly be advantageous to having them occur during flowering as it could force them to produce more flowers in these periods?

Personally, i don't think you would have to provide very much scientific grow conditions to two clones off the same plant,from the same nodes, to obtain the answers we are looking for.

at the end one will weigh more than the other, or they will both be about the same weight.

wheres op @ dammit? time to get this pahrtay started

joe macclennan said:

wheres op @ dammit? time to get this pahrtay started

Click to expand...

I agree, and come to think of it I can't recall seeing where the specifics of the grow were talked about. I know the strain is Alquimista, but not the lighting, space, nutes, medium etc. That would be good to know. If I missed it somewhere I apologize...

Why not pinch one half of a plant and let the other half not be defoliated? You would have to center the plant under the light so that both halves are equidistant from the bulb, of course.

subbed. looking forward to the results OP

ETA my vote: level canopy

Really glad to see that someone is actually running a science-minded trial. Like several others on this thread, I'm very anxious to see your results.

Yooo Prof.... you need to release an update to quell the masses. We gettin' hungry.

Im sure it went well for him

I just checked and he hasn't even logged in, in a week. It also appears that he disabled private messaging...
Hope he is ok, and just dealing with some personal stuff, and not just giving up on the experiment.

After a bunch of reading I decided to see for myself.
I've got a tent with clones all from same mother, under same lights, nutes etc.
I took 2 of the plants and trimmed al the fans, and leaves not coming directly from bud sites.
The plants are 2 wks into flower, and is a strain I have run for a while now, so Im pretty familiar with how they grow and what they produce.
Now, I know this doesn't meet a lot of peoples scientific guidelines for a test. But we're not building nukes, just growing a plant.
The 1st dy after, they didn't look too happy. But now at 3 dys after trim, they're looking pretty good.
Looking forward to see how they are at a wk from trimming.

I think I have done a pretty good job.
The leaves are in a seperate bag and everything.


They callin me!

If Prof did start the clones already, it's definitely been too long for an update. This messes up the whole thing evidence-wise. We need pics at regular intervals to prove anything. For all we know, he could have got them started, trimmed them, and let them refoliate by now. Then again... maybe my sense of time with this whole "experiment" is very, very off.

Yeah, it's probably just that.

natro.hydro said:

[video=youtube;xYq7CuVpAeo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYq7CuVpAeo[/video]

You must not be looking very hard neo, not jumping on your jock, but it is out there. And would consider this guy to be pretty reputable... depending on who you are of course, everyones got haters.

Click to expand...

With the aid of his paperback fiction books Jorge has spread more falsehoods and myths than perhaps any other hippy alive

I have noticed that Jorge does indeed seem to be held in high-esteem by newbies and old folk (fellow hippies) from the swinging 60s

Some newbies also hold Arjan in high esteem pointing to all the cannabis cups he has won as evidence of what a great breeder he is

peace

skunkd0c said:

With the aid of his paperback fiction books Jorge has spread more falsehoods and myths than perhaps any other hippy alive

I have noticed that Jorge does indeed seem to be held in high-esteem by newbies and old folk (fellow hippies) from the swinging 60s

Some newbies also hold Arjan in high esteem pointing to all the cannabis cups he has won as evidence of what a great breeder he is

peace

Click to expand...

I admit, I am confused. Are you saying he is spreading falsehoods and myths by suggesting NOT to defoliate? Couched statements make my head spin...

I suppose by calling his books fiction, I have my answer. I assume you have "tested" these theories... Those with experience are the best educators. Hoping you school me by showing some pics...

Well atleast give him a little credit, he knows more than your average bear about growing.... Just glad he did not have those fake dreads on or I would have thought twice about using it as a source lol. He may be wrong about some details, but by and large botany is botany is botany..... so he aint a bad place to start. It was more to show dude that he was being biased in his research clearly. Have a nice day homie

Cascadian said:

I admit, I am confused. Are you saying he is spreading falsehoods and myths by suggesting NOT to defoliate? Couched statements make my head spin...

I suppose by calling his books fiction, I have my answer. I assume you have "tested" these theories... Those with experience are the best educators. Hoping you school me by showing some pics...

Click to expand...

skunkdoc is pro defoliation

joe macclennan said:

skunkdoc is pro defoliation

Click to expand...

Translation: He's one of them.....
Just busting balls I don't give a hoot either way, could piss on your plants and say the golden shower makes them get more resin for all I care....

joe macclennan said:

skunkdoc is pro defoliation

Click to expand...

Ok, damn my head finally stopped spinning... I am running a test of my own right now, not for the benefit of anyone else but just to satisfy my own curiosity. So far I cannot say anything negative about defoliation, except that I think it may slow them down a tad. I like the way my JillyBean is developing after the defoliation.