When is a good time to defoliate? Here are 6 Blue Dream photos that just finished 3 weeks of veg. I just defoliated about 3-4 bottom fan leaves per plant. Should I be concerned? New to growing.
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Well⌠how much room do you have? You could lay those branches down instead of defoliating and allow the plant to grow âoutâ
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Nice growth for 3 weeks veg 
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The room is 4x6 and 8 high. I am getting a second grow light and plan on spacing them out more.
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YouTube videos, Bill Ward may help.
He knows more than I do.
Even better, Dr Bruce Bugbee, USU weed guru.
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@Medication howdy Growmie. Are your 6 plants in separate pots? I would add lights and spread them out in your 4x6. Give each plant the same amount of room and grow them til they fill up the space. Provide them with light that covers the 4x6. Youâve got time. As OG was saying you may be best served by bending the tops and letting the limbs grow to fill up the space. What lights are you planning to use ? Any chance of these beauties being taken outdoors ? Just a thought I had. Very nice plants . You are doing great so far .
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@RightAway tx! I am actually getting a second light sent today. I also changed up my setup in my grow room yesterday. I know itâs going to be a jungle in there, but thatâs the beauty of it 
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What is the light youâre using? Looks sorta like many of the 100 watt fixtures Ive seen. In my limited experience, Iâm betting youâre gonna need at least 2 more lights.
Also you might want to get some fans to keep air moving and make the stems stronger.
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So defoliating technique is also of interest to me. I know there are lots ideas and opinions on this subject and most of us have very unique grow conditions.
This grow i was a bit more bold, but i still feel like i have a bunch to learn.
So how early do some of you start topping, cutting away, and bending over your babies?
This is apple fritter photo 26 days into flower. I have 7-100watt vivosun fixtures running at about 50% . great light penetration but my issue is controlling heat!
I topped it probably a bit later than i should have. But confidence comes with experience of which i have very little.
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It Spider Farm SF 2000. I am getting a second one today. I have two fans going. One you canât see that is tucked in the front left corner. I also have a dehumidifier to keep the humidity in range.
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Nice grow tent! Love the lights with the fans.
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Personally I only trim the bottom area during veg to make sure I have airflow so mold doesnât take hold. Then second week of flowering I trim out the bottom third that might not get light and is really a waste of energy. Then I only clip fan leaves that cover bud sites during the rest of flowering. I personally donât lollipop pop everything. Different strokes
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You guys are both on the right track !!! Youâve got beautiful plants growing. There are many different ways to grow cannabis. As you gain experience you will learn what works best for you. Its a wonderful journey. Study videos, read all the grow guides , browse the great information on this forum. Always ask questions. The best growers in the world are right here at your fingertips. If yâall donât mind I would like to tag in some experienced growers . Let me know what you think about that . This is your thread . @ChittyChittyBangin is a very knowledgeable grower. His insights are of great value. You will find the people on this sight to be very helpful. Everyone has their own way of growing. We are all still learning. There is no one right or wrong way. Some things just work better. Different strains react differently to manipulation. Some strains like one thing while others do better with a differing technique. You may be able to find a grower on the forum with vast experience with a strain you are currently growing.
As was mentioned earlier bending the tops to encourage horizontal growth accomplishes similar results to topping. It also has the desired effect of not slowing the growth. Weed grows with apial homones. When you bend the top and bring it down even with the other limb tips,it spreads the hormones more evenly amongst all the growing tips, resulting in more even growth of said tips . Working with indoor lighting, as a rule , the tops of the plants receiving the strongest light grow the best buds. When you have many tips the same height (canopy) you will get more quality buds. Topping can achieve the same result. If I am going to top plants ,I personally, like to top at the 3rd node. But that is not a hard and fast rule by any means. Sometimes the 5th node works better, sometimes the 6th and so on. Some plants may require a second and even third topping as they grow. Many people veg for 30 days and flip to flower never topping at all. So as you see there are no set rules. Imma let you digest this and weâll pick it up again. Happy Growing 
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@Rockdog62 with all the side lighting you are utilizing I donât know how much defoliation you will need to do. The idea of defoliation being to let light penetrate where it canât reach. And to allow airflow. You pretty much beat that with 4 fans. SoâŚ
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This kind of âgemâ is the reason i keep coming back here! Thank you very much my friendđ
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Yeah these side lights are new to this grow. Had cheaper ones last grow, but these i can see the difference! Itâs weird seeing some of the leaves turned hard sidewaysđ
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Good luck to you.
Fans moving air is a method that assists reducing leaf temperatures, moves moisture, and definitely makes stems stronger.
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Tx! I actually have two fans in the inside left corner. 
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@Rockdog62 are you able to meter the sidelighting so you are keeping it at an effective ppfd ? Thats a really advanced technique that we donât see enough of ,imo, interested to watch the development and yeild. Thanks for letting us follow along. If you have a journal , I would be interested .