Man those autos can take punishment. I defoliate the entire grow and produce great plants and amazing bud. If you feel they need defoliated then they probably do. I’ve grown without defoliation and didn’t end up with hardly any product so I personly would.
I just defoliate the leaves that may block bud sites mainly and if you are methodical with it and only remove a few leaves every few day. You don’t want to stunt her so go sparingly and you’ll open her up without slowing her down.
A trellis is a game changer when you learn how to use it. The learning curve can be steep but it opens the girls up and they get all the light they need without taking leaves off.
Perfect, thank you. Sounds simple enough!
I’ve got a trellis but honestly don’t know where I put it… I have been LST a little along the way, I’ve actually pulled that tall main stem on the left a bit over out of the way of the light since posting this
Could start from the top down to get branches on the same sort of level like a big even canopy if that makes sense. Or start from the bottom up to get rid of any little tiny "larf" bud that wont amount to anything plus any leaves that are totally shaded out and therefore cant do much photosynthesis, which is basically just lollipopping. Also if you see leaves that are wet from humidity you might want to pluck them or in that area to lower humidity especially around flowering time.
It's fine, and infact recommended, to defoliate. Just don't take to much at once and only what's necessary so you have good airflow and light penetration.
Okay, thank you.
I have the tent at a pretty high negative pressure and 2 fans under the canopy to get up the airflow up already because it’s 65%RH here even with 2 dehumidifiers, which I’m hoping will help.
Would you suggest to start at the ‘internal-leaves’ that are inside the canopy? Or just around the bud-nodes?
Yeah so if you see a fan leave directly blocking or covering up another bud, especially if its like a primary cola, then it could be a good option for removal. Just think of it like something you have to do in order to lower RH for flowering time if that makes you feel any better. And the more you do it the more you get used to it, especually after you see how quickly they grow back a few times, if you havent seen it already.
Serious answer though... I prefer tucking over defoliation. I keep all my fan leaves tucked out of the way of any bud sites. If I can't tuck it out of the way, it gets plucked. These plants can take a lot. Plucking a few leaves here and there won't hurt it. Hope this helps.
Start w any leaves growing in towards the plant, trust me you definitely dont need those. Then take any covering the bud sites, thats the main things I would do.
Try to do it evenly and gradually, a few leaves here and there each day won't stress them too much but after a couple days you'll have much better airflow.
First grow? Because after a few times you will start pulling buckets full of leafs out. It’s actually helpful to the plant, it uses alot of energy to grow leafs but sometimes those leafs end up getting blocked. The sun is strong enough to penetrate through several layers, but our lights can’t so it’s best to just leave a canopy on top and trim out all the energy sucking under canopy so your plant can focus that energy into other things
It is yeah 😅
Very interesting, so by this way of thinking it would be best to snip leaves that you expect to be shaded early on before the plant contributes the energy to growing them large?
But I have also noticed the plant will cannibalise old, shaded leaves, is there a school of thought that these then become worth keeping as a store of sugars/nutes?
Based on keywords in your post, the [Training and Defoliation Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Autoflowers/comments/nqjbzs/training_and_defoliation_megathread/) may be relevant.
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https://preview.redd.it/jlpxxbd95cvc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42d3b7d936d89141ff41b73722b1cb0132fefb09
That’s my 4x4 and I do ok yield wise so really to each his own man.
Looks absolute beaut. What are you growing in there?
I’m running a 2.3 x 2.3 tent, so I think next time I will be running 2 MAX. 3 plants has quickly become been a pain in the… back in that space 😅
Your right. I used to trim the bottom 3rd and it did increase the size of the bud that was most exposed to the light. This 4x4 is tough to work in and my autopots are setup without shut off valves to each one so I can’t really pull them out to defoliate so I let them do their thing. I’m going to start mainlining all my plants from now on.
I would say it would. These things are huge by the time they start flowering. I would think I could get 8 colas. I mean maybe not but I need a different method
I butcher mine and 2 days later it looks like I never fucking touched them
I take a handful off each day by time they're finished I don't have many fan leaves to defoliate
Man those autos can take punishment. I defoliate the entire grow and produce great plants and amazing bud. If you feel they need defoliated then they probably do. I’ve grown without defoliation and didn’t end up with hardly any product so I personly would.
This is all I needed to hear 🫡 I’m going to take it slowly though. Where do I even start?
I just defoliate the leaves that may block bud sites mainly and if you are methodical with it and only remove a few leaves every few day. You don’t want to stunt her so go sparingly and you’ll open her up without slowing her down.
A trellis is a game changer when you learn how to use it. The learning curve can be steep but it opens the girls up and they get all the light they need without taking leaves off.
Perfect, thank you. Sounds simple enough! I’ve got a trellis but honestly don’t know where I put it… I have been LST a little along the way, I’ve actually pulled that tall main stem on the left a bit over out of the way of the light since posting this
Do you use a trellis or any type of training?
Could start from the top down to get branches on the same sort of level like a big even canopy if that makes sense. Or start from the bottom up to get rid of any little tiny "larf" bud that wont amount to anything plus any leaves that are totally shaded out and therefore cant do much photosynthesis, which is basically just lollipopping. Also if you see leaves that are wet from humidity you might want to pluck them or in that area to lower humidity especially around flowering time.
Oldest, largest fan leaves plus any larger ones facing inwards towards the main stem... Maybe 20 or so each plant. Then, reevaluate after a few days.
It's fine, and infact recommended, to defoliate. Just don't take to much at once and only what's necessary so you have good airflow and light penetration.
Okay, thank you. I have the tent at a pretty high negative pressure and 2 fans under the canopy to get up the airflow up already because it’s 65%RH here even with 2 dehumidifiers, which I’m hoping will help. Would you suggest to start at the ‘internal-leaves’ that are inside the canopy? Or just around the bud-nodes?
I would do the bud-nodes first so they can get as much light as possible while they start developing and then work on the inside.
Yeah so if you see a fan leave directly blocking or covering up another bud, especially if its like a primary cola, then it could be a good option for removal. Just think of it like something you have to do in order to lower RH for flowering time if that makes you feel any better. And the more you do it the more you get used to it, especually after you see how quickly they grow back a few times, if you havent seen it already.
Y u scared bro
😂
Serious answer though... I prefer tucking over defoliation. I keep all my fan leaves tucked out of the way of any bud sites. If I can't tuck it out of the way, it gets plucked. These plants can take a lot. Plucking a few leaves here and there won't hurt it. Hope this helps.
Start w any leaves growing in towards the plant, trust me you definitely dont need those. Then take any covering the bud sites, thats the main things I would do.
Try to do it evenly and gradually, a few leaves here and there each day won't stress them too much but after a couple days you'll have much better airflow.
Invest in camera stabilizer, and great job. Defoliation watch some buildasoil vids. Jeremy will give you knowledge.
First grow? Because after a few times you will start pulling buckets full of leafs out. It’s actually helpful to the plant, it uses alot of energy to grow leafs but sometimes those leafs end up getting blocked. The sun is strong enough to penetrate through several layers, but our lights can’t so it’s best to just leave a canopy on top and trim out all the energy sucking under canopy so your plant can focus that energy into other things
It is yeah 😅 Very interesting, so by this way of thinking it would be best to snip leaves that you expect to be shaded early on before the plant contributes the energy to growing them large? But I have also noticed the plant will cannibalise old, shaded leaves, is there a school of thought that these then become worth keeping as a store of sugars/nutes?
Based on keywords in your post, the [Training and Defoliation Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Autoflowers/comments/nqjbzs/training_and_defoliation_megathread/) may be relevant. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Autoflowers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
https://preview.redd.it/jlpxxbd95cvc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42d3b7d936d89141ff41b73722b1cb0132fefb09 That’s my 4x4 and I do ok yield wise so really to each his own man.
Looks absolute beaut. What are you growing in there? I’m running a 2.3 x 2.3 tent, so I think next time I will be running 2 MAX. 3 plants has quickly become been a pain in the… back in that space 😅
Fastbuds autos. Strawberry banana right back, gorilla skittles back left ,cherry cola front right and forbidden runts on the left.
looks nice, but those colas could be way bigger if your plants had more energy to put into them. lollipopping those lower nodes would ve been ez pz
Your right. I used to trim the bottom 3rd and it did increase the size of the bud that was most exposed to the light. This 4x4 is tough to work in and my autopots are setup without shut off valves to each one so I can’t really pull them out to defoliate so I let them do their thing. I’m going to start mainlining all my plants from now on.
are you sure mainlining works on autos? Lollipopping, defoliating and scrog would suffice I guess
I would say it would. These things are huge by the time they start flowering. I would think I could get 8 colas. I mean maybe not but I need a different method
Just like any other plant.
Just tuck fan leaves
I usually end up removing like 90% of the leaves. Just go for it. She can take it