New Grower Defoliation????

[SkatterBrayne]

I have been experimenting with autos and stress levels recently. Here are some ings I have noticed.

1) Lollipopping

- I removed the bottom two branches from a few of my plants after their growth spurt as they entered flowering. It took about 5-7 days to recover, some phenos recovered faster than others. Many of the buds were very airy, particularly on the phenotypes that showed a low tolerance for stress.

2) Mass Defoliating
- after doing large scale exfoliation on a few plants, they seemed stunted for about 3 days, and began to regain their form. I wouldn't advise defoliating a large number of leaves in a single session

3) frequent small scale Defoliating
- while LST training my plants, after I tied them down I would cut one or two larger fan leaves, to keep my dense canopy cleaner, while exposing lower branches to light. The plants recovered immediately, and showed daily growth and strong health.


It is important to note that I grow in hydro, with heavy use of potassium silicate for stress resistance, as well as beneficial microbes to strengthen the plant. That being , I would encourage small, but frequent defoliation:smoke: if your plants are happy and healthy. It shouldn't slow them down at all, from my experience (With strong, vigorous growing strains atleast.)

At the end of the day, it comes down to the gardener and their style. Mileage may vary

 

[Kman1965]

I have been experimenting with autos and stress levels recently. Here are some ings I have noticed.

1) Lollipopping

- I removed the bottom two branches from a few of my plants after their growth spurt as they entered flowering. It took about 5-7 days to recover, some phenos recovered faster than others. Many of the buds were very airy, particularly on the phenotypes that showed a low tolerance for stress.

2) Mass Defoliating
- after doing large scale exfoliation on a few plants, they seemed stunted for about 3 days, and began to regain their form. I wouldn't advise defoliating a large number of leaves in a single session

3) frequent small scale Defoliating
- while LST training my plants, after I tied them down I would cut one or two larger fan leaves, to keep my dense canopy cleaner, while exposing lower branches to light. The plants recovered immediately, and showed daily growth and strong health.


It is important to note that I grow in hydro, with heavy use of potassium silicate for stress resistance, as well as beneficial microbes to strengthen the plant. That being , I would encourage small, but frequent defoliation:smoke: if your plants are happy and healthy. It shouldn't slow them down at all, from my experience (With strong, vigorous growing strains atleast.)

At the end of the day, it comes down to the gardener and their style. Mileage may vary

Awesome Post!

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Oh, I should also note that while rearranging my setup I snapped the main stem of one girl almost clean in half. She was literally hanging on by a thread. I slapped some aluminum foil on her, after maybe 10 days she came back to life.. she actually grew an additional 2 nodes. She is very far behind the others, but exceptionally frosty. Autoflowers are more resilient than they used to be, especially if you are using strong plants (Dinefem and DP s strains all seem to be Sherman tanks from what I have seen)

 

[hank]

The plant makes them for a reason.
It does not matter if you believe Jesus made them or evolution.
draws the same answer.
Leave them. Bigger stonger plants grow more of everything.
Want few leaves well that will get you smaller nugs.
Big heavy cola arms dont really come from plants that get defoliation nugs do.
I like cola arms.

Loopy pop is different.

 

[Bromeo]

Y'all may think I'm nuts but I've got a grow or two under my belt now and I've noticed the plants tell you what fans they want to drop and what fans they don't. I mean ever damage a branch and notice the fan attached to that branch withers and falls off within 48 hours? Its either gives it energy to heal the branch or focus it elsewhere. If fans become yellow, weak and withered early in the grow and your plant is otherwise healthy...well your plant is telling you something. If you lightly fuss with a weak looking fan and it plops off then there ya go. Natures defoliation. Go chopping and cutting them and well ya get what ya get. A slow growing freaked out stressed out plant that going to take time to recover. Does anyone really think those little sugar leaves are gong to really feed that plant as well as a big fat healthy fan?

 

[WEEDOSHI]

The plant makes them for a reason.
It does not matter if you believe Jesus made them or evolution.
draws the same answer.
Leave them. Bigger stonger plants grow more of everything.
Want few leaves well that will get you smaller nugs.
Big heavy cola arms dont really come from plants that get defoliation nugs do.
I like cola arms.

Loopy pop is different.

This.

I don't understand peoples logic. People think trimming healthy leafs from the bottom of the plant will make the top of the plant grow bigger and better. While for some people say this may be true, the reality is, the plants cola's do not have a magic system to automatically convert sunlight into a readily available form of energy for the plant - the sunlight/light is sent down to the roots for processing, then sent back up accordingly where growth and development is needed as a form of energy and nutrients.

Trimming is a no go for me.

 

[GoAuto6]

This.

I don't understand peoples logic. People think trimming healthy leafs from the bottom of the plant will make the top of the plant grow bigger and better. While for some people say this may be true, the reality is, the plants cola's do not have a magic system to automatically convert sunlight into a readily available form of energy for the plant - the sunlight/light is sent down to the roots for processing, then sent back up accordingly where growth and development is needed as a form of energy and nutrients.

Trimming is a no go for me.

I don't understand peoples logic

Walk a mile in there shoes, it's relative to space and time! dependent on your location relative to the opposite posters space and time.. :GoooAuto:

 

[Epic Genetics]

This.

I don't understand peoples logic. People think trimming healthy leafs from the bottom of the plant will make the top of the plant grow bigger and better. While for some people say this may be true, the reality is, the plants cola's do not have a magic system to automatically convert sunlight into a readily available form of energy for the plant - the sunlight/light is sent down to the roots for processing, then sent back up accordingly where growth and development is needed as a form of energy and nutrients.

Trimming is a no go for me.

i agree

 

[Epic Genetics]

Walk a mile in there shoes, it's relative to space and time! dependent on your location relative to the opposite posters space and time.. :GoooAuto:

i cant agree

imo it all comes down to people starting and people falling for "myth"

simple biology explains it all and actually its easy to find explanation on what each of those leaves do and what part of the plant they feed , and yes some of those leaves send goodness to the plants ROOTS

ppl argue that we feed the plants what they need so there is no need for leaves , that imho is FOOLISH talk , the leaves + light (photosynthesis) CONVERT the nutes we give into what the plant needs , so how ya gunna get that to happen without leaves ? no leaves= no photosynthesis and you may as well pour your nutes straight down the drain because your plant sure aint using most of em

would any of you remove 2 spark plugs from your car in hopes it performed better ?

i didnt think so

peace

 

[WEEDOSHI]

i cant agree
would any of you remove 2 spark plugs from your car in hopes it performed better ?

Just made my day, LMFAO.

But b0b there might be a valid justification for removing lower leafs. Some larger grows do not get good light penetration to lower leaves and trimming in such case is justified because the plant is investing energy into keeping that leaf alive, regardless of whether it's actually doing any photosynthesis or not, if the said leaf is trimmed its better for the plant as it can invest its resources and energy into a more important aspect of itself, ie: buds.

Plants can still also (technically and biologically speaking) carry out photosynthesis during the night cycle using a special storage/release system. Interesting read actually: Photosynthesis Study Guide - Dark Reactions