Do you defol autos? Bad idea? Or no?

[Stage]

Good afternoon and High to all.
Who here performs defol on autos? What were your results?

I have 3 hso sd autos going atm and I'm on day 61. (3 plants on the right)and I wonder if I should defol? 1st time growing autos and I would hate to stunt them.
What do ya think?

 

[Clancy]

Hi Stage,

I've only grown autos once, just recently, and they do grow differently than do the regular plants. I defoliate as I go along the grow normally but I didn't feel like I should defoliate the autos.

First of all, defoliation itself is not 100% supported by all knowledgeable growers. I tend to do a fair bit when I do but I've read that plenty of people don't advise it all. So to the autos and why I didn't defol them: they grow very fast relatively speaking so I wasn't sure about the timing of when I could defol. Also, the leaves started turning yellow very fast so again, I didn't feel it would benefit to take off green fan leaves under those conditions. Another thing is, since I wasn't sure I didn't feel that it mattered that much one way or the other. Defoliation doesn't always make a very big difference to bud growth. Finally, in my readings I did come across the rule that one should not defoliate autos at all.

I'm no expert, I answered you just to give my perspective at this stage in my learning. I also hate to see zero replies--- I hope a true expert weighs in on this too. Ultimately tho' it's your own call for defoliation.

 

[Stage]

Hi Stage,

I've only grown autos once, just recently, and they do grow differently than do the regular plants. I defoliate as I go along the grow normally but I didn't feel like I should defoliate the autos.

First of all, defoliation itself is not 100% supported by all knowledgeable growers. I tend to do a fair bit when I do but I've read that plenty of people don't advise it all. So to the autos and why I didn't defol them: they grow very fast relatively speaking so I wasn't sure about the timing of when I could defol. Also, the leaves started turning yellow very fast so again, I didn't feel it would benefit to take off green fan leaves under those conditions. Another thing is, since I wasn't sure I didn't feel that it mattered that much one way or the other. Defoliation doesn't always make a very big difference to bud growth. Finally, in my readings I did come across the rule that one should not defoliate autos at all.

I'm no expert, I answered you just to give my perspective at this stage in my learning. I also hate to see zero replies--- I hope a trial expert weighs in on this too. Ultimately tho' it's your own call for defoliation.

Yo Clancy,
Thanx for weighing in on this.
I too have been leaning on the side of caution vs possibly sacrificing yield.
If the lighting is adequate or better I find I have had pretty good results leaving the majority of leaves on.
I'm taking my 1st run conservatively.

 

[golfer420]

I've done my share of clipping fan leaves without too much negative impact. Check out my current grow. I didn't do any trimming at all until the sixth or seventh week.

 

[Camo420Grow]

Yo stage what's good man,
What was the final verdict on the autos? Did you trim those girls up or left em all natural?

 

[Rifleman]

I leave mine mostly natural. Moderation is key.

 

[Stage]

Yo stage what's good man,
What was the final verdict on the autos? Did you trim those girls up or left em all natural?

Hey Camo
I left mine natural with mostly all leaves.
I yielded pretty good by doing minor lst and left them alone. Worked for me.

 

[Camo420Grow]

Thanks for the reply stage. Just curious cause I am gonna grow autos my first grow to get a quicker yield and wanted to get the most out of them that I could!

 

[Papageno]

Pruning when done correctly can be very beneficial to final yield (not potency). But it is not a good idea after you have entered bloom. I am not going to go on and on about this. Just understand the facts.

1) Whenever a plant (any plant) is harmed hormones are released to heal the plant locally. These hormones stunt growth allowing the "energy" to go into healing not growth. So rule number one is don't prune in bloom.

2) Stalks and flowers do not synthesize light. Photosynthesis happens in the leaves. The "energy" is transported to the rest of the plant. leaves in the buds themselves do a lot of the work but the fan leaves do all the work until big buds are formed. cutting leaves reduces growth rate.

Tucking leaves is fine and recommended.

After bloom starts the only leaves you want to remove are ones that easily pull off when they are used up.

Each grower usually gets better with each grow even after many grows...it is always a little special. The problem there is many times people attribute increased yield or potency to something new they did this time and not to the 20 things they didn't fuck up this time that they totally hosed last time. So be very careful when someone makes a claim online that doesn't pass the sniff test. These are plants like all the rest. If it made sense to cut leaves off to increase yield then farmers would do it to all of their trees and plants.

there is a ton of postings out there to explain this so I am done.

Best of luck...be patient...

 

[Alpaca Bowl]

I'm in the same boat! I have no idea of whether or not I should have defoliated this girl before she got so big. Now she's pushing the limits of her boundaries and starting to overcrowd her sister.

Sorry Stage, didn't mean to hijack your thread!