Just got here and will stick around to watch. I’m also curious about your defoliation techniques. I’ve tried it before and wasn’t impressed. Perhaps I went about it wrong?
Bonsai was what led me to trying it with our girls. I may experiment again this year…
Boy, I am really gonna throw a monkey wrench in my works. Why not? It’s good to experiment if you’re having fun and learning something! 
I topped the oldest (referred to as “GL1” onward) of the 2 Gold Leafs yesterday (day 14), and I topped the other one (GL2) today. I do not usually top my plants. I used to, but it fell out of my practice.
The plan:
A) GL1 will undergo 1 more topping. It will undergo defoliation.
B) GL2 will undergo 1 more topping. It will not undergo defoliation.
@Aquaponic_Dumme suggested it… on the sly. 
I decided to not do LST this time around. I’ll do that with the clones generated from GL1.
So, let’s see what happens shall we? My expectations:
I promise both plants will receive the EXACT SAME nutrients, schedule, and tender loving care. I’m just gonna have a “love/beat relationship” with GL1. She’s gonna love it when I beat her!
GAME… er… EXPERIMENT ON!!
Hello, currently 3 weeks veg into my first grow and must admit am rally enjoying it.
Have been looking around for seeds for my next grow and it seems Gold Leaf is big yielder and easy to grow .
Am really looking foy dayrward to your journal as im learning ever
Very nice sir
GL1: 6 days in veg.
GL2: 5 days in veg.
At this rate, both plants will receive their 2nd topping by Sunday. If you look closely at GL1, you will see that one of the very bottom branches has pushed its way up through the foliage and is trying to become a main stalk. The opposite branch is trapped under the dense leaves. I may begin defoliation a little early to encourage that other bottom branch to push up to the top. I haven’t decided yet. They’re a little young yet…
Here we go! I may be jumping the gun a bit, but I think it will all work out.
Temperature @ 74 degrees
Humidity @ 30%
pH: 5.7-5.9
TDS: 295 (GL1), 304 (GL2)
GL1 10 days in veg:
I will begin defoliating GL1 today. She is a fat little lady, and relatively low in height. By defoliating now, specifically the way I am doing it (low level lollipop), I am encouraging her to do the following:
The cuts:
I will have to watch her like a hawk for a bit. As if that is anything new. She will probably have a couple days of, “WTF just happened?”, but then she should bounce right back. I will refrain from topping her until she is recovered.
GL2 looks to be on schedule for its 2nd and last top on Sunday.
Looking good… just curious, how many days from sprout?
24 and 23 respectively. GL2 is a day behind.
How did the experiment turn out?
Hello! Been away, and exceptionally busy… But life goes on…
I will try and post some new pics of the ladies today. At 36 & 37 days in veg my plants are looking beautiful! GL1 has really shown the power of defoliation in veg. You’ll see what I mean when pics come up.
GL1:
37 days in veg.
I fell a little behind on the defoliation uploads but…
2 weeks ago I trimmed all leaves from her top and middle. She has since recovered, as you can see. What you can not see is that, all of the center stem internode branches have bulked immensely, and are reaching upward to become cola sites. This plant should have 12 colas without SCROG, and only 2 toppings.
GL2:
36 days in veg
She is very robust, and her 4 main stems are monsters. The leaves I have removed were near the very bottom for easier access to the bucket.
Btw… I still say Robert spliced cabbage genes into the Goldleaf. Most of those fan leaves are nearly the size of my head!
I’m really curious about what happened with these two…
Me too - I’m trying to figure out what the proper nutrient levels are for my GL. It seems like I’ve been close or in nitrogen tox with this plant but I’m not really giving it many nutes. I need to figure it out.
@DissidentPriest any updates on this man? super curious how things went
