Afraid to defoliate this late.

[Elroyyboy]

Hey folks
New to autoflowers, not to growing. I’ve got 5 G13 labs Berry Auto in OF and Perlite. Pretty heavily trained. Under HLG320 XL R spec at around 16-18”.
They’re 50 or so days into what breeder says is a 70 day strain and about 25 days into flower. I know 70 days doesn’t mean a lot and that I should follow trichrome development. They’ve been flowering about 25 days.
They’re so bushy but I’m afraid to defoliate much more this late in the game. And many of the leaves are becoming sugar leaves as they’re being overtaken by bud development.
Tell me, defoliate or feed and go on.
Thanks.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Hey folks
New to autoflowers, not to growing. I’ve got 5 G13 labs Berry Auto in OF and Perlite. Pretty heavily trained. Under HLG320 XL R spec at around 16-18”.
They’re 50 or so days into what breeder says is a 70 day strain and about 25 days into flower. I know 70 days doesn’t mean a lot and that I should follow trichrome development. They’ve been flowering about 25 days.
They’re so bushy but I’m afraid to defoliate much more this late in the game. And many of the leaves are becoming sugar leaves as they’re being overtaken by bud development.
Tell me, defoliate or feed and go on.
Thanks. View attachment 1257089View attachment 1257090View attachment 1257091View attachment 1257092

@Elroyyboy Welcome to AFN. I do not defoliate except for airflow in the lower part of the plant and only if needed. The energy for the plant to make flowers comes from the leaves - more leaves - more energy - bigger better flowers.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Hey folks
New to autoflowers, not to growing. I’ve got 5 G13 labs Berry Auto in OF and Perlite. Pretty heavily trained. Under HLG320 XL R spec at around 16-18”.
They’re 50 or so days into what breeder says is a 70 day strain and about 25 days into flower. I know 70 days doesn’t mean a lot and that I should follow trichrome development. They’ve been flowering about 25 days.
They’re so bushy but I’m afraid to defoliate much more this late in the game. And many of the leaves are becoming sugar leaves as they’re being overtaken by bud development.
Tell me, defoliate or feed and go on.
Thanks. View attachment 1257089View attachment 1257090View attachment 1257091View attachment 1257092

What are you trying to accomplish by defoliation? Do you not have enough air circulation or high humidity?

Imo, I'd leave them alone and keep doing what you've been doing. They look really good

I'm a little over halfway through a grow that I packed tight and did not defoliate. Ive been at 75-80f and 55-60% humidity the majority of time.

I see you have an exhale bag. Is the room sealed?

 

[Elroyyboy]

What are you trying to accomplish by defoliation? Do you not have enough air circulation or high humidity?

Imo, I'd leave them alone and keep doing what you've been doing. They look really good

I'm a little over halfway through a grow that I packed tight and did not defoliate. Ive been at 75-80f and 55-60% humidity the majority of time.

I see you have an exhale bag. Is the room sealed?

I I’ve got good air circular and no issues. It just seems awfully bushy. I didn’t want to impede further flower development. Most any leaf that is covering a bus site is a sugar leaf for another bud so I don’t really guess I could trim those.
thanks.

 

[Elroyyboy]

I I’ve got good air circular and no issues. It just seems awfully bushy. I didn’t want to impede further flower development. Most any leaf that is covering a bus site is a sugar leaf for another bud so I don’t really guess I could trim those.
thanks.

And no. It’s not sealed. Just a large piece of panda film floor to ceiling as a partition to rest of room. I rotate the plants directly under it.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I I’ve got good air circular and no issues. It just seems awfully bushy. I didn’t want to impede further flower development. Most any leaf that is covering a bus site is a sugar leaf for another bud so I don’t really guess I could trim those.
thanks.

Leaves don't block light to the extent that they need to be removed to 'improve' bud sites. The plants look good. If anything I would I would prune lower branches that won't produce well

And no. It’s not sealed. Just a large piece of panda film floor to ceiling as a partition to rest of room. I rotate the plants directly under it.

I ask because if you are exhausting the air from that shave you aren't getting any benefit from the bags. C02 enhancements should be in sealed controlled environment

 

[Elroyyboy]

Yeah. The room is sealed from the rest of the house. I know I’m not gaining any measurable benefit but I’m an Army retiree who goes to music shows 150 times a year and hasn’t done that since March, so $40 didn’t dent my budget too much.
I’m going to build my next place. Shouse. Shop/House combined. I’ll have a sealed safe room where I can hide all kinds of goodies and gadgets, among them independent HVAC and CO2.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Yeah. The room is sealed from the rest of the house. I know I’m not gaining any measurable benefit but I’m an Army retiree who goes to music shows 150 times a year and hasn’t done that since March, so $40 didn’t dent my budget too much.
I’m going to build my next place. Shouse. Shop/House combined. I’ll have a sealed safe room where I can hide all kinds of goodies and gadgets, among them independent HVAC and CO2.

Actually letting the air from your living space feed the grow space can raise the Co². With just my wife and I it can go up as much as 50 points. Then in the winter when we run the gas oven a lot more than summer it can go as high as 475 PPM compared to outdoors here is usually ~400 PPM. I tried to do Co² with a tank and controllers and other environmental tweaks; It was a waste of time, money and effort. The increased yield on 6 plants was paltry.

Doing a real grow room with total climate control, 60 DLI then you can expect up to 20% increase. You still need the underlying volume of plants to make that pay for the power to run the AC, dehumidifiers and gas. If you have natural gas then that is a minor expense.

Have fun and hopefully you'll be back to music by the middle of next year.

 

[Elroyyboy]

Hey y’all. Thanks for piping in and giving me some guidance. Spent some time with the girls today and snapped a few pics. Guess they’re on day 56 or 70.