Should I defoliate these plants to lower humidity?

jsynicky

jsynicky

Well-Known Member
I have a few autos and the humidity in the tent is getting really high up to 80%. I am wondering if defoliation would help lower the humidity.
The room that the tent in was hitting a huge 95+ humidity. I have purchased a dehumidifier for in the room and a small one for in the tent. Room is now around 55% humidity but tent is in the low 70s to high 60s.

I don’t want to damage the plants but they are getting so bushy. Any advice would be great.

thanks
 

Attachments

medidedicated

medidedicated

Well-Known Member
Will help but IME this spells out over crowded tent. What would help drastically is removing one of those plants and defolling the rest. Ive ran with that kind of humidity with no problems if buds are growing spaced apart and not too tight to start a mold infection.

Powdery mildew will love this though I was fine because I didnt have it. Now that I had outbreaks and millions of spores I cannot grow like this anymore. Id add fans or one big fan like a tower fan or pedestal. It may be fine but found the best IPM is dont get it lol.
 
medidedicated

medidedicated

Well-Known Member
Now that I look closer its way further along than I thought, I thought they barely started the flip. Its still as early as I figured it was that in the next few weeks it may get way worse. Last few weeks flower is the toughest then the rh starts to drop the very last week or two depending how long you prefer to go.

At least thats what Ive seen with the 7 strains Ive ever grown, I do clones. Im not that experienced though so with grain of salt. Yea losing a plant sucks may want to see what others say but Id see it this way, if your ever unforchinate enough to get mold.. Youll quickly feel less pain tossing them you get used to it quick.

So tossing plants before they even flower dont bother me either as bad. Id see it as saving the run. I rather do that then see botritus and PM again. My first grow could of been saved with this kind of man handling if you over packed the space.
 
medidedicated

medidedicated

Well-Known Member
Heres my current grow, the last one was tossed, 5 clones projected to be 32oz. Started over and now they are packed this lightly. So light I havent even bothered checking rh its always 45. Box fan on top of bar lights and the others will be the same soon. Until then they have box fan blowing beside plants.

Im still subject to get pm we will see but so far its good. Aiming for 25oz all together but starting to think 20oz is more like it. So yea big step back once you realize how they should run or else you may end up with nothing anyway.
 

Attachments

Last edited:
jsynicky

jsynicky

Well-Known Member
Still struggling with the humidity in tent. I have plenty of airflow but humidity in high 70s % …
I feel I need to take a lot of business out of the plants but as they are autos I believe that is not a great idea?
 
medidedicated

medidedicated

Well-Known Member
After taking a plant out? One around here flowers in that rh and said they never got issues. Id say others too but havent recalled many. Air move ment is best friend and a fast working exaust fan. As for the auto Id do what ever is needed auto or not. Ive never ended up with issues doing so the few times I done autos.

If its vigorous enough to give you these issues I dont see an issue its clearly vigorous and happy.
 
G

GreenGenez421

Well-Known Member
I'm a big advocate for selective defoliation. If the plants are healthy and vigorous losing some fans won't slow it down one bit, it'll just regrow them. I'd start low and stay within the bottom half. Leave the top half alone.
PM hates heat and air movement... and favors cool nights with high RH. If your leaves are overlapping each other that creates a micro climate and when the night cycle comes, temps obviously drop, RH goes up and that leads to condensation trapped in between leaves. That's when PM strikes. PM is everywhere, it required certain favorable conditions to take hold. Thin that shit out homie
 
G

GreenGenez421

Well-Known Member
Also move your fan up, notice the serrated edges on the fans? They're turned up, your showing wind stress on the front center plant. That fan should be above the canopy, the wind will hit the walls and roll down and back up.
Also, remove the dehumidifier from inside the tent, if you have one outside the tent, adjust that RH to compensate for your tent RH. Basically the room that your tent is in, that a lung room. Ambient temps and RH of the lung room influence the tent. Utilize your intake/exhaust and find that happy medium.
 
Farmer's Hat

Farmer's Hat

Well-Known Member
You might need a bigger dehumidifier in the room, and cycle the air in and out of the tent faster.

My tent is crammed, and I hate defoliating. I only strip off buds that wont develop properly, but I never defoliate. The plants need all those fan leaves.
 
natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
I always defoliate the lowers and some upper fans but especially during the summer months when humidity is high. I also have multiple fans running, high and low in my space. I reached 75%rh last summer with no issues, air movement is key. Defoliation imo, is best around day 21 from 12/12 , after stretch is complete.
I only run photos so I'm not sure how an auto will handle it.
 
G

GreenGenez421

Well-Known Member
Lollipop everything the last week of veg.
Allow 7 full days for the plant to recover, then flip to 12/12.
Day 1 of 12/12 shwaz the entire plant.
Day 21 of 12/12 ( technically this isn't full blown bloom yet, it's week 1 of true bloom) shwaz again. After that, don't remove any more fans.

But I completely advocate for 2 shwaz sessions, I've been doing it before it was a thing. Lol, for like 15 yrs now and ive never had a plant that didn't perform great. Also I've never had PM and it's everywhere outside in my yard. Shit, I'll do yard work amongst PM infected flowers and bushes and then I'll do work in my growroom after. Environment, plant health, beneficial microbiology and proper nutrient management is the only thing I concern myself with. Everything falls into place as intended
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top