I have 4 girls that have just gone into flower the past 5-7 days or so.
I have read that many people still lightly defoliate which i have cautiously done however many say to remove the bottom 1/3 of the plant.
Is this ALL branches and foliage?
I know the idea is to create airflow and give more light to the sites that will bud more (the top)
but i wanted to ask as it feel like i will be throwing away potentially good bud by doing so.
this has been my first grow.
thanks to everyone on the group for their consistently valuable advice.
i can provide photos in the morning (2300 here atm)
im aware that this is normally done during veg and i have been in general as you can see but some of the lower sights and branches are pretty strong even though the focuse is much on the top canopy
Those lower branches with developing buds probably won’t do much…too far from light and below canopy…so unless you have side fill lighting for those I would scrap them so the plant will have more energy where it will produce more eg.(the canopy)
No problem man I use some side fill lights to boost them a little sometimes and they turn out a lot better but still small and on the fluffy side…just adding towards edible making material
I didn’t used to do that, but I’ve come to realize those buds never do much way low like that, so I have started (with my current plant) removing a lot of that bottom scrub. I think it’s the right thing to do. This plant may not look like it, but I removed a lot of scrub off the bottom.
Hello! I usually trim two times in Flower, because I don’t really like to mess with them in veg and just like to let them flourish naturally.
Lots of growers on the forum use this method, and many have great results doing so, as do myself! :
Trim ONCE 21 days from flip. So like you’re saying above, take off the lower branches that just dont really seem to be getting much light. What you chop on the bottom, you surely will make up for on top of the plant. That doesn’t always mean every lower branch… I have a LA Confidential going right now and I saved a good few of the lower guys cause they stretched all the way up into the canopy. But that just depends on the growth of your plant!
As well as those lower branches, take off all the fan leaves on those remaining branches. You don’t have to go digging for the ones super close to bud sights, but a good rule of thumb someone Once told me is if it’s got a stem visible, it’s gotta go. Your plant will looks droopy and sad for a day or two, but make sure you just give it a good feeding right after the trim, and she’ll bounce right back. Really strip her and don’t be shy, just make sure to keep an eye on them closely.
21 days after the first trim (or day 42) of flower. Repeat the above stems, disregarding the removal of branches because all that should be left are good, viable branches that fit your canopy. Strip her down once more of those fan leaves they reproduce (cause she will very much so!) and once again hit them with a nice feeding.
I learned you don’t want to do too much trimming in the early weeks of flowering, as those are the most fragile times for the plant, and you could run the risk of it turning hermie. If larger fan leaves are getting in the way for those first 3 weeks, tuck them to the best of your ability under another branch, or even tie them down.
I defoliate during preflower and the stretch. I remove any lower branch or small branch that’s not gonna make it to the outside or the canopy. Then I strip the bottom 3rd of the plant of all the leaves and tiny secondary branches/larf buds. I dont take more than 20% at a time and give it a few days to recover before I clip any more off. Then at week one of flower I check again and remove anything I might have missed. At around 21 days into full flowering I do a final defoliating to clean out the center some to increase airflow. I also spread out some branches with wires as needed. I dont remove all the big leaves like some people do, just the ones that are covering too much area if they cant be tucked.
Lollipopping is the way to go. Let’s the plants focus energy on the more substantial top buds. Also, I second the day 21 and 42 trimming. In between I did a little trimming when leaves were blocking light from buds and refused to stay tucked. Good rule of thumb is to never take more than 20% of fan leaves at a time.
Removing flower sites from bottom of canopy is generally a pretty good idea, as they won’t develop like mentioned above. But you don’t really gain anything by removing full branches and leaves. I typically leave the branches and leaves on bottom and just remove the flowers. I will pull large fan leaves from top of plants to help get light deeper into plant. Then these lower branches can usually help process light energy that makes it through canopy.
I am relatively new to this growing thing, but I didn’t not de-foliage like I should have; I trimmed and trimmed and thought: this is too much. I was so wrong.
Now at 7 weeks into flowering, I am fighting constant humidity problems inside the plants: they are not airing out.
Hi. Can you clarify exactly what you mean by “but a good rule of thumb someone Once told me is if it’s got a stem visible, its gotta go” please?
does this mean any side stems/small branches off of the main branch or just that if the leaf has grown a prominent stem then it should be removed? im guessing the latter but better to ask before going to work
