Don't feel safe defoliating your cannabis plants? We're here to show you that cutting off a few leaves can actually do more good than bad.
It is perfectly safe to defoliate your cannabis plants and in fact, is encouraged as part of your standard plant care routine. It can be a nerve-racking experience the first time you cut anything off your babies but if you can face this fear, you may just end up with more bud! Let's go through the steps to defoliate your plant safely.
Defoliating cannabis has been practiced by many growers over the years. Trial and error is often the best way to go if you want to learn your strains really well. It is recommended you just try and see what works. Take it slow and you won't risk losing too much if anything goes wrong.
The main risk with defoliating plant is that one cuts off too many leaves. Defoliating cannabis plants is safe to do, so long as you don't stress the plant too much by removing too much foliage.
Most strains of cannabis benefit from some defoliation as they often grow a huge amount of leaves which can obstruct other areas of a plant that need more light. Even leaves blocking light from reaching other leaves can be a valid reason to consider defoliating. It is about trying to make the grow as efficient as you can.
Cleaning up older leaves that are browning and falling off means less chance of pests or mold. Any dying plant material should be removed if it looks like it is no longer providing energy to the plant. That means it looks brown and dead. Avoid pulling off all the slightly yellow leaves because these are still providing the plant with essential resources.
Tip: Small amounts of stress can be beneficial for your plant if managed in the correct way.
Yellowing leaves is normal towards the end of the flowering cycle. Photo by Philindicus from Grow Diaries.
Defoliation is the process of removing leaves from a cannabis plant to increase bud production. There are a few reasons growers defoliate their cannabis plants, but it is done mainly to direct the plant's energy towards the buds. You may also want to defoliate if you're facing a serious pest problem.
By removing some of the larger fan leaves, more light reaches different areas of the plant. Bud sites can get covered by the fan leaves and limit the amount of photosynthesis happening in those particular areas.
Defoliation is not to be confused for 'lollipopping', which is the process of removing leaves from the lower parts of the plant, resulting in a lollipop shaped plant. This could also be considered defoliating, however defoliating describes a slightly different process which is more related to yields than for example, airflow or the prevention of mold.
It is important to consider why you are defoliating your cannabis plants, and to decide if they actually need it or not. In most cases, a bit of defoliation does help a plant and if done correctly, can really allow your plants to make better use of the light.
Removing the fan leaves will also cause the plant to direct more of its energy to the buds and leaves surrounding, thereby increased bud production.
| Pros | Cons |
|
Airflow around the plant reduces humidity levels Decreases chances of mold Pushes energy into bud production Efficient light exposure |
Risk of stunting growth Increased chance of pests/infection Plants can become stressed if too many leaves are removed. |
Tip: Always clean dead leaves up from your grow space. It can be a constant task, but is it well worth the effort.
In this section we want to go over how to properly defoliate a cannabis plant. First decide if it really needs defoliating and how much. Some genetics will produce short and bushy plants with lots of dense foliage, while others will be tall and thin with skinnier, less obstructive leaves.
Some strains of cannabis produce more leaves than others so you need to have a good look at your plant and think about if it is worth defoliating. Some genetics also deal with stress better than others.
Avoid removing more than 20% of the plant's leaves at one time, as this may cause too much stress and could affect the plant's recovery especially if you do it too late into flowering. To prevent stunting the plant or removing too many leaves at once, you can remove them in small batches. This way the plant has a few days to recover at each stage of defoliation.
NuggetPawn used defoliation on some Strawberry Lemonade. Notice how he didn't cut too much.
The safest time to start defoliating your plants is around 2 weeks before the main flowering phase begins. This gives plants enough time to heal during preflower. You want the plant to be fully recovered before it focuses its energy on producing buds. If it is still trying to repair itself at the time when it should be producing buds, yields may decrease.
How to safely defoliate in 5 easy steps:
Sometimes it is not necessary to remove a whole leaf. If, for example, it is shadowing an area of the plant needs more light, you can shave/cut the ends of the leaf to allow more light to pass through. This way the plant receives more light in specific areas, but you don't remove the whole leaf, which has valuable nutrients stored in it for the production of buds.
Defoliated cannabis plants can become slightly stressed and needs time to recover. Photo by MrJu4nca from Grow Diaries.
Defoliating is often used with other growing techniques to maximise space efficiency, so it may be that you do not need it. If you do decide to defoliate, take it step by step and if you are unsure, only remove small amounts of leaves at one time. See how your plant recovers and decide if it is worth defoliating further.
Please feel free to leave your comments down below!
Physiological Effects of Defoliation. - Heady, Harold & Child, R. (2019)
International Journal of Plant Science and Horticulture. - Emanuel, Machel & Henry, Valrick & Robinson, Dwight. (2020)
This article was updated August 2020.
