I was not intending to put anyone down. I was trying to help elevate the plants and results. Everyone has their own grow style and the "most efficient" is not necessarily the best for you. It's a mix of art and science. There is a technical A > B equation for everything, but that doesn't mean that is what you want. I just share info and others can consume it and do what they please.[/QUOTE]
, a longtime friend that I am assisting in his grows. I have him LST'ing to keep the canopy low. This is his first grow and after he gains some confidence I want him to do a Scrog. He is on a scrapping budget so I loaned him my SS400 LED, which I could really use right now, LOL. He is growing in a very light soil blend and is very cautious in his waterings, to cautious.
I took this two weeks ago when I had the plants at my house while he had some surgery. He has since begun watering on my schedule and the plant is about three times the size now.
I agree MMG, your right before the defo it looked good. My last grow was G13 Haze, 5 plants, here is the results from that grow. It was grown the same method as this current grow.
I use defo and like my results, don't know if I would call it dramatic.
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Its important to note that a plants structure will grow towards the light source, the plant will put leaves where it needs them. Adding more light anywhere is a good thing, but there will be no benefit over a vertical or horizontal light. A vertical light the plant will grow taller to make sure it is making best use of the whole length of the light. A horizontal one it will grow more bushy and outwards. It will still absorb the same amount of light and will be very little difference in gram per watt. I have a led above the plants and a CFL on a lamp stand on the floor in the middle of the room. I do this not because I want light lower down but because I have no room above and I want a mix of wavelengths of light. Plants will respond to their environment quickly, the only thing that will increase yield is more light, where you put that light has no influence on yield (with exceptions, but obvious ones like make sure the plant can actually get the light). What can have an effect is adding a light somewhere there was not one before. This is because the plant has already structured itself towards the existing light, it makes sense to put the added light where the plant has already grown to make use of the existing light (if that makes sense). Main point is, shining light on a bud does not make it mature, plant sugars are mobile and leaves are just sugar factories and the plant will send them sugars to the apical bud because that is the bud with the most growth hormone because it is the top of the plant. All that being said, there are some times it may be of benefit to defoliate, but that would be if you have mold infecting leaves. You plant will respond to is own environment, as long as you have humidity, airflow and temp under control your plant will know where it needs leaves. Even 'lollypopping' to reduce mold and bugs being a problem, this is only a problem if one or more of the 3 things above are not adiquitly controlled, otherwise you are just adding stress and time to your grow. So only during veg should you ever defoliate, and even then it should only be to train the plant to grow a specific way such as LST and always give the plant time to decide where it wants its leaves to grow back before flowering.
Its important to note that a plants structure will grow towards the light source, the plant will put leaves where it needs them. Adding more light anywhere is a good thing, but there will be no benefit over a vertical or horizontal light. A vertical light the plant will grow taller to make sure it is making best use of the whole length of the light. A horizontal one it will grow more bushy and outwards. It will still absorb the same amount of light and will be very little difference in gram per watt. I have a led above the plants and a CFL on a lamp stand on the floor in the middle of the room. I do this not because I want light lower down but because I have no room above and I want a mix of wavelengths of light. Plants will respond to their environment quickly, the only thing that will increase yield is more light, where you put that light has no influence on yield (with exceptions, but obvious ones like make sure the plant can actually get the light). What can have an effect is adding a light somewhere there was not one before. This is because the plant has already structured itself towards the existing light, it makes sense to put the added light where the plant has already grown to make use of the existing light (if that makes sense). Main point is, shining light on a bud does not make it mature, plant sugars are mobile and leaves are just sugar factories and the plant will send them sugars to the apical bud because that is the bud with the most growth hormone because it is the top of the plant. All that being said, there are some times it may be of benefit to defoliate, but that would be if you have mold infecting leaves. You plant will respond to is own environment, as long as you have humidity, airflow and temp under control your plant will know where it needs leaves. Even 'lollypopping' to reduce mold and bugs being a problem, this is only a problem if one or more of the 3 things above are not adiquitly controlled, otherwise you are just adding stress and time to your grow. So only during veg should you ever defoliate, and even then it should only be to train the plant to grow a specific way such as LST and always give the plant time to decide where it wants its leaves to grow back before flowering.
As for a controversial topic, without debate there would be no progress! The best thing about the cannabis community is all debate is usually a friendly and well intentioned affair.
This topic will never be settled outside of science because there are so many variables people attribute to something they intentionally did. Like yielding a pound after defoliating, but I can assure you in a case like that it is another variable and not the defolianting which will have achieved it.
I approach growing as a 'science', that's how I ENJOY growing. Others enjoy growing as a 'gardener', in which case I can see why defoliating would be enjoyable to them. And the main thing is that what ever you do, you enjoy the whole growing process
If you want to have bigger apical bud / buds then removing lower buds (not the leaves) will could help achieve this, but you will be doing two things which will have an impact on overall yield. Removing buds you plant will do one of two things, 1) Divert hormone from the apical but to the lower bud site you have removed in order to try to regrow it 2) Spend energy trying to heal. Once in flower the plant is on a schedule, any damage will stall growth for a couple of days at least whilst it does one of the two things above. If you are going to remove anything it has to be during veg and the plant has to have enough time to get back to a state of homeostasis.Great topic, folks, and some really good info getting passed around here.
OK, here is my situation and question: I am growing 5 plants (4x Big Bud, 1x Northern Lights) using the Nebula mainlining/manifold technique http://www.growweedeasy.com/manifold . Followed it to the letter, and my reward so far is an even layer of bud sites, 8 per plant. I have a few weeks more to veg them in, and they are filling out nicely. I raised the lights higher so they will stretch (they are indicas which don't grow very tall). Nutes, regular watering, CO2, good temps.....they are good and healthy.
Almost all the tutorials I have read advise defoliating the lower branches before switching to flower light cycle. The posters here make a compelling point that the plant itself will decide what it doesn't need, and shed the growth, while the healthy leaves gather light and energy...so why defoliate at all?
Frankly, that makes sense to me. What I wonder about though, is should I nip the additional bud sites that crop up, and just leave the leaves as they are? I don't want to take any flowering energy away from the 8 main buds...OR take away the energy/light gathering fan leaves.
Thoughts?
I do think it is worth noting though, it is not the end of the world if you decide to try, so I would allow this one to just be itself and then maybe on your next run try it and see if you like the difference. Like I said earlier, a gardener is more inclined to go for athletics the yield. A scientist will go for yield over aesthetics. You can see the difference between say WA recreational cannabis (aesthetics) and NM medical cannabis (yield) in the way it is grown.
By science I don't mean test tubes, I mean nature
I agree MMG, your right before the defo it looked good. My last grow was G13 Haze, 5 plants, here is the results from that grow. It was grown the same method as this current grow.
