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Is it necessary to defoliate plants growing outdoo...
birdmountainstarted grow question 4 months ago
Is it necessary to defoliate plants growing outdoors in pots or in the garden soil? What I read about this is very contradictory.
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Shinsimillaanswered grow question 4 months ago
There is no straight answer.
It depends on the plant and your environment.
Like asking if anti freeze is important in a car.
If you are somewhere it gets below freezing, probably yes.
If not, probably no.
It all depends on the humidity and airflow.
Plants are only at the pinnacle of evolution for the environment they evolved in. If you remove them from that climate and grow them elswhere, they may do terribly as they are not suited for that climate or environment. Like a polar bear trying to survive in the Sahara, pinnacle predator in the cold, but dead fast in the heat. We are now growing mostly polyhybrids bred for stable indoor climates and sometimes they need some help outside.
You need to work out what is best for your environment.
FlyMuncheranswered grow question 4 months ago
Plants in the wild take care of themselves. There is no need to defoliate a healthy plant.
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001100010010011110answered grow question 4 months ago
It is never necessary to 'defoliate.' Defoliation is a blanket removal of leaves for no particular reason.
selectively pruning leaves that cause condensation or other issues is fine. Have a good reason beside - "i see a lot of people doing this" - they do so blindly.
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Hashyanswered grow question 4 months ago
I only ever remove lower growth that doesn't develop as much as the higher growth. I try and keep as many leaves as possible. Iv been unlucky this year with outdoor plants due to pests. But my plan was not to touch any leaves at all this year. Some say yeah defoliate, others say no, I'm somewhere inbetween, only defoliate if it's going to get WPM or bud rot through leaves not letting enough air penatrate the plant.
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Organomananswered grow question 4 months ago
I have been growing outdoors in soil for about forty years.........for the last 35 years I have never defoliated again.
Five years of experimenting and listening to "advice" from other growers, proved to me that defoliation is just not right.
Every leaf is a solar factory that makes energy for the plant.
More leaves = more energy being made = more potential growth........
or to put it another way........
Less leaves = less energy being made = less potential growth.
During those last forty years, I am yet to see a healthy plant that gets rid of its own healthy, green, energy producing leaves for any reason.
It is only humans who think they know better than Milllenia of evolution that produced a plant that is at the pinnacle of perfection and effectiveness.
Over the last fifteen years, I have become a big fan of moderate "lollipopping" though.
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MindFlowers68answered grow question 4 months ago
No. But want to remove low stuff to keep from critters and other pests from easy access, and to keep soil-born pathogens away from the foliage. You should not need to do much to an outdoor plant trimming-wise. Even giant trees you see people grow. They are not sitting there chopping a bunch of leaves off their plants. For the most part a little LST and they form round bushes on their own. and if you are growing SOG your plants should not be veging so long that they have that much foliage anyway. There's no time for all that work. You get way more light penetration outdoors. and if you live in Seattle you are going to do a little more trimming than someone in San Diego
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