questions about selective defoliation, light rating, lumen output, and LST

[CBDseeker]

Hello, second time grower here

Due to phenotype, the 2 plants on the left of my tent are much shorter and much bushier.

as a result i feel like alot of bud sites are being covered by fan leaves and I wanted to know if its okay to take alot of them away. Here is a pic



here is a pic of left and right to see difference or if you think left could benefit from defoliation as well.



Next, my light is 12 bridgelux strips rated at 3500k. I built it at that rating so i could use it for both veg and flower. Am i going to see reduced harvests because I kind of went in the middle rather than a straight veg light and flower light?

Next, i think I'm getting about 25,000 lux at the canopy, probably closer to 30,000 now that they've stretched into them. I wanna know if that is enough because during the end of last grow i turned them up to be about 40,000 and I noticed some burning.

Finally, in relation to that last part, The tall ones on the right are almost less than 7 inches from the light, but the light cannot go up anymore, What should i do about that? can i perform more LST at this point? Even if i could though I am kind of concerned that i don't really have any room to actually do it.

Anyways any help is greatly appreciated and thank you in advance for any replies

 

[xtsho]

I wouldn't cut any leaves. Others will say otherwise. You'll have to decide.

 

[CBDseeker]

I wouldn't cut any leaves. Others will say otherwise. You'll have to decide.

Why would you say not to?

 

[Renfro]

Ive taken plants that were 4 feet tall and squished them to about 30 inches tall and almost twice as wide under a trellis by gradually pressing the trellis down in increments while spreading the branches sideways weaving them through the trellis. Do this a little each day for 4 or 5 days. It isn't low stress though. Takes a lot of patience and you may break some branches but they usually live on just fine if supported by tying to the trellis.

I personally am not a fan of defoliation.

Not sure about the lighting at 3500K. If the 3500K has more par lumens then perhaps it makes up for red that way. That would be a question for the manufacturer.

 

[mismos00]

Why would you say not to?

Leaves create energy for your plant. Cutting your plant causes it to put energy into healing and you're removed a part of its power source. Fan leaves don't create sugar for themselves, they do it for the growing parts of the plant. I only remove leaves to improve air flow. Rather, if you have bud sites low on the plant I'd have removed them by this point.

Also those tall ones will bend nicely. Tie it to itself or to the wall (loop it around to itself and twist tie it)... lots of creative things you could do it.

 

[Chip Green]

Am i going to see reduced harvests because I kind of went in the middle rather than a straight veg light and flower light?

No.
I have multiple panels of 3500K Brideglux EB series, all shapes and sizes, used in VEG areas, and FLW areas, in multiple perpetual harvest garden setups...... Ive also used 3000k, and 4000k of the same type, the differences were indistinguishable on each attempt, compared to the 3500k....

 

[Geotropic]

40000 lux is no problem for your plants, but they have to be acclimated gradually. I don't know what your maximum lux is with strips, but I have seen 70000+ lux applied with led boards and no "burn".

 

[GBAUTO]

I'd have no qualms about folding over the unruly girls-done it plenty of times over the years with very nice results. I'm also like Chip, having run multiple spectrums from 3k to 4k and the 3500 works very well. It's nice to have a quantifiable measurement on how much light you're showering over the canopy but I've usually found that my plants will tell me when the light level is good.

 

[madvillian420]

As @xtsho said, youll hear both sides, some say dont defoliate, some are all for it. Im on the side that says a bit probably wont do too much harm. especially this early in flower. A few weeks later and id probably advise against it. My plants are about the same size as yours and i took 5-10 of the most obtrusive fan leaves from each of them. the budsites look happier now, no doubt. Sometimes its as simple as tucking them out of the way

 

[Aqua Man]

I usually take any leaves out that are blocking bud sites. It hasn't been an issue for me but it should only be done to healthy plants. I don't notice my plants slow in growth at all if it's just a couple here and there. It's more pruning than defoliation.

I'm sitting at 85000 lux right now but I do run co2.

Tbh I think the amount of light has a lot more to do with bud growth than spectrum.

That scrog net idea lowering each day sounds like a great idea