Early defoliation by strain

[smoorman]

I have some NL and WW that are not far from harvest. I spotted what looked like the early stage of some bud rot, just some white almost moldy looking stuff maybe a half square inch. I just snipped the branch at that specific point and I've not seen anymore. What I did see was that the buds are so dense and tight that circulation of air through certain parts of the plant is almost impossible. In hindsight I wished I had defoliated the inner portions of the plant a lot more. It's now very difficult to get in there and cut any loose leaves that are air circulation blockers. I've reduced my watering a bit and fired up the dehumidifier and turned up the fan speed.
My question is: are there certain strains that warrant aggressive defoliation early on in order to avoid bud rot? In your experience are some worse than others? TIA

[Daskahn]

My answer would be yes.. different strains grow differently..
but I would also like to say that the type of training has an effect as well

[smoorman]

Live and learn. Training is probably at least half the answer. I asked because someone I was discussing this with said NL and WW were out for him because of repeated density and subsequent bud rot issues. I think I may tie some of the branches open a bit to facilitate ventilation. A little after the fact training. He had simply went with plants that tend to have better bud spacing.

[aintdedyet]

I've grown 4 of each of those strains in a 3 x 3 on two separate grows, all autos. Constant battle with foliage to minimize humidity and potential for WPM and bud rot, and to maximize light penetration.

Never had bud rot but had to deal with some mildew showing up on the fabric pots on one occasion.

I top once then LST like crazy to keep things opened up as much as possible. I defoliate to a degree I would call moderate, but on a continual basis. I tend to increase the level of defoliation as I get closer to the end of flower.

I agree that training and defoliation protocols must be strain and indeed often plant-specific. It's been my (albeit limited) experience that both the WW and NL strains can get pretty bushy, and the girls don't mind a decent trimming on a regular basis.

Hope this helps … y'all stay safe.

[Eliot Pryor]

I grew a couple of White Widow autos from Nirvana seeds. I lollipopped the second one. They grew lots of branches and had numerous buds. All airy popcorn sized but lots lots of them. They also had some bigger buds but mostly small stuff. I had a tupperware container full of that stuff. It was great for smoking in a bong. I still had some of it till a couple days ago. It was excellent smoke and I'll grow it again. I will probably quadline the next one. Great growing to all !!

[SoOrbudgal]

smoorman I did have stem mold main stalk on my auto Berry strain last grow. The nodes are so tight it's really hard to see if one does not do a good look at late stages during flower. I just cut it off and dried it of course it was not on the bud anywhere. I don't see this in photo strain indoors but sure may be those tight little tree autos. I'm thinking as we get better with the training and choose of strain maybe more sativa in a hybred? It's keeping good eye late in flower and good circulation? Autos sure do challenge me LOL