Defoliation side by side - discussion welcome

curious2garden said:

Defoliation definition from Dictionary.com:

1. to strip (a tree, bush, etc.) of leaves.
2. to destroy or cause widespread loss of leaves in (an area of jungle, forest, etc.), as by using chemical sprays or incendiary bombs, in order to deprive enemy troops or guerrilla forces of concealment.

Prune definition from Dictionary.com:

trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth.​

Click to expand...

I absolutely agree, I used a wrong term. Defoliation and pruning have been used as synonyms on many forums, and I never checked the meaning from a dictionary. I will know what terms to use in the future

Definitely following this! Thanks for the thread!

Mini Update, end of week 7
Not much has changed, however there has been a little bulking. 20% of trichomas are milky, most are clear and there's no amber trichs yet.

Attached picture has a side by side comparison with a 400ml bottle.

THE RESULTS ARE IN!!

This is the time you all have been waiting for, the product has been dried and has started the curing process. Overall I would say the test is a success, and I think I've done a good job at keeping all things equal. However, the results were not what I expected.

And the winner is.... Control group! (no defoliation)

Control group:
Plant 1: 142.5g
Plant 2: 148.0g
Plant 3: 133.0g
Total: 423.5g

Defoliation group:
Plant A: 137.5g
Plant B: 116.5g
Plant C: 130.0g
Total: 384.5g

Total yield 808 grams, 1.56g/w (average power draw during flowering)

Control group also had bigger flowers, less larfy shit, so it was easier to trim and has a better bag appeal.
My conclusion is, pruning plants for increased light penetration (during week 2 flowering) decreases yield. Mind you, this doesn't prove that pruning doesn't work to increase yields, and needs further studying and testing done using different techniques.

Next time I will be conducting a test of the lollipop technique.

Overall, I'm really happy with this grow, I smashed my goal of achieving 1 gram / watt, using my new "quantum board" lights, and I highly recommend these lights to anyone else.

Discuss, argue, point to me what I did wrong, so I can make better testing in the future.
Thanks for sticking with the ride!