Defoliation methods

So, this plant is two weeks into flowering, and I just barely see pistils. I fear it is so bushy that it is putting all its energy into foliage and not flowers. I’ve never had a plant so dense, so I have very little defoliation experience. This plant has only stretched about an inch since the flip. Is there a science as to which leaves I should pluck off? Or just the ones on the inside? Thoughts please.


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Look at it from the top and start to remove fan leaves that block light to bud sites and as it starts to open up you will see ones that impair air flow as well and they can go too. Hope this helps

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You can trim the bottom up and clear out the bud sites. Do it in stages, not all at once. Start at the top.

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Do you mean 2 weeks since the flip? That plant has not started flowering yet. The first pistils you see, the ones at the base of the node, are just indicators that it is mature. Flowering is not considered to have started until there are clusters of pistils or “hedgehogs” at the tips of the bud sites.

This is the very beginning of flowering. Less than a week.:arrow_down:

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I usually target the fan leaves that are stemmy first. A little LST helps open the bud sites then slowly fine tune the trimmings. Nice looking plant!

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Yeah, no budlets yet. Are you suggesting I wait a little longer before I do any bigger defoliation?

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I like to lst, but this plant hasn’t really stretched enough to tie anything down.

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She will stretch what strain do you have looks alot like my plant I’m Indica dominant Lst is fun to play with

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This is like saying puberty doesn’t start until a mustache appears

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Hell Ya

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Mine is OG kush.

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I’m Ace Killer OG The stretch will be slower than a Sativa plant it shouldn’t get as tall. But produce beautiful flowers. Side Note: Clean up the bottom of the plant like @GreggT recommend

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Thanks, I already cleaned the bottom up once during veg, but looks like it needs another round. I just measured it, and it looks like it did stretch an inch since yesterday morning, so maybe it’s getting going now.

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How long did you veg before you flipped the light

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6 weeks

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I flipped at day 33 from sprout . At day 37 today. Not to much behind where your at. She’s needing to be trimmed. From time to time snip snip :v:

For sure. Here’s mine a couple weeks ago after taking a bunch off.

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Nice work. Just like yourself its time to do it again
I pluck away a little at a time comes the time to get aggressive as the plant is going into preflower. I’ll post a after pic.

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Well, I did it. I have never been so hard on a plant, and I don’t know if I did more harm than good. I guess I’ll find out in a couple weeks. Major defoliation. If this works out, I may be more aggressive in the future. I guess this is an experiment.


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She looks great nice job :100: