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Issue #440 - Sunday, September 20, 2020
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue...
- Ever heard of defoliation? Why do growers do it and can it increase yields? Get a quick rundown with examples!
- Interested in growing auto-flowering plants? Learn which strains produce the biggest yields!
- Today's trophy pictures feature an outdoor plant with a crazy mutation, a needlessly mean caterpillar, and the bounty of hash one grower got from outdoor trim they were otherwise going to throw away!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"Watch your words, they are powerful.
Speak life into what you wish for."
~Charmaine J. Forde
Watch Me Defoliate 3 Plants
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Cannabis defoliation... have you heard of it?
Defoliation is the process of strategically removing leaves to make cannabis grow in a more desirable way.
This week I defoliated 3 plants in preparation for the flowering stage.
Why do I defoliate? A few reasons.
- Higher-quality buds - Strategic defoliation in the early flowering stage produces fewer but higher quality buds. Cannabis buds only fatten up when they get access to both light and air, and the biggest buds are usually located at the top of the plant. Lower and hidden buds are often airy wisps at harvest. Removing unnecessary leaves and hidden bud sites helps the plant focus on the
best-quality buds at the top. When done properly, buds at harvest tend to be bigger, tighter, and more dense.
- Reduce chance of mold or bud rot - Some plants get so bushy the leaves lay all over each other and cause wet spots. That was happening here. These plants were super leafy! Left unchecked, too-leafy plants are more likely to get powdery mildew or bud
rot.
- Lower humidity - Leaves constantly release water vapor into the air, which raises the humidity. If it's humid where you live (my outdoor humidity can get over 70% RH at times), removing leaves helps keep the humidity from climbing to unreasonable levels. High humidity in the second half of the flowering stage should be avoided because it can cause loose buds and also increases the chance of mold or bud rot.
- Ease of trimming - Plants are way easier to trim after harvest. Not a huge deal, but still nice!
Where are buds going to form?
The growing stems that will become the main bud sites look like stars from above. In the growing world, these main stems are often referred to as tops, mains, or colas ("cola" is the Spanish word for tail, and big cannabis buds look a bit like tails). Check out our glossary for other common growing terms.
In this picture, I marked a few main stems with white stars so you know where the biggest buds will grow. Can you spot the rest?
Defoliate at the beginning of the flowering stage...
The 3 featured plants were changed to a 12/12 light schedule a few days before these pictures to initiate the flowering stage. I can already see white hairs/pistils appearing on the future bud sites. A great time to defoliate!
Note: If you see bunches of balls instead of hairs, you've got a male plant that will not produce buds.
White hairs (pistils) are the first sign of female buds forming.
Before & After - I removed big leaves on long stems to help expose bud sites and increase air circulation through the plant.
Ideally, you want a good bud site every few inches at the top of the plant. Try to give each bud a bit of breathing room so they can develop as big as possible, but otherwise create a sea of buds to maximize the grow light.
This stem was never going to reach the top canopy and get direct light. It was also being blocked by a thicker, better-positioned stem. I made the executive decision to remove it so the plant could focus on the best stems.
Good bud sites are located at the top of thicker stems that reach the upper canopy. Even better if connected to the main trunk. This tiny stem touching the edge of the tent was never going to make big buds, but would have stolen
energy from the main bud sites.
I also focused on "lollipopping", which means removing growth on the bottom of the plant that would otherwise be in permanent shadow. I only do this once at the beginning of the flowering stage.
Left plant was defoliated and lollipopped while the right plant is untouched
Side view - Before vs After
I'm going to leave the plants alone for at least a few weeks (many growers defoliate again about 3 weeks after the first session).
Some plants (especially certain sativa strains) don't really get leafy and defoliation is unnecessary. Other plants need defoliation because they get so bushy the leaves are covered in wet spots and buds are completely concealed.
It's possible to stunt a plant if you take too many leaves. Leaves are what take in light and turn it into energy for the plant! There's no need to defoliate a plant that's not leafy like this one (except maybe a few leaves from the bottom).
Regardless of the plant, the main idea behind any cannabis plant training or defoliation technique is to expose many main bud sites to direct light and air.
Some defoliators take more or fewer leaves, and many growers take none at all. Cannabis plants are surprisingly flexible. The truth is, a big part of growing is personal preference because nearly all popular methods and defoliation schedules work well.
Let me walk you through an example of another plant that was defoliated so you can see how the plant responds.
This manifolded plant had just started flowering. It was lollipopped and every main stems defoliated. Notice how the main stems are at the top of the plant and exposed to direct light. That's your main goal.
After that, I continued removing leaves that were laying on each other making wet spots or covering bud sites, but my main focus was giving basic plant care and a great environment
12 weeks later and buds are ready! Here is that plant at harvest.
Every bud was fat and dense, with no airy or larfy buds. Easy to trim and great yields, too!
It's possible to defoliate too much and stunt your plant, which can reduce yields, so be careful not to overdo it! If you want to maximize yields, only defoliate plants that are bushy.
Does defoliation increase yields overall?
Strategic defoliation causes plants to make fewer but bigger buds, yet it's a point of contention in the growing world whether defoliation increases or reduces overall yields. Bud quality may be higher, but I've never found a direct test comparing yield weights.
I decided to get to the bottom of this mystery. My next grow will feature a controlled side-by-side experiment to test defoliation vs letting plants grow wild. I can't wait!
Have you tried defoliation? Reply to this email and share your experience with leaf removal!
(Note: we pledge to read every response but we may not reply to every one)
What's the Highest-Yielding Auto-Flowering Strain?
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Auto-flowering strains are kind of like the “houseplant” version of weed. I’m a big fan of autoflowering cannabis strains for first-time growers, but also for anyone who wants to achieve a lot of potent buds in a short amount of time. Auto-flowering strain options today are enormous, and there is an autoflowering strain that will satisfy almost any
grower’s needs.
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"Your help and knowledge are a "big" help to us rookies. Your full articles help to keep us safe from purchases on the black market, or the cost at a dispensary. Knowing our growing is key to quality and quantity. Thank you for building this site, I look forward to your newsletter."
Sincerely, Grandma Janet (flower child of the 60 and 70's)
Thank you for the kind words! 🌼🌻~Nebula
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"Thank you guys so much, without you I don't know if I would have went on this journey that being said now it's all I think of so thanx for giving me confidence to enjoy this lifelong hobby🌱🚿☀😍"
~G
Growing weed is a fun and relaxing hobby. I feel at peace around my plants. I'm glad we were able to help you on your own grow journey! ~Nebula
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"Both of these plants started from seed. Three fingers is the most that any leaf on that plant."
~Space Druid
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At first I thought this plant was re-vegging, but by the end it's obvious this
plant has a rare mutation. Those buds are huge! Congrats on a great harvest. ~Nebula
"What type caterpillar lives inside the Cannabis bud/flower?"
~Chief
Bud worm, nooooo! These caterpillars are the worst. The best remedy for any caterpillar is a "BT Caterpillar Spray" which you can find online or at any garden store. I'm so sorry you found this, but I have to admit this is the best picture of a caterpillar on cannabis I've ever seen. ~Nebula
"Love you Nebula! I'm so grateful to have found GWE.... I'm mainlining for the first time ever and the girls are digging it. I've also followed your instructions on making dry ice hash. This is a pic from my very first run with dry ice, I used some outdoor trim that I'd normally just toss out, I couldn't believe I would've tossed 128 grams of hash lol. Love love love your content, keep kicking ass! Much love from the Mitten."
Kind regards,
DetroitLava
Dry ice hash gets better yields than any other form of hash and is perfect for using up trim. It's so awesome you were able to get this much bonus hash from plant matter you were otherwise going to toss! ~Nebula
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Who Runs This
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Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to make it easier for new growers to get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We update/add articles every week and have built a comprehensive growing resource. Anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone
:)
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture, bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis can be a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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