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- #81
AK GreenLover
New Member
Hey mate. Looking amazing. I'm curious about the defoliating you do in veg. Does it involve clearing out a lot of the undergrowth, which you are going to have to clear out sooner or later anyway? Or taking off fan leaves as well for more light distribution in the top half? My defol experiment didn't go so well so far- will post on the defol thread at some point. Next time I'll do more defol during veg and see how that works out.
During veg we defol about a week before the flip. We take every single fan leaf that has a developed enough off shoot. Meaning the shoots cluster of leaves is at least 1/2" long and looks like a leaf. Usually this means keeping the top two to three fans and taking every other fan as those off shoots are usually developed enough. To ensure they develop enough we do a ton of LST tying each branch down to only a few inches above the soil. Those off shoots get maximum light and develop pretty quickly.
A week before flip we reap all fans that make the requirements per their off shoots. Then reap every single branch that wont make the screen from flip and all of the undergrowth as well. This is usually one of the most brutal reaps and gets them used to the stress of doing it before the flip. It promotes maximum air flow as well as cuts off the wasted energy of trying to develop ultra low branches or branches that are not in optimal light. That undergrowth served it purpose early on in developing your plant but before you flip you want the majority of that stuff gone. Then when you do defols at a scheduled time during flower your keeping the stress to a minimum by not having to do undergrowth at the same time.
Also if you want to boost growth on future grows check out early on how I layer the pots as well as what types of soil we use. I give a lot of credit to how good our girls do to our pots and how we do the soil and growstone layers to promote maximum root growth. It's not like we spend bazillions on special ferts or anything. We use Fox Farms which is honestly a pretty basic entry level easy to obtain fert regiment. The only thing we do differently there is add cal mag plus and molasses to feed and waters. The XTE lights are also pretty amazing. They have the spectrum really dialed in for maximum leaf and flower growth.
Basically during veg LST is your biggest friend. Tie everything down then tie all the off shoots down as they develop. It's key to keep an even top with all leaves and branches getting equal light. Doing this creates an ultra bushy but short plant that didn't require topping, fimming or splitting the branches energy to much. Personally I like to LST more then top or fim as the side branches it creates are to close together for my style of doing things. I also get the same effect without having to trim the top which is something I always love to keep. Once that undergrowth serves it's purpose give it that axe and make sure that almost all of that axe happens during veg. Keep it to a minimum by having it taken care of before flower.
Hope this helps.