DEFOL OR NOT DEFOL 2023!

With still so much controversy and heated debates over the subject, why not update with a new one lol..because for me and I'm sure many others out there and on here NEVER have taken that step into leaf stripping during flower, whether it be day 21 and 42 or whatever techinque used..its always been on the back of mind nearly every grow and i won't even do it to 1 plant but maybe i should , it's seems most lean towards never doing it...they are solar panels, sources , take in co2, what have you...seen people post prove but not with a controlled test ..i can type on about this shit for days, but what would be real helpful being that time has gone by that some experienced people in this subject lay down there comments on the good , bad and the ugly...and not the typical comments as stated above like "they are solar panels " lol as we pretty much know this but yet some do it anyway, and yes genetics also do play a role...and trust me personally am running max watts in my grow area but am always trying to up the yield every single grow....maybe it's just time for me to bite the bullet and try it out instead of going off on opinions but i like to read about subjects like this anyway



Much love to the lovers & haters !!

If you havent added side lighting , then defoil only the some that are shading the most light from getting lowers lit up ,thats maybe only 1 fan leaf off some obvious tall ones blocking shorter buds beside them...just fan leaf them leaving the stems still coming from the stalks for the plant to uptake what was in them.

Before defoliation.

After defoliation.

Only 5 days later.

.

I ran a defoliation test with 4 clones - the two sides came within a couple of grams of each other. Makes me think that wholesale defoliation is just busy work.

I read a great article on sources and sinks - if a leaf is producing extra sugar then keep it because its an energy source. If a leaf is shaded from the light it probably is an energy sink - using more energy than it produces just to stay alive. We want the buds to be the major energy sink and the leaves as sources.

One rarely brought up issues is transpiring water from the roots up to the leaves - fan leaves have a greater surface area than single bladed leaves so the fan leaves will transpire more water.

.

MickFoster said:

Before defoliation.
View attachment 5286059
After defoliation.
View attachment 5286060
Only 5 days later.
View attachment 5286061

Click to expand...

I think if you swapped pics 1 and 3, no one would know the difference. In which case, it seems to me that you just lost out on 5 days' worth of growth...?

weedstoner420 said:

I think if you swapped pics 1 and 3, no one would know the difference. In which case, it seems to me that you just lost out on 5 days' worth of growth...?

Click to expand...

I was mainlining........that's how it's done.
Topped 3 times to create 8 colas and all the lower growth is removed.

MickFoster said:

Before defoliation.
View attachment 5286059
After defoliation.
View attachment 5286060
Only 5 days later.
View attachment 5286061

Click to expand...

Great looking plants.

What are those you’re using to train the branches?

idioddity said:

Great looking plants.

What are those you’re using to train the branches?

Click to expand...

Thanks.
Those are coat hangers that I cut and bent to size.

MickFoster said:

I was mainlining........that's how it's done.
Topped 3 times to create 8 colas and all the lower growth is removed.

Click to expand...

Fair enough, in that case carry on.

Shaping/changing the structure of the plant is one thing. I have a feeling some newer growers defoliate "just because," not really with any specific purpose behind it...

I like lightly defoliating. Lowers of course, and a choice, blocking fan leaf here and there. Here’s what a lightly defoliated garden looks like to me

Use a ppfd meter and measure and when u see stuff under 650 ppfd, I chop em. This is when ur mid flower-last weeks of bloom when top mid range at this time is 75-100% ppfd meaning 950-1300 ppfd, I apply my ppfd based on co2 and also aid in nutes based on conditions given to plants. More I do this you def can tell which strains only want under 1k ppfd to some who can max out at higher ppfd suggestions. if you know a plant that has those lower needs I suggest putting them on side zones of your sea of green and those zones will be a better %. just like when you see people remove soo much of the leafs. I disagree to remove the leafs that get good ppfd and also aren’t messing with ppfd to the bud.

if no ppfd meter try out a app for phones called Photone, key is having proper paper to filter the camera but it works great for knowing the obvious % differences in your gardens lighting. biggest neglect on such is we can’t see a lot of this spectrum and also amazed me a few inches on a canopy showed why the production if shaded why it was larf grade there.


i mainly deleaf for prevention of pm/budrot and also like everyone to let the obvious buds that stack ontop to get the most out of em, I used to be more greedy but I can’t even trim a dime or smaller , all that shit goes to extract/edibles lol

Iguess overall, it's mainly the amount of light, keeping enviroment in check and training that will bring in the overall yield, and plucking leaves during the flower period does not much other than bring better air flow and such....lower buds will always be what they exactly are, and not as pretty as the heads..... i lst and scrog my plants and remove allot of the lowest stuff mainly for clones.. i run 600w per 1 m2 and always get about say from 20 ounces/ 3 ounces of small buds/Larf..which is still decent i guess?! but still if they were denser as a whole it would bring in alot more weight...

But yeah!, mainly posted this as i just want solid nuggies all the way to the bottomcuz that would be nice.

And hey, i have tried experimenting dropping lights on the very low side, playing with the stregth of nutes all that fun stuff...still makes ZERO difference..no bullshit.

BenGman said:

Iguess overall, it's mainly the amount of light, keeping enviroment in check and training that will bring in the overall yield, and plucking leaves during the flower period does not much other than bring better air flow and such....lower buds will always be what they exactly are, and not as pretty as the heads..... i lst and scrog my plants and remove allot of the lowest stuff mainly for clones.. i run 600w per 1 m2 and always get about say from 20 ounces/ 3 ounces of small buds/Larf..which is still decent i guess?! but still if they were denser as a whole it would bring in alot more weight...

But yeah!, mainly posted this as i just want solid nuggies all the way to the bottomcuz that would be nice.

And hey, i have tried experimenting dropping lights on the very low side, playing with the stregth of nutes all that fun stuff...still makes ZERO difference..no bullshit.

Click to expand...

I've come to the conclusion that solid buds deep in the canopy are more about genetics than anything else. Just my opinion.

For any lowers kept and the lower sides of buds finishing later from lower light side lighting is effective for full bloom

pegboy said:

I've come to the conclusion that solid buds deep in the canopy are more about genetics than anything else. Just my opinion.

Click to expand...

Nah to a point you right bud bud density is genetic as is how much light a plant needs obviously a bud will do better with enough light vs not enough but the genetics are the biggest limiting factor if all else is good