Defoliate now or later? Early flower Stace

I'm a big fan of defoliation but also a culprit of not doing it enough. You can definitely remove about 50% of the fan leaves before sending into flower and then in week 3 of flower too

I'll be doing my heavy defoliation by the end of next week if you want to check out my diary and the plant . "Another grow with CBD" Right now in latest diary post she is at the end of week two of flower. My other diaries show the 3rd week of flower heavy defoliation also although I don't do as much as the pros. I only grow one or two plants at a time so I can't afford mistakes.

a heavy defoliation and prune can be done at the end of the 3rd week of flower when the stretch phase has finished. I'm the same way and don't do enought before flip but yours are fine. You can take one here and there every couple days but to much will stunt the stretch. You have two weeks to go.

if you need to defoliate often, change your training methods. Or, maybe you are needlessly defoliating. It's avoidable if you don't overcrowd the canopy. Yield won't be impacted as long as your canopy still captures the same amount of energy to fuel growth over time. That is what dictates yield. Number of colas just has to be some happy-zone to maximize yield. Above that, more only makes smaller, more-distributed buds. tuck as much as you can... remove as few of leaves as possible. Don't create empty gaps in canopy where light missed the plant entirely. Should revise methods until defoliation is totally unnecessary, but that's up to you.

Those would scrog really nice and help control your airflow and stretch. if you spread her out being careful not to snap the main stalk like i always do you will expose twice as many new shoot to grow up into new top colas and get the airflow and light penetration all at once, without cutting anything. I always do a light trimming after week 2-3 when she's stretches but just on some of the bottom stuff that's in the way. I would get my plants even lower, but them i cant get my watering can in there. so you don't want to bend too much down if you do choose to scrog.

with sooo much space i would not cut anything. it will fall of if the plant dont has a reason for it - otherwise it can use it for energy or transpiration. even if is in the lowest corner - it could be the leef for making the steem or the roots a bit stronger or to regulate hum a bit better.

Defoliation is one of those things that are touted to make you feel good about your grow. Makes you feel like you are an artist cutting hair, trimming her like a bonsai king. She is a plant. A energy processing plant. The more energy she can collect and convert in a single cycle will determine 100% of the growth that can occur. Every leaf holds mitochondria. The power cell. Every leaf you remove lowers potential. "OH but these leafs are not capturing light!" Each leaf has limited oxidative capacity. A leaf that is photosyhtesizing 100% efficiently cannot perform any cellular respiration. Cellular respiration is mostly considered a nigttime process but that's not true. It happens 24/7. The kicker being of she is photosyhtesizing she can't respire. So a leaf that is not in a optimal photosynthetic location can still perform cellular respiration 100% efficiently. As soon as a leaf uses more energy than it can create it will be detached with the plant beginning programmed cell death, recycling all mobile nutrients within before turning yellow and falling off. We are not smarter than the plant. Photosynthesis is all about capturing the carbon and creates 10% of all atp. Cellular respiration is the daddy. Responsible for 90% of all atp. Optimize vpd for daytime but it's 10x less effective at night. Maintaining a high rh at night and allowing temps to drop reduces cellular respiration to almost nothing. If rh reaches 75+ practically all gas exchange will cease. Plant will be 100% reliant on daytime for its ATP.....only thing is you removed 100% of every leaf that could have performed cellular respiration but you defoliated so hard that every leaf is photosyntheticly active therefore the entire plant runs off that 10%. As very little cellular respiration occurs. It's a over simplification but relevant none the less. You do whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Just don't defoliate unless there is a reason to. Having a huge surplus of energy for growth is what makes massive cola and buds. Stripping a plant of its power cells so that light and air can reach bud sites which will magically create more buds with 80% less atp...that's why a plant stretches.....no..... ATP is king. Above all else. Anything else is just smoke. ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the primary energy carrier in cells, including plant cells. It powers various cellular activities like nutrient uptake, protein synthesis, and cell division. Without ATP, the plant's metabolic machinery would grind to a halt, regardless of the presence of nutrients, oxygen, or carbon. Nutrients, like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, are essential for building plant tissues and various molecules. They are incorporated into proteins, nucleic acids, and other vital compounds. While crucial, their uptake and utilization rely on ATP-driven processes. Oxygen is vital for cellular respiration, a process that generates ATP. While plants can produce ATP through photosynthesis, oxygen is essential for maximizing ATP production in mitochondria through oxidative phosphorylation. Carbon is the backbone of all organic molecules, including carbohydrates synthesized during photosynthesis. It's the fundamental building block of plant structures and fuels. However, its incorporation into organic molecules is also ATP-dependent

I wouldn’t defoliate so much, beautiful plants, but I would definitely be taking unwanted shoots now. It may be tedious but you’ll have some nice colas after the stretch.

I’d say don’t go too heavy right now since you’re only 4 days into flip. At this stage you can do a light cleanup remove a few big fan leaves that block airflow or cover bud sites, and lollipop the bottom shoots that will never make it to the canopy. The main defoliation is best done around day 18–21 (week 3 of flower), when the stretch is finishing. That’s when you can really open up the canopy and thin out fan leaves so the energy goes straight to the productive tops. Until then, just leaf-tuck the bigger fans to let light through. So basically: a small cleanup now, big defoliation in week 3.

Look at these beautiful babies, producing plenty of large leaves like true Indicas 😊 The canopy is harmonious, maybe a little LST on the main colas of the two on the right, and why not clear out the lower third a little (like that little branch on the right that won't produce much, but is taking up energy that would be better used elsewhere). nothing more 👍 enjoy!

I'd use a SCROG net to get the canopy even then lolipop the lower stuff if need be. But for your plants I think a bit of LST would do just fine, don't need to strip em.