How much to defoliate now

Google it, its something you will learn, I watched a lot of you tube on it and that's how I do it. growdiaries.com/journal/how-to-lst-cannabis-a-simple-guide growdiaries.com/journal/defoliating-cannabis-the-best-method-to-increase-yields Good Luck!

I like to strip off at least 50% of the leaves when growing a bushy indica dominant strain. Last year i grew T.H.Seeds Darkstar and it's fan leaves where as big as your whole face. 1 Week before light flip i stripped about 70% of the foliage off of them (i was doing a trellis scrog). Then at day 21, i'll strip off 50% of the foliage, and thats it. People say it's bad for the plants and that it reduces yield. That taking the big fan leaves off is taking away their ability to make sugars for the area it was plucked from. You know what, i say bullshit. I've been growing weed for ever man. I've experimented with everything, with the exception of aeroponic's and aquaponics, and i say it increases yield significantly. By stripping 50% off the plant, you are opening up more area to absorb the lights and photosynthesize. Plants pull nutrients to wherever it needs it. So if it cant get the building blocks from leaves close by, it will transport the nutrition created by the lower canopy solar panels to the bud sites around the plant, not just in the immediate area. In my opinion, the only risks are infection from dirty scissors or fingers, or stress induced hermaphrodite And think about this, if light at bud sites wasn't a factor in bud development, then why do lower bud sites develop whispy airey buds that are badly developed? Wouldn't lower bud sites get first dibs on the juice goin up the roots? The difference is , well, par light, DLI, whatever the fuck you wanna call it. AKA Rate of Photosynthesis..

light hitting buds sites does not improve those buds.. more leaves receiving light improves buds.. removing suckers improves upper buds and avoids larf. yes, buds technically do perfrom some small amount of photosynthesis, but ATP is fully mobile within the plant. That is the product of importance from photosynthesis. When it breaks down into ADP+ it releases energy which fuels molecular construction within the cells. Stems technically can photosynthesize, but nothing compared to the top of a leaf. light penetrating canopy is fine.. just make sure it's hitting more leavs and not buds and stems. That is 100x less efficient use of light on top of inverse square law - light that travels further from origin will spread out significantly more over just a small distance. As long as your canopy fills the area, you will get a similar yield even if not distributed the same way on the plant. it's more about the total energy absorbed. You want less larf? prune suckers off 2-3 weeks before vege growth ceases in flower phase. FD 14-21 ish depending on how long they stretch (aka remaining vege growth) after flip.

prune selectively.. don't do it just to do it. Is it congested? causing condensation on leaves? good reason to prune it off. shielded leaves are still a net-positive for the plant. LEaves are nothing but good things unless condensation is forming or it's too thick for proper air cicrulation etc etc. Don't create any gaps in your canopy.. light traveling near but not hitting anything is useless wasted electricity. leave the leaves... your buds will thank you. "Schwazzing" and the like are techniques fabricated by uninformed hobbyists and often have existing terminology and nothing new to what we've done to plants for a hundred or more years. Removing "suckers" is one thing... blanket defoliation with no rhyme or reason is another animal altogether and it's mildly retarded.

I would worry more about excessive nitrogen and maybe incoming magnesium deficiency ... Could be just lightning, but looks very strange ...

The key when defoliating and you're new to it or unsure how your strain will react is to use a light hand with it. If you don't remove enough you always can later but you can't glue the leaves back on if you go too far. Before removing a leaf, evaluate the purpose of removing that leaf. Ask yourself: Is this leaf shading out several other leaves or budsites? Especially if it's pushing a long stem. I've seen BS larfy buds from the bottom push a big ol fan right to the top of the canopy. Can you accomplish the same with a little LST? Sometimes moving a branch a couple inches accomplishes the same as removing a dozen leaves. Is it restricting airflow? Sometimes deep in the middle of thick canopies it's dark and humid and wicked little problems like powdery mildew can develop, no matter how cherry you think your environment is or how many fans you run because you've created a cloistered little micro-environment in the middle of the plant. Look for clusters of leaves competing for the same space. Moisture can accumulate where there is leaf on leaf contact. I take a layered approach, some focus more on the top or bottom. I also skirt out(lollipop) any of the little suckers and underdeveloped bits at the bottom.