I'm growing a autoflower lsd strain and they are on day 49 now. I cut a few of the big leaves a few days ago to get more exposure. I was told defoliation was removing all the leaves and pruning/trimming is remove a couple at a time. About 10% to 20% a week. Does that sound right? Do yall think it be okay if I removed a few more leave after a week? I dont want to stunt them. I think this auto strain is a long growing strain too. Took 6 weeks before I started seeing preflower. The middle picture is one I trimmed a bit a few days ago.. like maybe 4 or 5 leaves. The bottom pic is one I took about 4 leaves from too, but its much bushier than her counterpart. These pics were taken about day 47/48
Trimming a couple leaves
- Thread starter gemini_ranger
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My first time
I forgot to mention this is my first time ever growing something.. so all help wouod be welcomed!
Personally I only remove leaves if they cant be tucked and are blocking bud sites. That said you can remove as many as you please and the plant will be fine.
I only remove ones that are blocking bud sites. Im too scared to go all over like that.
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So when I trim I begin from the bottom up removing thin branches that don't reach the canopy with everything else. If it's a large plant then I may remove leaves that are bunched together to mitigate spaces that mold could form in.
I think you should have trimmed from the bottom up, it looks like you did the inverse.
Is that plant in the last pic sick? I see something on a leaf.
?
Dang, did I mess up the growth for doing inverse. When I was reading about what to do it said to cut the big fans that are done growing and blocking bud sites. And yes that last plant is. I posted about it on another thread to see whats going on with it. Its mostly towards the bottom of the plant. But I started to notice spots on the higher ones. I think two different problems with this one plant. Phosphorus and calcium deficiency. Im not sure tho. I was told she just need some nutrients so I gave them some big bloom and tiger bloom yesterday. This plant is the only one with organic soil.. fox farm happy frog. The other is on ocean blend and she has not spots
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I think every grower should get it out of their head that budsites photosynthesize when it is the fan leaves that do. Light passes through leaves to some degree, defoliation is a nice mechanical method of keeping pest/pathogens away while improving air circulation. Greenhouses uses destratification fans to move air around in a way that gets air all through the plants, commercially it's for the aforementioned purposes. Light intensity is stronger and depending on the lights in general the amount of penetration varies. Plus, I see no reason to create extra stress where it isn't necessary.
I don't think you messed up too bad but it's something to know for the future. I always consider a couple of things before I remove biomass - is the plant healthy? Can I guarantee it will be to harvest? Is my environment being consistent? Are there any deficiencies? Pest?
I've had plants that were doing well, right at the end of the stretch start yellowing from the bottom up after I had done a defoliation. I ended up without enough leaves to finish with a significant harvest. I prefer stressing a plant out as little as possible only topping once, bottom pruning branches in spaced out segments, and LST with nets. My sativas aren't the leafiest so I rarely remove leaves. Harder for pest, pathogens, climate, or deficiency to destroy a healthy plant.
Sorry I can't be of much help, not a soil grower
Thanks for the help, im hoping I didnt mess up too much. From the grow journal I seen someone growing with my strain, they didn't harvest until like week 15/16. I on week 7 now and indidnt defoliation. I just cut a couple leaves.. def didn't clear out of of them. Im probably going to leave alone now. See i didn't know that, everywhere I looked it talked about getting more light to the bud site so it can grow. Didnt say anything about the fans helping the budsites grow ughhh. But like insaid I might only be half way through the process. It just started oreflower last week or so.
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The defoliation culture started with Photoperiod plants where there is some validity to pruning leaves. Their controllable flowering trigger allows a lot of time for leaf regrowth. Autos go through life too fast. Every leaf they spend time and energy growing is done for a reason. They create energy for the plant to grow flowers. Leaves store minerals and the sugars they create for later use by the plant. Mother nature does not defoliate intentionally why should we? I just pulled 46oz from six plants in 90 days! I did not defoliate the plants at all.
Dangit, now I regret it. Im glad I didn't go all out and only cut like 4 of the big fans. Not doing anymore. Man that's a lot. Hopefully I can get to that level. Do you know what's going on with my plants. Two are looking like flowering while the other two dont. Its been this way before I trimmed a few leaves. Do they look ok for day 51? These are three different plants. The top looking like its budding and the bottom two plants don't really look so.
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