Pruning vs no pruning experiment

[Death The Cultivator]

Studies have shown that root elongation essentially ceases within 24 hours after removal of approximately 50% or more of the shoot/leaf system and root mortality and decomposition may begin within 36-48 hours. Root respiration and nutrient acquisition are also reduced following defoliation, but to a lesser extent than root growth. Root respiration begins to decline within hours of defoliation and it may decrease substantially within 24 hours. In line with the reduction in root respiration following defoliation is a rapid reduction in nutrient absorption. Experiments conducted with perennial ryegrass growing in nutrient solution demonstrated that the rate of nitrate (NO3-) absorption began to decline within 30 minutes following removal of 70% of shoot biomass. NO3- absorption decreased to less than 40% of the pre-defoliation rate within 2 hours following defoliation. In these experiments, NO3- absorption continued to decline over the next 4-12 hours until it became negligible for 2 or 7 days before recovery began under high and low light intensities, respectively… Rapid reductions in root respiration and nutrient absorption following plant defoliation are proportional to the level of defoliation. That's from Briske, D. and Richards, J. (1995) Plant responses to defoliation A physiological, morphological and demographic evaluation]

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Let's talk about how being lazy has put me in the minimum defoliation camp - uhmmm I am too lazy to camp also. I have become more lazy with time and I really only defoliate a little bit for air flow purposes only. I started this because well I am lazy . Good airflow is a must for mold control so I put in the work for that. The thing is there has been a large improvement in the quality of my harvests since I quit heavy defoliation. To be fair I have changed other factors also with the addition of UVA. I am getting good yields of top shelf cannabis with very little defoliation. Like my Mama always said "The proof is in the puddin'".

 

[HashMaster]

I defol religiously... when I feel up to it

I start after the the first few sets of leaves and continue right up to swell

Might not work in other people's set ups but It works very well in my set up... but you have to be sure to keep up with it... I get noticeably higher yield and some nice frost

I prefer to grow frosty buds as opposed to fan leaves...

Here is a few examples of one's that I kept up with

Peace
Hash

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I defol religiously... when I feel up to it

I start after the the first few sets of leaves and continue right up to swell

Might not work in other people's set ups but It works very well in my set up... but you have to be sure to keep up with it... I get noticeably higher yield and some nice frost

I prefer to grow frosty buds as opposed to fan leaves...

Here is a few examples of one's that I kept up with

View attachment 1163239

View attachment 1163240

View attachment 1163241

Peace
Hash

Is the higher yield with autoflowers or clones? Have you done side by sides? The plants are beautiful I'm just curious to how growers attribute higher yield to leaf removal. It could be a number of factors done right but I haven't been able to find serious side by sides that aren't more than just anecdotal. Not criticizing you or anyone that does it but is yield the only factor or does quality factor in your opinion?

Again, the plants look great! I didn't even know you existed so thanks for sharing lol

 

[HashMaster]

Is the higher yield with autoflowers or clones? Have you done side by sides? The plants are beautiful I'm just curious to how growers attribute higher yield to leaf removal. It could be a number of factors done right but I haven't been able to find serious side by sides that aren't more than just anecdotal. Not criticizing you or anyone that does it but is yield the only factor or does quality factor in your opinion?

Again, the plants look great! I didn't even know you existed so thanks for sharing lol

I exist... lol.... I don't post much anymore due to old age catching up with me... my eyesight is now shot and I'm losing manual dexterity rapidly... but I am still breathing so I am still growing...



Those are all autos and each is a different strain.

I get even better results with defol on photos from seed but you have to go radical on photos and almost defol back to a bare stick... I doubt I could keep up on photos anymore which is fine since I love autos and haven't done a photo in several years.

April of this year marks 55 years that I have been continuously growing weed, so yes, I have done numerous side by sides and I have experimented with most everything that can be experimented with... including defol.

There are a few private breeder boards that I did defol tutorial grows on so they are documented out there.

And if I remember right I taught a couple of current mods here how to do this 3 or 4 years back...

Hey @Dudeski did I show you and a few others how I did this at one point a few years back or is my heavily medicated mind mixing up forums ?

Anyway... Quality and flavor also seem to benefit greatly with my style of defol... I make lots of hash so I go for frost and yield and my style of defol enhances both greatly.

I routinely get 8 to 10 zips from a midsize auto and will easily top a pound with at least one or two midsize each year. With Small strains I average around 4 zips.... and I just finished up a 1.4 lb GG4 last grow

I hold the weight records for a few strains each from several different breeders... most are on private forums but if you are on Stones forum ask him if this is still the case: the last I knew I held the weight record for 4 or 5 of his strains. And I only grew 4 or 5 of his strains.

Needless to say it took a couple of years to dial it all in to get these results.

I used to joke around with @trailanimal about someday doing this to an AU so I can break a kg with an indoor auto grow.... might still try it if I keep breathing long enough... who knows.

I lost all my cool badges when they switched servers and I'm too old to worry about earning anymore... I do miss my LB badge... but I'd really like a kg auto badge.... hahaha :smoking:

Peace
Hash

 

[trailanimal]

I exist... lol.... I don't post much anymore due to old age catching up with me... my eyesight is now shot and I'm losing manual dexterity rapidly... but I am still breathing so I am still growing...



Those are all autos and each is a different strain.

I get even better results with defol on photos from seed but you have to go radical on photos and almost defol back to a bare stick... I doubt I could keep up on photos anymore which is fine since I love autos and haven't done a photo in several years.

April of this year marks 55 years that I have been continuously growing weed, so yes, I have done numerous side by sides and I have experimented with most everything that can be experimented with... including defol.

There are a few private breeder boards that I did defol tutorial grows on so they are documented out there.

And if I remember right I taught a couple of current mods here how to do this 3 or 4 years back...

Hey @Dudeski did I show you and a few others how I did this at one point a few years back or is my heavily medicated mind mixing up forums ?

Anyway... Quality and flavor also seem to benefit greatly with my style of defol... I make lots of hash so I go for frost and yield and my style of defol enhances both greatly.

I routinely get 8 to 10 zips from a midsize auto and will easily top a pound with at least one or two midsize each year. With Small strains I average around 4 zips.... and I just finished up a 1.4 lb GG4 last grow

I hold the weight records for a few strains each from several different breeders... most are on private forums but if you are on Stones forum ask him if this is still the case: the last I knew I held the weight record for 4 or 5 of his strains. And I only grew 4 or 5 of his strains.

Needless to say it took a couple of years to dial it all in to get these results.

I used to joke around with @trailanimal about someday doing this to an AU so I can break a kg with an indoor auto grow.... might still try it if I keep breathing long enough... who knows.

I lost all my cool badges when they switched servers and I'm too old to worry about earning anymore... I do miss my LB badge... but I'd really like a kg auto badge.... hahaha :smoking:

Peace
Hash

I always picture your work in me brain. Kind of a litmus., Even though we have different grow styles you show the potential of every genetic you grow! My goal.....get my soil to do what your system does.

I defol throughout the life of a plant. Very lightly till flowers begin to form, unless there is an obvious circ problem, like a speck of powdery mildew. When flowering I defol some daily, keeping plants open for air and light. No question in my mind, more weed with defol.

 

[HashMaster]

I always picture your work in me brain. Kind of a litmus., Even though we have different grow styles you show the potential of every genetic you grow! My goal.....get my soil to do what your system does.

I defol throughout the life of a plant. Very lightly till flowers begin to form, unless there is an obvious circ problem, like a speck of powdery mildew. When flowering I defol some daily, keeping plants open for air and light. No question in my mind, more weed with defol.

Hey Trail !

I can do this in any medium, and back when I dialed this in and got fairly good at reading structure I was still growing in regular back yard dirt.

BUT I doubt I could even grow enough to stay mildly medicated in your conditions...

Hell I would have to relearn growing to do what you do, where you do it.

 

[trailanimal]

Hey Trail !

I can do this in any medium, and back when I dialed this in and got fairly good at reading structure I was still growing in regular back yard dirt.

BUT I doubt I could even grow enough to stay mildly medicated in your conditions...

Hell I would have to relearn growing to do what you do, where you do it.

.....I can do this in any medium....what I'm talk n about. this be the masterful part of
HashMaster

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I exist... lol.... I don't post much anymore due to old age catching up with me... my eyesight is now shot and I'm losing manual dexterity rapidly... but I am still breathing so I am still growing...



Those are all autos and each is a different strain.

I get even better results with defol on photos from seed but you have to go radical on photos and almost defol back to a bare stick... I doubt I could keep up on photos anymore which is fine since I love autos and haven't done a photo in several years.

April of this year marks 55 years that I have been continuously growing weed, so yes, I have done numerous side by sides and I have experimented with most everything that can be experimented with... including defol.

There are a few private breeder boards that I did defol tutorial grows on so they are documented out there.

And if I remember right I taught a couple of current mods here how to do this 3 or 4 years back...

Hey @Dudeski did I show you and a few others how I did this at one point a few years back or is my heavily medicated mind mixing up forums ?

Anyway... Quality and flavor also seem to benefit greatly with my style of defol... I make lots of hash so I go for frost and yield and my style of defol enhances both greatly.

I routinely get 8 to 10 zips from a midsize auto and will easily top a pound with at least one or two midsize each year. With Small strains I average around 4 zips.... and I just finished up a 1.4 lb GG4 last grow

I hold the weight records for a few strains each from several different breeders... most are on private forums but if you are on Stones forum ask him if this is still the case: the last I knew I held the weight record for 4 or 5 of his strains. And I only grew 4 or 5 of his strains.

Needless to say it took a couple of years to dial it all in to get these results.

I used to joke around with @trailanimal about someday doing this to an AU so I can break a kg with an indoor auto grow.... might still try it if I keep breathing long enough... who knows.

I lost all my cool badges when they switched servers and I'm too old to worry about earning anymore... I do miss my LB badge... but I'd really like a kg auto badge.... hahaha :smoking:

Peace
Hash

I will say this - you have beautiful plants that kept me up all morning. I don't doubt that you know what you are doing and impo why you get the results you do rather than because you defoliate. Not everyone can/will/know or even define or execute the process of defoliation the same.

We don't have SOPs to define quality beyond what we experience. High THC doesn't necessarily equal quality nor does yield from my pov but we leave variables on the table like sugar content. Does a high yield mean someone is getting top shelf? What does top shelf equate to? I'll smoke my own shitty weed before I smoke some rando's shitty weed lol.

I say all that, not argue, but to illustrate that it probably isn't something everyone should do especially for those that can't make it to harvest without burning their plants (I'm in this category lol). You said yourself you found something that works for your desired end product and that more important than following fads or trying to copy other growers.

 

[HashMaster]

I will say this - you have beautiful plants that kept me up all morning. I don't doubt that you know what you are doing and impo why you get the results you do rather than because you defoliate. Not everyone can/will/know or even define or execute the process of defoliation the same.

We don't have SOPs to define quality beyond what we experience. High THC doesn't necessarily equal quality nor does yield from my pov but we leave variables on the table like sugar content. Does a high yield mean someone is getting top shelf? What does top shelf equate to? I'll smoke my own shitty weed before I smoke some rando's shitty weed lol.

I say all that, not argue, but to illustrate that it probably isn't something everyone should do especially for those that can't make it to harvest without burning their plants (I'm in this category lol). You said yourself you found something that works for your desired end product and that more important than following fads or trying to copy other growers.

Agreed

Hell.... many people on this forum would kill their plants very early on if they tried to duplicate what I do start to finish. Especially if I was doing a goat shit grow or a tea grow.

I play with all variables through all the different stages... that's why it's sometimes hard for me to keep up anymore.

Besides....

Since you didn't know I existed you probably didn't see the million times that I have posted this following statement on the net:

There are dozens of different ways to grow our favorite weed, and dozens of variables within each method... But the correct way to grow weed is whatever works best for you.

It's just a damn weed... hard to kill and easy to manipulate... no need to copy anyone or tell someone this way or that way is right...

Some defol, some don't. Some flush, some don't. Some do 24/0 and some do 18/6.... everybody has to just find what works for them.

It just takes a few grows to get the hang of your own style and set up and then once one learns to read plants consistantly and dial in variables it actually gets routine and rather boring.

The only thing that excites me about grows anymore is close up frost pics... but unfortunately I suck at photography...

Ah yes... high thc... IMHO stout terp profiles are far more important than super high thc... both in medicinal and recreational applications.

Personally I will take an old affie with 12-15% thc and a great terp profile over 99% of the ultra high thc offerings that are currently out there.....

Oh yeah... almost forgot... If you have any interest in seeing how much of a haircut I give I think the last 2 or 3 posts of the thread i have in magics section will give you an idea... the color pic is overhead pre trim followed by the not color structure pics which are a while after a haircut but will still give you an idea.

I'll probably give them a trim again tomorrow.... oh and dont mind the tacos... I force fed them for 5 hours before I took the B&W pics today.



Peace
Hash