This is going to be a very long post and possibly an even longer thread. We're trying to make this an educational thread on the subject of defoliation.
*Please refrain from posting in this thread until MR Smith has made his comments* This will allow us to get our thoughts, and lessons learned in some sort of order. Thanks.
All of the info posted by myself or Mr Smith is based on our own personal experience with the subject. Not conjecture nor opinion. Just our experience. There will be some quotes I will make from a 3rd party. These quotes are from the person whom I used as my initial guide on the subject. He's been using this technique for many years.
Ok lets start!
The first thing we need to do is understand the context within this topic as it pertains to our beloved plant. We need to define
DEFOLIATION for the context of this thread because it has so many negative connotations with respect to cannabis.
Defoliation in this thread is: The removal of leaf, by hand, to be rid of shading of any other buds, nodes, or growth in crowded situations.
This could be called a substitute to the removal of lower branches, another popular technique sometimes called lollipopping.
As described by k33ftr elsewhere:
Defoliation encourages branching in vegging plants in the same way as nipping the leader. The benefit of this technique is that the leader is retained to continue to create branches. It also shortens nodal length creating a more compact specimen.
Of importance is: It also shortens nodal length creating a more compact specimen. More on that later.
Some growers have been enjoying yields in very compact plants at only 32" cubed above and beyond 12oz per plant using this technique. Again, over 12oz dry per plant on girls that are no taller than 32 inches and just as wide around.
Again from k33ftr:
3 decades of experience with this technique reveal that bud growth benefits more from light exposure than whether the corresponding fan leaf is present.
Yes he has 3 decades of experience using this technique. It's pretty hard to argue against that much experience. And it makes sense! Bud growth benefits more from light exposure than having a corresponding leaf present.
The idea is to allow any and all bud sites to fully produce. Unlike removing lower branches, we keep them and get plenty of light to them. We grow real buds not popcorn off these lower branches. This method allows light to penetrate to any and all of the bud sites for full benefit throughout the entire plant.
Some people may be shocked at just how few leaves are on these plants and how robust they actually are. Below is the canopy of my current grow, about to be harvested.
As one can see, there is an abundance of bud. It's a pretty even canopy. And clearly there are still leaves on the plants. We dont have any main colas sticking 6-8 inches or more above the rest of the bud sites either. That would mean much of the plant is getting less light while one small section (the main cola) is getting most of the light.
Why not get most of the light to all of the plant?
Once we understand that we're trying to get the maximum amount of a limited light source in a limited area, we can begin to understand how and when to apply this technique and what other techniques are used in conjunction to make the whole process come through.
Prior to trying out this technique, please have your methods and strains down pat! This is important! This technique tends to work much better on indicas or indica dominants. Know your methods well. Have your ppm, ph, and atmosphere dialed in already. above all, don't over crowd your grow with plants! There are some that do use this in high count, fast flip to flower, small plant grows, but I'm talking about plants that get a real veg period. Say 4-6 weeks on avg.
The last thing you want to do is not have all your other peripheral methods down pat, have an issue, and blame a poor result on using this method when say, root rot due to high water temps was the real issue.
So we start this all out in veg. We begin our plant training to defoliation in veg. Once our girls are about 8" tall with about 6-8 pairs of true leaves we begin. We remove the fan leaves! You can top them also if you wish. If it's a natural shrubster type strain you may not want to. Grower choice. To be bit more specific, I remove all the leaves except the little cluster at the top.
In less than a week they will re-leaf. And boy will they ever! They will come back with a vengeance! More leaf, more nodes, more compact, in just one week. It's important to note, we only do this on good healthy plants. As an experienced grower you know if your plants are healthy and strong. With experience, you soon find you can tell by feel when you grab a branch or leaf if it's healthy and robust. Thus ready for the stripper pole and some leaf removal.
After this 1st stripping, they look a bit scary at first. But lets see how well they bounce back:
Before stripping:
After the stripping:
Just 10 -12 days later
At the above point in veg they are about 8-10 inches tall and I strip them again.
Here's what they looked like after stripping for the 2nd time in veg on the same day as above:
I do have a few more fan leaves above but notice they are all top cluster fans only. The smaller leaves are attached to new growth nodes and are left alone.
Here is what these same plants look like, 16 days later, (pics actually taken moments ago).
The above plants are ready for flower. They are between 10-14" tall But the taller ones will be getting bent laterally to widen the girls, open up the canopy for more light exposure from top to bottom, and become those nice 32" wide fat bottomed girls we're striving for.
I personally don't strip them down just before going into flower. The stripping of these girls in veg DOES slow them down in veg, but in the end, it's only a week or two, and if you're cycling your plants, after the first extended veg, it's all moot. You plant accordingly. Also sending stripped girls into 12/12 slows the stretch. With defoliation we both love and hate stretch. We like the stretch because we can make them fatter with bending. We hate upwards stretch however. The plan is to get a nice even canopy that is fat and wide that allows really good light from top to bottom! Yes, we want to see all that crap popcorn we used to have become awesome bud. But even better, as we bend, the off shoots start to climb up and they hit the top of the canopy and become big fat budding flowers too!.
During stretch I dont strip the girls until day 21, or basically end of stretch. I let them grow like crazy and bend them accordingly.
*note, you may want to create a form of netting to support the bent over branches. It doesnt have to be a string ever 3 inches or less like say in a scrog. 5-6-8 rungs in each direction, depending on the size of your grow is all it takes.
*I plan my grow space based on 28" center to center between plants MINIMUM. I have 4 plants in a 5' x 5' tent.
*note, if for some reason they get so tall that you lose light adjustment before stretch is over, if you strip them hard, they will stop stretching for the most part. This is a simple way to manipulate height. But it's not ideal. It won't hurt the plants. It just means you (like I did) probably didnt plan quite right and let them get too tall in veg.
*one of the side benefits of defoliation like this is reducing relative humidity and increasing airflow. We've all seen monster bushy plants with so many leaves they literally sweat water on each other and the floor. Dehumidifiers may be a thing of the past for some using this technique. I know I don't need one.
Next post, about this transition phase and defoliation in flower along with other techniques used along the way in this process.
