541oReGonMade
Member
Could I..? Should I? Remove all fan leaves too optimize light and air
Defoliate during flower
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Livingblacksoil
Well-Known Member
Maybe
541oReGonMade
Member
Maybe... I mean the fan leaves do anything for plant during flower?
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
You can, if you should is really up to you. In my limited experience it does increase light penetration through the canopy, increase airflow, reduce pest and disease potential and result in larger denser flowers throughout.
There is no rule per say to when you can defoliate but it should take place only in early flower and or just before harvest due to chances of the stress causing the plant to turn hermaphrodite or a variety of other issues.
Day 1 of 12/12 Flip I remove all but the top few fan leaves on each main branch all the way down, then 3 weeks later I go in and strip any big fan leaves that are covering buds or obviously in the way. Don't do it to all of your plants or genetics at once, always try on half and see if its worth it for you.
There is no rule per say to when you can defoliate but it should take place only in early flower and or just before harvest due to chances of the stress causing the plant to turn hermaphrodite or a variety of other issues.
Day 1 of 12/12 Flip I remove all but the top few fan leaves on each main branch all the way down, then 3 weeks later I go in and strip any big fan leaves that are covering buds or obviously in the way. Don't do it to all of your plants or genetics at once, always try on half and see if its worth it for you.
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
Steps 5 and 7 on that document explain the process well. There is also other good information on that.
mudballs
Well-Known Member
they have the nitrogen you have been giving them in veg stored up. The plant goes after these resources towards the end of it's life which it why the leaves start to yellow and die off.
Plants will naturally shed any leaves which are deemed unnecessary....but hey this is all just dumb science mumbo jumbo...let's go back to the way things were with bro science and brick weed.
Plants will naturally shed any leaves which are deemed unnecessary....but hey this is all just dumb science mumbo jumbo...let's go back to the way things were with bro science and brick weed.
Boreal Curing
Well-Known Member
Cannabis is a survivor and everything a healthy plant does is meant to do one thing; Reproduce. In other words, make healthy mature seeds.
The fan leaves on a healthy plant will start to yellow when it nears EOL (end of life). Not because it's dying, but because it's living hard at that point. Its that last great sprint in the race. The plant will still feed on food in the soil, but it sees low hanging fruit in its own fan leaves for that extra horse power. So it starts cannibalizing itself in order to push flowering to the max. If you pay attention, you might notice a more intense fan leave yellowing and die off in seeded plants, while the colas and their sugar leaves stay alive and shine on.
Once you see the cola fan and sugar leaves start to get hit even a bit, it's time to get medieval and totally defoliate the plant. Take everything other than small cola fan and sugar leaves. (But you can absolutely defoliate inner and shade leaves anytime.) With the fan leaves gone, the plant will give a final push to mature the flowers. At this point, 95-100% of white pistils have shriveled up. But it's not time to harvest just yet, that last great heave-ho from the plant will force the calyxes to swell. Most home growers never see the swelling because they harvest too soon. That said, it doesn't matter much to most people. But if you want to see it in action, next time you harvest, take a picture of a small bud you intent to harvest, and leave one small bud on a lower branch to continue living. Take a picture of it a week or two later. You'll see a huge difference in the structure.
A swollen calyx may have a tine green ball inside. Most people wrongly assume the plant was pollinated late by errant pollen.
But this is all academic, and you can defoliate and harvest whenever you like. Most harvest based on the color of the trichomes and never defoliate. But any clear trichomes are still CBGA with zero THCA or CBDA. A good experiment is to harvest and roll that fat little left over bud you let mature and compare the high.
If you're worried about letting your plant go too long, think of this:
How many times have you heard someone say "This was harvested too late."
Peace
The fan leaves on a healthy plant will start to yellow when it nears EOL (end of life). Not because it's dying, but because it's living hard at that point. Its that last great sprint in the race. The plant will still feed on food in the soil, but it sees low hanging fruit in its own fan leaves for that extra horse power. So it starts cannibalizing itself in order to push flowering to the max. If you pay attention, you might notice a more intense fan leave yellowing and die off in seeded plants, while the colas and their sugar leaves stay alive and shine on.
Once you see the cola fan and sugar leaves start to get hit even a bit, it's time to get medieval and totally defoliate the plant. Take everything other than small cola fan and sugar leaves. (But you can absolutely defoliate inner and shade leaves anytime.) With the fan leaves gone, the plant will give a final push to mature the flowers. At this point, 95-100% of white pistils have shriveled up. But it's not time to harvest just yet, that last great heave-ho from the plant will force the calyxes to swell. Most home growers never see the swelling because they harvest too soon. That said, it doesn't matter much to most people. But if you want to see it in action, next time you harvest, take a picture of a small bud you intent to harvest, and leave one small bud on a lower branch to continue living. Take a picture of it a week or two later. You'll see a huge difference in the structure.
A swollen calyx may have a tine green ball inside. Most people wrongly assume the plant was pollinated late by errant pollen.
But this is all academic, and you can defoliate and harvest whenever you like. Most harvest based on the color of the trichomes and never defoliate. But any clear trichomes are still CBGA with zero THCA or CBDA. A good experiment is to harvest and roll that fat little left over bud you let mature and compare the high.
If you're worried about letting your plant go too long, think of this:
How many times have you heard someone say "This was harvested too late."
Peace
Boreal Curing
Well-Known Member
SEEDED brick weed. lol
Horselover fat
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure a plant deeming anything is not science.