Condition at week 5 of flower/defoliation Crown Royal

No need to defoliate, this will only reduce your plants capacity to produce energy, resulting in slower/smaller growth. Try to only remove yellow leaves, as for by the time they are yellow, they have served their purpose. The older leaves are also "storage" sites for vital growth elements, such as sugars, carbs, amino acids etc that your plant will draw upon during flowering. It is far more efficient for your plant to "recycle" the stored vital growth elements in her older leaves during flowering, than it is to try and grow flowers and also make these vital growth elements from new during flowering, if defoliation does occur. There is only so much energy available to your plant, so without those "stored in her leaves" vital growth elements, she must use some energy for flowering and some to re-manufacture the vital growth elements, meaning flower growth will suffer due to diminished levels of energy. So, not only does defoliation cause a reduction in energy production, it also robs the plant of vital growth elements that she has cleverly "stored" in her older leaves for use during flowering. This is why the older leaves will go yellow during flowering, despite being a well fed and an otherwise healthy plant. The "bud sites" people fear are being shaded by the fan leaves are actually relying on those very fan leaves to produce the energy that the "bud sites" need to grow! The small bud leaves can in no way produce enough energy for maximum growth as just one fan leaf can. Also, much of the UV and infrared light that we humans can not see, will actually pass through upper leaves to strike lower shaded leaves and stimulate photosynthesis anyhow, making defoliation pointless. Fewer/less amount of healthy green leaves = less energy production = less available stored vital growth elements = less/smaller/slower growth. It is that simple and basic plant biology 101! This is what the defoliation brigade fail to understand; removing healthy green leaves so that "the plant will "channel" energy into flower growth" is dumb, because where does the energy come from? The very leaves they have cut off! Further, plants can not "channel" energy, all energy is used throughout the entire plant. To be able to "channel" energy would suggest that the plant is capable of making conscious decisions, which is absolutely impossible as plants obviously do not have a brain. Also, there are no "energy highways" with little policemen directing energy flow, so the whole argument of defoliation causing energy to be channelled into flower growth can only be accepted by people who do not have a real understanding of how plants grow and function. So, basically, maximum amount of healthy green leaves = maximum energy production = maximum availability of stored substances = maximum flower growth. It can be no other way! Sorry, but I feel better now that I have had my chance to get on my soapbox and de-bunk the outdated and ridiculous notion that defoliation somehow benefits flower growth in cannabis plants. In over 35 years of cannabis cultivation, I have never seen a healthy cannabis plant get rid of its own healthy green leaves for no apparent reason, at any time. For humans to impose this torture on healthy plants during the most complicated time of a cannabis' plants life, during flowering, is exactly that; torture. Generally conducted by people who do not know how plants function and grow. Just remember, more leaves = more growth. It is that simple. I do however agree with well considered "lollipopping", but I try and leave as many healthy green leaves attached to continue photosynthesising and providing the plant with the energy she needs to grow her biggest and best flowers. Hope this helps,... Organoman.