Defoliation question

[Regrowth]

JM2C. All my plants get a brighter/lighter shade at the tops when first entering flower.
Probably something to do with the hormone changes.
Outdoors you can kind of use it to tell when a plant will start flowering even before the pistil onset.
The blue circled above. Now the red is probably a K ask and you seem to have responded to that with bloom nutes so
probably all good. The plant from yesterday seems nice and healthy. I find my lights sometimes make the plants look brighter than they are.

 

[Absorber]

Oops

 

[Aweedtec]

JM2C. All my plants get a brighter/lighter shade at the tops when first entering flower.
Probably something to do with the hormone changes.
Outdoors you can kind of use it to tell when a plant will start flowering even before the pistil onset.
The blue circled above. Now the red is probably a K ask and you seem to have responded to that with bloom nutes so
probably all good. The plant from yesterday seems nice and healthy. I find my lights sometimes make the plants look brighter than they are

The plants in that photo are definitely doing better. But, they were way too close to each other under one light so I had to put them under two lights. These are 29 inch by 28 and a half inch lights. So they are getting big. Problem was they were bunched up together as well and some growth suffered because of that. But no more.

My largest plant in my bedroom closet sucks up 2 and a half gallons of water every 3 days and has for a month...and the other plants(1 week behind the largest plant) take 6 days to dry up. Strangely 1 of them is in a 5 gallon drywall mud bucket and the other two are in felt pots. But they take the same amount of time to dry out.

I now have a friggin fungus knat problem. This is annoying but I am using neem oil so I hope that works. One day I saw none. The next day downstairs in my basement the two plants in the felt pots had a layer of light moss or fungus across the entire surface. Then I saw the knats.

Its time for their feeding of nutes and I just sprayed that neem oil on them. So I am going to copy part of this post and make a new thread about it if I cant find one.

The closer up photo of the single plant is 48 inches in diameter and has 33 colas which have all reached close to the top of the canopy.

The plants in the basement... I had to put up another light. They were suffering from being bunched up and two lights still may not be enough.

I am trying to run two totally different jobs right now while growing these so I get to see them for an hour at night before the lights go out and for a few minutes in the AM before I leave. I find myself at Home Depot constantly or some other store for this. But, I must say I am learning what to not do. And how time consuming this really is.

 

[Regrowth]

I wouldn't worry too much about the gnats. I seem to get them every grow but other than the annoyance of having them flying around they never cause any issues. They might have negative impact on seedlings or clones but they wont noticeably effect the root zone of your larger plants.

For the plants in veg, the wet / dry watering cycle would be a way to get rid of them but for the ones in bloom you're better off keeping the soil saturated and watering more frequently. I try to get a feel for how much they drink daily, and give them that. Other ways to get rid of them involve using diatomaceous earth or beach sand as a top layer of your soil. the larvae will die crawling through the coarse granules. they need to breed in the wet soil. keeping a fan pointed at at the soil can help too.

 

[Aweedtec]

I wouldn't worry too much about the gnats. I seem to get them every grow but other than the annoyance of having them flying around they never cause any issues. They might have negative impact on seedlings or clones but they wont noticeably effect the root zone of your larger plants.

For the plants in veg, the wet / dry watering cycle would be a way to get rid of them but for the ones in bloom you're better off keeping the soil saturated and watering more frequently. I try to get a feel for how much they drink daily, and give them that. Other ways to get rid of them involve using diatomaceous earth or beach sand as a top layer of your soil. the larvae will die crawling through the coarse granules. they need to breed in the wet soil. keeping a fan pointed at at the soil can help too.

What do you think of neem oil? A friend uses it and says she sprays the blooms and the leaves and I just wont do that. I did get some and sprayed the soil. But the top was dry. So it seems I am just making the top wet again.

My larger plant needs watering again now. And feeding.
The schedules are all off. The three plants together are all one week behind the single plant. I guess this has been my learning curve.

 

[Absorber]

What do you think of neem oil? A friend uses it and says she sprays the blooms and the leaves and I just wont do that. I did get some and sprayed the soil. But the top was dry. So it seems I am just making the top wet again.

My larger plant needs watering again now. And feeding.
The schedules are all off. The three plants together are all one week behind the single plant. I guess this has been my learning curve.

Absorber's Outdoor Stealth Grow

Thankyou, im looking forward to it ,only real issues i see are the winds tend to pick up here so its going to be interesting im hoping to grow it up through a few branches for support and something to tie too Yeah I was going to say tie it to the tree! Could punch some big u nails into the tree...

www.420magazine.com

Try that

 

[Aweedtec]

Absorber's Outdoor Stealth Grow

Thankyou, im looking forward to it ,only real issues i see are the winds tend to pick up here so its going to be interesting im hoping to grow it up through a few branches for support and something to tie too Yeah I was going to say tie it to the tree! Could punch some big u nails into the tree...

www.420magazine.com

Try that

Too funny. But Looks like it could work. I have some Yellow cards coming tomorrow morning so maybe they will be sticking around until I discard them.

 

[Aweedtec]

With my camera I can make the photos look exactly like the color is in real life. Of course I cant change your screens changes. But I would assume its close. lol

Question I have is...... Is this the point where leaves will start to yellow and fall off if you haven't defoliated?

The photo you see where the color on one cola is a lighter shade of green. I believe this is because I missed an entire two weeks of fertilizer that I was supposed to give the plant.

But it is now caught up and I am hoping it darkens the entire plant up now as it was too light. But it took nearly a month to get it dark everywhere but a few places. Now I was able to give it a full dose of fertilizer (bloom booster) and I am hoping it takes off.

The 10th of Oct was the day it was last fertilized and the 9th was the day the light was flipped. So I am wondering if these look like they are on point for their time period in 12/12 or do you see anything that is lacking?

Defoliating? on this plant I defoliated very little. On the plants in my basement though I defolitated them probably more than I should have but they seem to be doing fine as they are one week behind this plant.

I will get some close up photos of those up later.|


This plant drinks up 2 gallons of water every 2 days. I mean from SOAKED to DRY in 2 days. Im baffled because the plants in the basement take 6 days to dry out.

 

[Aweedtec]

Absorber's Outdoor Stealth Grow

Thankyou, im looking forward to it ,only real issues i see are the winds tend to pick up here so its going to be interesting im hoping to grow it up through a few branches for support and something to tie too Yeah I was going to say tie it to the tree! Could punch some big u nails into the tree...

www.420magazine.com

Try that

I got those yellow cards this AM and when I went to put them up the gnats were gone. WTF? I guess the threat of sticky yellow cards everywhere scared them away.

Maybe they will come back tomorrow.

Check my post above if you would please. I have question about how my plant is a bit yellow(rather a lighter shade of green) and defoliating at this stage.

Ignore the sorry attempt at a clone in the background. I realized what I did wrong and wont make that mistake again. Shot glasses will cause you to kill your roots when you try to remove them. But, coffee pods work great for cloning.
So I will attempt to clone this plant a few times. Hopefully it works at least once.

 

[Bill284]

With my camera I can make the photos look exactly like the color is in real life. Of course I cant change your screens changes. But I would assume its close. lol

Question I have is...... Is this the point where leaves will start to yellow and fall off if you haven't defoliated?

The photo you see where the color on one cola is a lighter shade of green. I believe this is because I missed an entire two weeks of fertilizer that I was supposed to give the plant.

But it is now caught up and I am hoping it darkens the entire plant up now as it was too light. But it took nearly a month to get it dark everywhere but a few places. Now I was able to give it a full dose of fertilizer (bloom booster) and I am hoping it takes off.

The 10th of Oct was the day it was last fertilized and the 9th was the day the light was flipped. So I am wondering if these look like they are on point for their time period in 12/12 or do you see anything that is lacking?

Defoliating? on this plant I defoliated very little. On the plants in my basement though I defolitated them probably more than I should have but they seem to be doing fine as they are one week behind this plant.

I will get some close up photos of those up later.|


This plant drinks up 2 gallons of water every 2 days. I mean from SOAKED to DRY in 2 days. Im baffled because the plants in the basement take 6 days to dry out.

She is hungry my friend.
She needs nutrients.
Basements tend to be cooler and higher rh.
Possible reason it takes longer.


Stay safe
Bill284

 

[SmokingWings]

The 10th of Oct was the day it was last fertilized and the 9th was the day the light was flipped. So I am wondering if these look like they are on point for their time period in 12/12 or do you see anything that is lacking?

They are showing the usual signs of not enough Nitrogen and/or Potassium. There is only so much that the plants roots can get from several gallons of soil. To add to that many of us are pushing the plants to grow faster and larger which places more demand on the roots and the soil. As if that were not enough, the plant has slowed down root production so there is no new help there. That is my theory.

One thing I do is start to add the flowering fertilizers two or three weeks before I am going to put the plant (s) into the flowering tent. And still continue with the vegetating fertilizers. It does become a balancing act involving the plant's reactions. What I figure is happening is that those little micro-organisms will start to work on those nutrients so when the plant is facing that demand there is a fair amount already there, water soluble and ready for the plant's roots.

So far I have been able to keep the plants looking green up until they have been in the flowering tent for 6 to 7 weeks. Then it get a bit tougher as more and more start to turn yellow and into a brown before often falling off.

This plant drinks up 2 gallons of water every 2 days. I mean from SOAKED to DRY in 2 days. Im baffled because the plants in the basement take 6 days to dry out.

Wait another week or two and it can increase some more. Some soil growers are watering once a day and coco growers mention 2 and sometimes 3 watering sessions a day.

When you, as the grower, notice it starting to go the other way and they are heading back to every 2 days you will see one of the signs that the plant is finishing up and shutting down.

 

[Delps8]

I'd spend $32 on a lux meter and drop those lights about a foot (the one on the left) or whatever it takes to get them at least 800µmols.

Cannabis will grow, in ambient CO2, at up 800-1k µmols, assuming that light is the limiting factor. We know that crop yield and crop quality increase in an almost linear manner as light increases so, if you're not turning it up, you're missing out on more weed. Research indicates that the increase is about 4% for every 50µmols.

 

[Aweedtec]

They are showing the usual signs of not enough Nitrogen and/or Potassium. There is only so much that the plants roots can get from several gallons of soil. To add to that many of us are pushing the plants to grow faster and larger which places more demand on the roots and the soil. As if that were not enough, the plant has slowed down root production so there is no new help there. That is my theory.

One thing I do is start to add the flowering fertilizers two or three weeks before I am going to put the plant (s) into the flowering tent. And still continue with the vegetating fertilizers. It does become a balancing act involving the plant's reactions. What I figure is happening is that those little micro-organisms will start to work on those nutrients so when the plant is facing that demand there is a fair amount already there, water soluble and ready for the plant's roots.

So far I have been able to keep the plants looking green up until they have been in the flowering tent for 6 to 7 weeks. Then it get a bit tougher as more and more start to turn yellow and into a brown before often falling off.


Wait another week or two and it can increase some more. Some soil growers are watering once a day and coco growers mention 2 and sometimes 3 watering sessions a day.

When you, as the grower, notice it starting to go the other way and they are heading back to every 2 days you will see one of the signs that the plant is finishing up and shutting down.

So I gave them the exact amount of fertilizer it called for. It darkened the plant up nicely but then I woke up to this this am....

The leaves have darkened on the edges and I noticed my light was only 15 inches from the top so I raise it to 18 inches from the top.

The other thing is.... That flower top is the ONLY one out of that plant which has turned amber and its lower than the top flowers. All of the top flowers are doing fine.

Could this be nutrients a little densely populated in one area?

What I have noticed about the micro netting roots that grow across the soil below the surface is that it serves as a kind of a safety net for new idiots like myself.
It can grab nutrients quickly and change the way your plant looks fast. But if you tear that up the fertilizer has to get deep into the soil before the roots can pick it up. So while I see some people saying you can till up your soil and and keep it light and fluffy on top and it wont hurt it to destroy that micro netting(These people usually know exactly what they are doing and so they dont mess up plants)... then there are others who say it does matter(these people may recognize that this netting grabs nutrients immediately.
Heck I dont even know if I am right about this but it sure seems that way.

So i guess my question is.... If my lights are at 100 percent... should i cut them back to 85 and lower them?

Is it the nutes doing this small singeing or the lights?

And I wonder if I drop my lights from 100 percent to 85... does it only lower the white and yellowish lights or does it lower all of them the IR and UV as well?

The plant seems to be doing well all but that ONE flower and that one leaf section on one cola. So I worry that I may need to flush and or turn the light back a bit.

By the way... when I watered after fertilizing I only got about 3 or 4 percent of run off. Which was probably stupid of me but I was in a hurry yesterday morning to leave

This is only my biggest plant. So I guess my main question is... Should i flush this plant a bit until i get some 10 percent run off today even though I watered it yesterday?

I also gave it a bit of neem oil spraying it as the directions stated for an infestation. 3 1/2 teaspoons to 32 ounces of water. But I only went 3 teaspoons to 32 ounces and sprayed ONLY the soil good. I was told it would not harm the plant at all even if I sprayed the plant.. which I didnt. I only sprayed the soil and the stalk. Because that is the only place the gnats were. Note I said WERE? lol

 

[SmokingWings]

So i guess my question is.... If my lights are at 100 percent... should i cut them back to 85 and lower them?

And I wonder if I drop my lights from 100 percent to 85... does it only lower the white and yellowish lights or does it lower all of them the IR and UV as well?

I do not have those fancy lights. My lights are fastened to the top of the tent. If the plant is growing too close to the lights I lower the plant.

Is it the nutes doing this small singeing or the lights?

Without being there in person it is harder to figure out what is happening.

I have deliberately over fertilized a few plants to see what happens and I cannot remember ever seeing anything like what you are mentioning or what is in the photograph.

By the way... when I watered after fertilizing I only got about 3 or 4 percent of run off. Which was probably stupid of me but I was in a hurry yesterday morning to leave

This is only my biggest plant. So I guess my main question is... Should i flush this plant a bit until i get some 10 percent run off today even though I watered it yesterday?

There are successful growers who only water until they just start to see run-through out of the bottom of the pot. They claim that is is only about 1 or 2%. They also say that 10% is a waste of water and nutrients.

I would not worry about it and if you want to aim for 10% then go for it the next watering to get back on schedule. No need to jump through all those hoops just for one day.

 

[Aweedtec]

I do not have those fancy lights. My lights are fastened to the top of the tent. If the plant is growing too close to the lights I lower the plant.


Without being there in person it is harder to figure out what is happening.

I have deliberately over fertilized a few plants to see what happens and I cannot remember ever seeing anything like what you are mentioning or what is in the photograph.


There are successful growers who only water until they just start to see run-through out of the bottom of the pot. They claim that is is only about 1 or 2%. They also say that 10% is a waste of water and nutrients.

I would not worry about it and if you want to aim for 10% then go for it the next watering to get back on schedule. No need to jump through all those hoops just for one day.

Thanks. This is stressful when you want perfection and expect it on your first grow. LOL!

It may be a weed, BUT, its a costly weed.

 

[SmokingWings]

This is stressful when you want perfection and expect it on your first grow. LOL!

Try for perfection but it will never happen. No matter what we end up achieving it is always possible to shoot for something better.

It may be a weed, BUT, its a costly weed.

True but I have realized that my entire gardening activities from outdoor flowers and cutting the lawn to indoor weed growing is still cheaper than several other hobbies I have had and appreciated having.

 

[Aweedtec]

Try for perfection but it will never happen. No matter what we end up achieving it is always possible to shoot for something better.


True but I have realized that my entire gardening activities from outdoor flowers and cutting the lawn to indoor weed growing is still cheaper than several other hobbies I have had and appreciated having.

Wanted you to see these photos because the brighter one is a better representation of the actual colors of the plant.

The one that is brighter and shows more contrasting colors is closer to the actual plants colors IRL. I had to mess with some settings on the photo to show how the leaves are lighter around the flower but dark green right under it.

I fertilized it just two days ago but I think it may be pulling fertilizer and also pulling from those other leaves to focus on the flowering. Is this correct?

And is it time to start defoliating even more? Does that stunt it for a bit too?

My plants in the basement are also having some wilting lower branches. Could be from the neem oil I sprayed low.

I wont spray that stuff above the stalk and lowest small branches.

Neither are a perfect representation of the actual real life colors but the bottom one definitely shows what is happening color wise. The top one is just a quick snapshot.

 

[SmokingWings]

to show how the leaves are lighter around the flower but dark green right under it.

Happens a lot. Eventually the lighter green new growth will darken as it ages.

but I think it may be pulling fertilizer and also pulling from those other leaves to focus on the flowering. Is this correct?

Unlikely it will be pulling from the older leaves this early in flowering. As it is, they are looking good so far.

And is it time to start defoliating even more? Does that stunt it for a bit too?

The plants look healthy enough that any minor cutting off of leaves will have little effect.

I would think out the lower area though. Looks pretty thick with leaves there. Some leaf removal along with any small flowers that will go nowhere will help open it up and allow better air flow. And the removal of those small buds lets the plant direct the sugars and minerals to top buds.

 

[Aweedtec]

I'd spend $32 on a lux meter and drop those lights about a foot (the one on the left) or whatever it takes to get them at least 800µmols.

Cannabis will grow, in ambient CO2, at up 800-1k µmols, assuming that light is the limiting factor. We know that crop yield and crop quality increase in an almost linear manner as light increases so, if you're not turning it up, you're missing out on more weed. Research indicates that the increase is about 4% for every 50µmols.

Those lights are not about 12 inches from the biggest stretched stems. one of the plants I have boosted up. Because it was a bit shorter from being stunted 4 times.

But i would say the outsides of the plants are about 600. But the highest colas are getting 1200.

 

[Slapalottapuss]

I think you are over thinking it. Plant looks like it is starting to fade, happening because it is cannibalizing itself for lack of food. Plant is moving nutrients upward to continue producing new plant matter. I’d double dose the feed and remove some lower leaves. Hit it with a foliar spray.
Really I’ve done all types of defoliation, can’t hurt the plant unless you take all the leaves off. Sometimes I like to take enough so I can see the soil when looking down from above. Other times I don’t take any.

Typically yellowing moving up is a sign of deficiency. Feed that beast.
FYI I’ve grown massive plants in a white bucket.