Defoliation

Heyo, first of all im seriously irritated by the unclear definition that experienced growers on this page have sometimes. Pruning is removing branches, buds or stems. Defoliating is removing leaves for multiple reasons: airflow, lightpenetration and pest/mold/overall plant control. I would do a heavy defoliation to your plant when she finished the flowerstretch. Some fanleaves, especially low will Support your plant but also take a lot of energy for themselves since they never stop grow. I would defnitely cut them to ensure you boost that energy into buds through sugarleaves sucking it directly to where it belongs. But also keep a healthy amount of leaves on your plant. I usually start at the end of flowerstretch, when pistils show. Then do a heavy defoliation and then daily take a leaf or few of if they block some buds or a just too much layers. At the end of flowering my plants barely have any fanleaves, but i also dunno how to keep them all my space is filled with buds lol. Happy Growing

Defoliation must be the one single most misunderstood "thing" when it comes to cannabis cultivation (other than flushing) and seems to be a persistent idea that someone once did and now everyone thinks they must do it just because everyone else does it. But why defoliate? What for? ALL of the plants energy to grow and thrive is made by/in the leaves. Less leaves = less energy being made = less potential growth. Besides, if your plant would not need those leaves, it would not grow them in the first place! Try to only remove any leaves that have gone yellow, otherwise those beautiful healthy green leaves are providing everything your plant needs to achieve her maximum potential.

Hello letmegrowinpeace, There are only 2 reasons to defoliate. Leaves blocking airflow & leaves blocking light (or do not get any light). Study your plant and check if you need to defoliate to solve one of these 2 issues. If not then there is really no reason to defoliate, it will just decrease yield. You need to look for leaves that are stacked on eachother, there will be moist in between the leaves. You do not want this because it can cause mold and other unwanted issues. And you need to check what nodes need light and is there is a leaf above this that does block the light for this branch. Take your time, you can only cut once! Happy Growing Buddy! 💚

https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/community/photons_corner/to-defoliate-or-not-to-defoliate/