To late to defoliate?

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SubmarineGirl

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So my girls just started their 5th week in flower. This is my first grow and I spend a lot of time watching them grow. Well maybe I should have been defoliating instead of just looking at them. My tent is crowed with 5 plants in a 2x4 ft area because I just couldn’t leave the last plant out she was to beautiful. They are in 7 gallon pots so I think their root system is ok. Maybe would have ended up with the same outcome with 4 plant as I will with 5. Now I feel I am paying for that as there’s a lot of leaves maybe in the way of light not to mention light green leaves pressed up the sides of the tent obviously needing more light but still healthy looking. They have little bud sites on them too as far up as they can reach but don’t know if they are worth keeping even if they have buds
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. I do notice leaves dying off the underside of the plant which I remove from the tent during watering sessions but it seems as more fan leaves need to go I just don’t know if this is a bad time to remove them. I have removed some that block the buds directly under them but am afraid the plant needs them at this point to live. I have a beautiful canopy of nice buds and the sites travel down into the middle of the plant. I’m hoping to see them beef up a bit more in their next few weeks. So can I remove leaves safely at this point without effecting my bud growth?
 
Yes you can start removing leaves , like the lower big fan leaves

in one of my Plant Science lectures , I will always remember what my Professor said about plant defoliation : “ a plant can lose 20-30% of its leaves and there will be no negative effect on photosynthesis “

removing the lower fan leaves and the dead and dying ones will actually benefit your plant , No1 by giving it more room for air flow

and the energy used by your leaves will now go towards feeding the flowers

one can also remove those tint buds that are growing close to the main stalk , the popcorn buds

by removing the popcorn buds , more energy will be supplied to the bigger buds which will even get bigger

in summary , yes go ahead and defoliate
 
Yes you can start removing leaves , like the lower big fan leaves

in one of my Plant Science lectures , I will always remember what my Professor said about plant defoliation : “ a plant can lose 20-30% of its leaves and there will be no negative effect on photosynthesis “

removing the lower fan leaves and the dead and dying ones will actually benefit your plant , No1 by giving it more room for air flow

and the energy used by your leaves will now go towards feeding the flowers

one can also remove those tint buds that are growing close to the main stalk , the popcorn buds

by removing the popcorn buds , more energy will be supplied to the bigger buds which will even get bigger

in summary , yes go ahead and defoliate
Thanks so much for your quick answer. I will do some tidying up this week then. 😊
 
I have a friend's grow in a 2x4 with 5 dosido in 5 gallon pots. Very full. I trimmed out most of the lower stuff.

When it's that full you have to really watch humidity and leaves sweating on each other. Keep humidity under 50.

To be successful like this, you will need an even canopy, and once flowering, will be like screen of green looking, I use slabs of styrofoam to adjust height of individual pots. Everything under the canopy is not getting light, so all leaves, whispy shoots and popcorn are removed.

Yeah, 4 works better, but I had 5 and they were hardy everyone. It's more work, but there are (5) 30 inch plants with 8-10 cola sites on each. Plants topped and trained. Very nearly almost mini tree bonsai looking. Fat, fat branches the colas are forming on.

Bubba
 
You have 5 plants in a 2x4 tent. Reminds me of a NY subway. To many IMO! Watch your humidity and for mold/pm. Where the large fan leaves are touching each other separate and if you see moisture....not good.
I know right? What the heck was I thinking. 4 plants was my plan which I know was also pushing the limit. Fortunately, I’ve been able to keep the humidity down to less than 50% depending on our weather sometimes way dow to 30%. There seems to be plenty of airflow getting to the underside and I haven’t seen any signs of mold or wetness anywhere. I do plan to take the bigsur51 advice taking some fan leaves from the middle and removing those cute little buds on the bottom to entice more growth on the tops. Of course I will take this as a lesson but know I will be tempted again to load my little tent up with more than it can take especially if this first grow is good.
 
I have a friend's grow in a 2x4 with 5 dosido in 5 gallon pots. Very full. I trimmed out most of the lower stuff.

When it's that full you have to really watch humidity and leaves sweating on each other. Keep humidity under 50.

To be successful like this, you will need an even canopy, and once flowering, will be like screen of green looking, I use slabs of styrofoam to adjust height of individual pots. Everything under the canopy is not getting light, so all leaves, whispy shoots and popcorn are removed.

Yeah, 4 works better, but I had 5 and they were hardy everyone. It's more work, but there are (5) 30 inch plants with 8-10 cola sites on each. Plants topped and trained. Very nearly almost mini tree bonsai looking. Fat, fat branches the colas are forming on.

Bubba
I just ordered dosido seed for my next grow. Would be interested to know how much product your friend got from their grow with 5 plants in 5 gallon pots. I have a double screen on my plants in my current grow but one plant is just a big girl I guess and wants to stand out. I think stretching is about over now so I think she’s happy and far enough away from the lights. I’m hoping the dosidos grow about the same as the GDP and gorilla glue 4 sharing the tent now…
 
You’re so funny with all your submarine toys
I had a sub many years ago that went in the pool , it was about 3 foot long and it was powered by small white pills I put in a belly compartment which caused a chem/react that made the sub dive and move around under the water .
I liked them.
Never saw another toy like it again.
 
I had a sub many years ago that went in the pool , it was about 3 foot long and it was powered by small white pills I put in a belly compartment which caused a chem/react that made the sub dive and move around under the water .
I liked them.
Never saw another toy like it again.
Maybe those toys are hiding under water 😊
 
I’m surprised you were not a submariner. My interest in submarines developed due to basic needs but turned out to be a real adventure too. Maybe not as fun as getting the Polaris nuclear sub in the mail tho 😂
I almost went that route , last min changes in the job title and I back out. They were playing games.
 

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