Defoliate before kicking into flower or not?

Wanted some advice from veteran growers should I defoliate my photoperiod plants prior to switching to flower? Or wait till second week of stretch in flower? If so what should I be defoilating? Thanks

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I am on the extream side of this…I completely defoliate on the day of the flip and then again on day 21 after the flip.





I cut off everything that looks like a leaf. Plants bounce right back

Wowsers thats a hardcore haircut. Thats prior to flower?

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Sorry no…those were of day 21 after the flip. The below are the same plants on the day of flip

Picture1
Picture2
Picture3
Picture4

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You do not have to go this extreme…just showing that it is not something to worry about. 10 days later I could not tell any leaves were cut off. These plants got big and bushy…had 5 plants in a 4x4 tent and it yielded over 2 1/2 pounds.

You can do less…or even nothing at all.

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Can we see some pics of those plants right before the chop … ?
please and thank you …
Just curious… :thinking:
:v:t4: :sunglasses:

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Very dependant on what you’re working with. I feel like a strip after transition is pretty common for most of us, but if you have a thick plant prior to flipping also warranted.

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Not sure if replying to me…the pictures above are before and after the chop. The first set is on day 21 of flower, the second set was on the day of flip. Same plants.

These below are the pics from the entire tent on the day of flip -


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Wow :metal: 567

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Just realized what your question was…here is the same plants in the tent right before i harvested one of the 5 plants (Indica- Big bud) on day 59 after the flip.

Picture7

This is the picture of the other 4 plants before I started harvesting on day 90 after the flip.

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definitely shows what the plant can handle… :cowboy_hat_face:

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I defoliate 3 to 4 days before flip then again between 20 and 30 days after flip.
Something i get busy and don’t get to the second one.

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Wow! That is all I can say.
How did you come to that extreme?
In that regard I guess I am a traditionalist. At flip I strip the bottom and leave the leaves on top.


Leaves with direct exposure to the light are kept.

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I’m still brain fried over here from the above :exploding_head:
Shows really how much goes into the stretch phase :thinking::green_heart::metal:

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Well…I have always done it…it is how I learned. In 1979 - 82 I had a couple self-contained grow systems called Phototron. They had 3 u-shaped fluorescent bulbs and was only about 3 feet high and probably about a foot wide. They taught to take the leaves off twice to cause the plant to grow smaller leaves instead of bigger ones…like bonsai.

When I started growing again in late 2021, stumbled onto a grow bible by Josh Haupt called Three a Light that preaches this method…I more or less am following that. My grow light manufacture also uses this method in all their online grow videos.

Some of the things I have read about it:
Like bonsai - the smaller leaves from the two 3-week apart defoliations let in more light
The first defoliation is a stress event and causes the sexually mature plant to start to throw energy toward fruiting…doing this at the flip help set buds quicker and gives them light.
The second defoliation is another stress event right after the stretch to again cause the plant to focus on fruit and to get more light on the bud sights

It has always worked for me so I have not looked into many other methods. We all have to drink someone’s Kool-aid until we have the experience to make our own. This is my drink of choice right now.

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Thanks for explaining the thought process. It is interesting how different approaches can be.
It was hard to tell but it looks like you don’t top either. Again a major difference. I like to concentrate growth to fewer main branches using manifolds, mainlines and variations of the two.
In some respects the approaches may be similar although the timing is different. The surface area of fewer larger leaves may in the end approximate the surface area of many smaller ones. Just a thought.

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I have certainly heard the term but I associated it more with a type of lollipopping. It is more like lollipopping on steroids.
Thanks

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I love doing the b4 flip and day 21 defol. I love when the guys say its not good to defol or its a solar panel and whatever else they believe. This is a good example of y u can. I always yield more with a good defol then without. This is a little extreme for my likings but is a excellent example of how they all bounce back.

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I see more of it popping up in the near future :metal:
2 great examples :green_heart::green_heart:

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I do also top to get the plant bushy and I also combine supercropping of the outer branches with topping the center to get a flat canopy…at least at the start of flower.

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