How much to defoliate?

Very bushy plant, the leaves are very small and there is a lot of new growth. Not sure how much to defoliate. I appreciate any advice.

I would lst the taller tops and open the plant up but even the canopy

it all depends on the health of the plant and the strain really. if no issues and a resilient strain, you could defol more. since youre starting out id do no more than 1/3rd of the plant at a time and see how she responds over 3-4days.

start off with the largest fan leaves covering up other bud sites/laying on top of other fan leaves. i also try to defol fan leaves that are growing inward/towards the middle of the plant. only defol what you absolutely must and try to lst and tuck the rest of the leaves to expose as many bud sites to light.

some plants ive done i had to defol almost every other day, others on a week or more basis. but the most important thing is to remove as little as possible to start and watch how she responds. also dont defol if you have a deficiency or other issue going on as that may over stress the plant.

youre already a couple of weeks into flowering so i recommend doing a little at a time. next round, try to defol earlier in veg and be mostly done with defoling by week 2/3 of flower.

Any crappy bud sites not getting good light get rid of them
Have done it myself they still do get a wee boost I think redirecting thier energies
Not all at once might stress the plant

joesoap2013 said:

Any crappy bud sites not getting good light get rid of them
Have done it myself they still do get a wee boost I think redirecting thier energies
Not all at once might stress the plant

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So that being said, I can cut actual limbs on the plant without causing too much stress? I’ve read a lot that I should probably not cut them during veg, but I’m so new to growing I have a hard time telling what’s bro science and what’s fact.

Very bushy plant

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You are not kidding I would never run that again .

Can't stand those short/leafy plants.

My 2¢

LST it as carefully as you can - spread that blooming onion wide. You can make anchor points around fab bag - remove ALL of the underdeveloped inner growth ( sucker growth ) and leaf.

Cleanup to allow more airflow thru plant - reducing potential mold . These“ Hairy Cousin IT “ looking strains throw growth all over and you can easily prune them and just allow main growth areas to produce over small larf points.

You may have to train a little at a time otherwise you risk snapping things if stems are rigid.

calvin.m16 said:

You are not kidding I would never run that again .

Can't stand those short/leafy plants.

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This was a bag seed run. So I don’t even know what it is lol

Budzbuddha said:

My 2¢

LST it as carefully as you can - spread that blooming onion wide. You can make anchor points around fab bag - remove ALL of the underdeveloped inner growth ( sucker growth ) and leaf.

Cleanup to allow more airflow thru plant - reducing potential mold . These“ Hairy Cousin IT “ looking strains throw growth all over and you can easily prune them and just allow main growth areas to produce over small larf points.

View attachment 5393903View attachment 5393904View attachment 5393905

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So can I just straight cut those limbs/branches off? The ones that are super tiny and not getting any light? Or is removal of the whole branch too much stress?

ericcccmurphyy said:

So can I just straight cut those limbs/branches off? The ones that are super tiny and not getting any light? Or is removal of the whole branch too much stress?

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Just like you spread it open for pic - you can pinch off all of that baby growth , micro buds , leaf.

LST can still be done but carefully … you are not doing 90° bends just opening it up so light and air move thru the center.



I continued to pinch off more new baby growth but this should kind of explain it.