The zip tie is sorta inbetween defoliation and tucking w/o the hassel
Defoliation for light penetration works there is no doubt about it some defoliate to promote multi branching,
but.... the question is w/ an auto dom strain does the plant have the extra time to recoup from the stress for the vigorous growing phases before sexing occurs like may be done w/ a conventional 12/12 plant
the usuall consciencous would be don't alter growth of an auto due to chances of stressing..this is a valid coincern but at the same time can be grosely overexagerated compaired to real stress occured
so far every technique used had surpassed growth of control
Lets quickly discuss the "tuck method"
this is a good balance for ones believing it is "ridiculous" to remove healthy leafs to promote larger growth
while this seems a simple and straightforward thought it doesn't appear to be that simple??
When one "tucks instead of removing fan leaf which block lower growth
This gets rather labor intensive because you need to rotate around the plant and "tuck" the leaf under the shoot beneath it so it will recieve the light better but it must be done on a daily some times more often basis because the leaf will naturally push back to position
Lets look at the zip tie method
in this method i was looking for inbetween constantly tucking branches tilll they surpass the lower canopy or defoliating upper leaf to increase light to lower portion
the zip tie holds larger branches and leaf up and allows light to hit lower branches but plant recieves less possible stress from plucking leaf and the zip tied leaf are still absorbing important energy this way
i have defoliated one side of a plant to show dif in buds before
And now the defoliation technique
wellllll.... this one is funny it has many levels of severity
in some cases the discussion is stripping the plant to a couple of stems left
well this severe isn't what were looking for here just enough that the lower branches aren't shaded
in most cases especially the bushier variety you will see a branch lengthen and about three leaf take the place in a short time
this is why i am most interrestd to play w/ the auto tendency in genetics it has great survival potential
and as can be seen the plant quickly replaces the growth lost and the plant is actually larger than the control after a couple of days
see more surface area of leaf is hit than when shading fan leaf are present
in nature fan leaf is the first sacrifice the plant will try to make from predators to environment the fan leaf is first alert security system and sacrifice to survive for the plant
For a thought about defoliation
We need to start w/ an idea in our head about the plant structure
i describe to newer gardners to imagine the roots look like another tree underground
w/this picture you can quickly see the idea that for every leaf there is a opposite root
this root will grow larger to accomidate for the demands
well the thought is w/ defoliation that once the plant has acquired that growth and then removed there is the oppertunity to ride the stress wave so to speak
while the plant is diverting energy to various parts of the plant if a stress is percieved the plant will drive to fix it
in this case it would now have the added energy from larger leaf being removed to push into the newer growth and have the chance of shooting a bud where there was a leaf
the peoblem is this really in a grow room you won't get the same even light distribution you would from the sun so the plant will slow growth from smaller less lighted areas and increase where light is stronger of course
that is a 1000watter above them and if i put the light meter in the foliage there is little light compaired to the outer layer
ok we will start there
Defoliation for light penetration works there is no doubt about it some defoliate to promote multi branching,
but.... the question is w/ an auto dom strain does the plant have the extra time to recoup from the stress for the vigorous growing phases before sexing occurs like may be done w/ a conventional 12/12 plant
the usuall consciencous would be don't alter growth of an auto due to chances of stressing..this is a valid coincern but at the same time can be grosely overexagerated compaired to real stress occured
so far every technique used had surpassed growth of control
Lets quickly discuss the "tuck method"
this is a good balance for ones believing it is "ridiculous" to remove healthy leafs to promote larger growth
while this seems a simple and straightforward thought it doesn't appear to be that simple??
When one "tucks instead of removing fan leaf which block lower growth
This gets rather labor intensive because you need to rotate around the plant and "tuck" the leaf under the shoot beneath it so it will recieve the light better but it must be done on a daily some times more often basis because the leaf will naturally push back to position
Lets look at the zip tie method
in this method i was looking for inbetween constantly tucking branches tilll they surpass the lower canopy or defoliating upper leaf to increase light to lower portion
the zip tie holds larger branches and leaf up and allows light to hit lower branches but plant recieves less possible stress from plucking leaf and the zip tied leaf are still absorbing important energy this way
i have defoliated one side of a plant to show dif in buds before
And now the defoliation technique
wellllll.... this one is funny it has many levels of severity
in some cases the discussion is stripping the plant to a couple of stems left
well this severe isn't what were looking for here just enough that the lower branches aren't shaded
in most cases especially the bushier variety you will see a branch lengthen and about three leaf take the place in a short time
this is why i am most interrestd to play w/ the auto tendency in genetics it has great survival potential
and as can be seen the plant quickly replaces the growth lost and the plant is actually larger than the control after a couple of days
see more surface area of leaf is hit than when shading fan leaf are present
in nature fan leaf is the first sacrifice the plant will try to make from predators to environment the fan leaf is first alert security system and sacrifice to survive for the plant
For a thought about defoliation
We need to start w/ an idea in our head about the plant structure
i describe to newer gardners to imagine the roots look like another tree underground
w/this picture you can quickly see the idea that for every leaf there is a opposite root
this root will grow larger to accomidate for the demands
well the thought is w/ defoliation that once the plant has acquired that growth and then removed there is the oppertunity to ride the stress wave so to speak
while the plant is diverting energy to various parts of the plant if a stress is percieved the plant will drive to fix it
in this case it would now have the added energy from larger leaf being removed to push into the newer growth and have the chance of shooting a bud where there was a leaf
the peoblem is this really in a grow room you won't get the same even light distribution you would from the sun so the plant will slow growth from smaller less lighted areas and increase where light is stronger of course
that is a 1000watter above them and if i put the light meter in the foliage there is little light compaired to the outer layer
ok we will start there
