A technique i've embraced: Continuous defoliation throughout flowering

[alltatup]

I just posted this on my current grow page, but I was wondering in general what other folks' experiences are, how they defol, etc.

FUNDAMENTAL RULE FOR SERIOUS DEFOLIATION: PLANT MUST BE STRONG-GROWING ALL THE WAY. PERIOD.

I just emerged from the grow room, spent around 2 hours changing reservoir (30 min) and defoliating (1.5 hr). The girls are rounding out week 6 of 12/12, and I've been slowly and steadily defoliating throughout flower. Today I did a slightly more rigorous defoliation, as I see the stigma beginning to turn color and I see vigorous bud growth.

Yesterday (first pic) and today; I took off a lot of leaves:


Cookies Kush, the tallest, will get compeletely filled in over the next 2 weeks, from how she's growing.

These are my defoliation rules:

1. Anything with a petiole is fair game (which Nebula says somewhere on GWE);
2. Fan leaves, including those with very short petioles, stay on for a max of 2 weeks, then I cut em;
3. Any leaf blocking bud sites goes;
4. I go slower with defoliation weeks 4-6 and I'm more thorough from wk 6.5 forward.

This saves me a tremendous amount of trimming when I cut the girls down. I really, really like this fact.

My experiences: After day 21 defoliation, some petioles grow out fast and others grow out slowly, over the following 3 or so weeks. I cut them as they grow out. Also, if you look closely at almost all of the pics all over the GWE site of colas in the final weeks of growing, you'll notice that many of them (though not all) have been pretty stripped of leaves. I'm just tryna do what the master growers do.

Thus, for me it is true that defoliation continues throughout flower. A defoliator's work is never done. Which is not the same as, There's no rest for the wicked. Unless we're talking about PaganRich But not in my case.

[Farmall]

During the classes I had discussed this with SiriusFourside and he told me ...go for it, continuous defoliation works. Every time you look at the plants you see a place that just looks full again. Did this on my last crop and it produced over 700 g per wet

[Tersky]

I learned a new word..."petiole", though google didnt help me understand it. I also do continuous defoliation, though i tend to slow down the closer it is to harvest for a couple reasons. A) There are not any new leaves growing and the leaves absorb the light so removing too many can make it harder for the plant to photosynthesize. B) Close to harvest i want the plant to spend most of it's energy making buds, not recovering from a trim. That is why i do a major haircut about a month into flowering, depending on how fast strain is supposed to finish, and then do maintenance leaf removal when i see bud sites being blocked. I used to do massive leaf removal but then saw a vid from Kyle Kushman about training and defoliation and he likened the leaves to solar panels (which they basically are) and said removing too many leaves actually hurts the plant deep in flower because it cant absorb all the light produced by our fancy high intensity lights. So i've been looking for that balance

[alltatup]

Tersky That dude creeps me out! He said "foilage" instead of "foliage." Snap, crackle, pop!!!

[Tersky]

haha yeah i think hes just always really high. that can make someone smile too much and act creepy. Not that im basing this on personal experience *cough*. I never notice his foliage pronunciation, probably cause i was too high myself.

[Farmall]

I know a dozen Vermonters who say “foilage”. When I first heard it 45 yrs ago, I thought...” what the hell are they saying.... this is THE land of fall foliage.

[s62]

I’m with you on this one. Continuous defoliating is how I roll. They change so fast, that it just makes sense.

[Gluteous]

I'm also a fan of defol until late flower. If it's blocking bud sites, it goes. Love that it severely shortens trimming during take down.

[alltatup]

Of course, one can always do that in the days prior to cutting the plant down, during the flush. I'm with you on that one.

[LurkingInTheGrass]

Thank you for sharing 😍
(and the 2 hours homework)
(and providing a reason to have to spend more time in the flowerbox)

Looks like I can stand to be a little more 'plucky' during flower. Especially when I look at the pile of fans from last harvest 😁
and more aggressive with removal of petioles, instead of just snipping the fans off

[SoOrbudgal]

I agree although I've grown mostly outdoor and indoor i'm on I think my 3rd yr? I've removed leaf both ways. I need to be cautious as mentioned with autos, still getting my mojo on with those but my photos indoors I've always taken leaves off throughout the grow, carefully with consideration of light. I love it alltaup.

[alltatup]

I didn't realize that you grew indoors, too!! Cool beans!!!

[SoOrbudgal]

alltatup yes and it's been great so far. I started I think 3yrs ago, read most of what I needed to get started from this site. Of course I started and still do what i'm comfortable with growing weed. Middle of the road setup but I've grown out of the 3x3 now into a 4x4x8 and 2 450r viperspectras which I enjoy and have good results. I'm using it also for starting my summer garden veggies. I've really enjoyed learning to grow indoors and training. After this 4 photo grow i'm doing i'm going to try 6 autos in tall empty coffee containers 51oz I think. I did a scrog once made a bamboo frame and everything but my dog when he was a pup destroyed it LOL.
It's a blast being up close to them, training and learning all the time. Yours are sure looking great love your training.