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Have I defoliated enough?

Dippaz
Dippazstarted grow question 8 hours ago
Have I defoliated enough? I removed a lot today for the first time as they were getting very bushy. Should I remove all new growth about a 3rd of the way up the main stem? Have I removed enough leaves to allow light through and good air flow?
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Crusty_Juggler
Crusty_Juggleranswered grow question an hour ago
Your plants are looking nice and healthy, and you should think about flipping very soon :) I would recommend removing all the larf, the 1/3 rule of thumb is a good start, you can always delarf again later if necessary. About defoliation: A shaded out bud site will produce poorly compared to a well lit bud site and I would definitely always favor buds over leaves since I'm farming trichs, not cabbage :) The standard defol tactic - When you flip you remove fan leaves (focus on the ones that shade out bud sites) until you can see the soil when you look down through the canopy and then remove leaves that grow to shade out bud sites until mid/late flower where the leaf growth halts. Swazzing method - Remove all fan leaves at flip and again 3 weeks after flip, it's a nice way of getting maximum light to the bud sites and better airflow, I know it seems scary but it's a super easy method and it works well, many commercial growers swear to this method. The folding method - Fold leaves under bud sites, they often bounce back so it's a daily battle. You can also do nothing and it will also work, but it's not a ideal since you'll end up with bushy shrub full of half withered leaves attracting bugs and a ton of larf taking energy from the top flowers and poor airflow increasing the risk of mold. On another note the ScroG net is just in the way, you're not actually growing ScroG style plants but normal medium sized plants with flowers at different height levels. All the net really does is make it impossible for you to move the plants around. A few stakes and some garden tie works way better for this type of plants.
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Still_Smoq
Still_Smoqanswered grow question 5 hours ago
Flip to flower now if you haven’t already. It may double in size. I’d clip the leaves off up to the net for good air circulation.
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00110001001001111O
00110001001001111Oanswered grow question 5 hours ago
Remove as few leaves as possible. Stripping axilla down below is fine (i.e. branches or nascent branches), but leave the leaves. how much to strip is all about timing. if it's an autoflower it's a total guess. if photperiod you need to get familiar with just how much growth to expect after flip. genetics matter too, as far as how deep to expect 'good enough' buds. peronal preference is also a factor. At flip to 12/12 or even a week later, strip to top 3 nodes. You'll have ~4 weeks of vege growth remaining and should fill in nicely. An auto you only know it entered flower about 7-10 days after it happened when you see preflowers. I'd leave a bit more by comparison for that reason. the products of photosynthesis are highly mobile. if you don't overcrowd your canopy, there should be no reason to remove a leaf to let light hit lower levels. Simply don't overcrowd the canopy next time.
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m0use
m0useanswered grow question 6 hours ago
I think they look good. I would strip anything that's touching the soil line and any of them little baby leaves that where left close to the soil line as they will grow down and into it. In general more leaves = more energy = more buds Keep up the airflow.
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oldskoolkool
oldskoolkoolanswered grow question 6 hours ago
You could do a littlke more.That scrog net isn't do much really but that's too late.The look to have a lot of indica in them so you'll get leaf over leaf over leaf and you'll need to take them off untill the first week or two of flowering.Don't ake a leaf off for nothing though.Take the ones off that are shading side braches.Some people heavily strip them and they clearly do very well but I learnt not to take anything off so Iv reached a middle ground.Take a look and you'll get an idea.Its hard to explain.It will all grow back so don't worry too much about making mistakes.I guess isn't a pesky auto.
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Squirrel007
Squirrel007answered grow question 7 hours ago
1/3 of the way
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Mooncat
Mooncatanswered grow question 7 hours ago
General rule for Scrog is that everything under the canopy can go. But it needs to be more or less even. (highest point of the plant gets the most growth in general) You kinda used the net for LST, so I would focus on the main stems and remove all the lower ones not getting light or just being too small. Look up "Mainlining" is my suggestion.
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