defoliation first time

[BlueberryGIrl]

I have never used defoliation or LST practice. I usually top and water. So, I decided to give defoliation and LST a try.

These two plants are in the forth week of flower. What i have found to most difficult is the nutrient feeding because of the stress caused to the plant. so i have watched that very carefully.
I read through Nebula Haze's article on defoliation and LST. I followed Nebula's steps and incorporated some of my own. I am taking slowly with a Bonsai approach. both strains are a Skunk strain.

[SoOrbudgal]

I'm no expert but to me those look great. What i've learned from this site with defoiliation also and it's helped focus bigger growth to the top 5-6" of cola is to remove tiny fluffy bud very low on branches near the soil. you clean out that center area lower to the dirt. Just a suggestion, sometimes those tiny buds give you a few grams but it's worth noteing that it also helps focus energy up higher in the plant. Hope i make sense LOL those do look good to me you should be proud

[BlueberryGIrl]

SoOrbudgal Thank you! i am really looking forward to how these turn out. I began going after the smaller low growth but clearly not enough. and as time went on I left them as I unsure about the stress on the plant after I had switched to 12/12. I began tying the branches back more and more to expose the small sites. so i hope i can get something from them. after this experience I see defoliation and LST as a must.

[SoOrbudgal]

Well it does appear light is getting deep down and i get the fear of slow down doing too much. Oh your gonna be happy blueberry this grow will be good for learning an a harvest. I love training plants an i'm still green pretty much.

[OldManGrower]

You are doing quite well. Continue doing what you are doing and add one or two new techniques on each grow, You will pick up a lot of experience and know what works well for you.

[BlueberryGIrl]

OldManGrower thank you for the positive encouragement and compliment. I do like gardening as a rule. i have a garden and chickens. however my grow has to be further away from me. I look forward to when I have a situation where the room/grow can be in my house.

[BlueberryGIrl]

SoOrbudgal cheers!

[SoOrbudgal]

Back at ya sister

[Mollisol]

They look great to me. Good job!

[BlueberryGIrl]

cheers

[dirtymike]

Thats sure is alot of bud sites. Are you going to make a SOG. Looks like its doing it for you. Nice.

[Gavin]

Your plants look healthy, defoliation and LST can work really well on some strains and not so well on others.

IMO I have used defoliation(well I removed selected fan leaves) to increase airflow and bud growth on the lower bud sites and to reduce humidty(reduce the chance of mold and bugs), its a tool just like topping, fim or lst, I read each plant and decide when the best time is, I only do what I need to, to get the best results.

some strains are a little sparse, so defoliation will reduce the crop size, but I never remove more than 20% of the fan leaves.

[BlueberryGIrl]

8 week flowering. enjoying the results of defoliation and looking forward to trying again with improvements!

[SoOrbudgal]

Beautiful chunky colas well done gal

[Franklin]

Those look great!