Yesterday when I watered, I removed a few small branches on each, and all the lower fans. It hardly shows now. Will take more soon, I didn't want to stress them out. Looking at the pics now, I will probably take the first remaining node/branches on a few.
I use nothing but LED and never do what would be considered defoliation.Cant lie i like buds idea better.Leds sceam plant management to get those nice big buds/colas.
Get out your feelings and smoke one NO NEED bye.I use nothing but LED and never do what would be considered defoliation.
I at best slightly clean up under the SCROG with a mild lollipop that might get 80% or so of the undergrowth that'll never see the light of day outa there and then I will snip a few big leaves here and there just enough to allow some air flow and light penetration.
I keep as many healthy leaves as possible because in my system at least those are the nutrient store houses.
The plant expends a lot of energy to make those leaves so it can create exudates to send into the roots to feed the microbes in exchange for plant available nutrients created by the microbes.
The mobile nutrients stored in all those leaves are instantly available to the bud to help it get big and fat in flower.
I pretty much have nothing but big fat buds most every grow.
The key, at least in my method is to make sure the soil has every macro and micro nutrient amendment in the soil for the worms, bugs and fungi to create plant available nutrients.
Combined with a large root system and leaving as many leaves as I can means my buds have all the nutrients it possibly needs.
So defoliation is not helpful in every situation. In my case it would actually be detrimental.
I think if you the grower are in charge of every morsel the plant gets, you're in Hydro or a hydrosoil like Coco in small (under 10gal) pots then you can get away with stripping leaves because you're force feeding the plants in what amounts to an IV drip.
As long as you can get everything right, all macro/micro nutrients and in balance then you can achieve a good respectable grow.
There's a 100 ways to grow this plant and one of those ways will fit you.
Many people do very good, get nice buds etc defoliating the hell out of their plants but its not the defoliation giving them those big buds its the fact they have everything else dialed in.
They've figured out the exact balance of nutrients and environment (temp/humidity VPD) and manage to deliver it to the buds.
Thats where big fat juicy buds come from, that perfect balance.
If I tried a grow like the majority of people seem to gravitate to which is just a big box potting soil with inadequate aeration that takes days to dry out, and transplant from solo, 1gal, 3gal, and maybe a 4 to 5gal plastic pots and bottle feeding and defoliating the hell out of them then I would most likely fail miserably and be lucky to get 2-3 oz a plant of so-so quality.
Whenever you find that method that fits you you'll know, its all just clicks into place.
LOL wtf?
Correct.
I don't get it?
