Pruning Plants

[melissa420]

People’s thoughts on pruning, when to start, how much and what to prune, and when to stop? Thanks so much

[Slym3r]

Here is some info from one of our knowledgeable Cannafam. Hope these help. Im sure many will chime in as well.

@MrMonkey420

Very very short: defoliation is never a must, but highly recommended to increase yields and to make the plant produce larger colas. The idea behind it is quite simple: you allow more light to hit and penetrate deeper into the plants’ canopy resulting in the above.
By defoliating you also create a better airflow inside and underneath the canopy which is beneficial, among other things, in pest control.

I could write a lot more about defoliating but that would be kind of a waste of time since there is already a lot to be found on the web. You could have a look at these articles to start with, from growweedeasy.com:

• You Asked: Defoliation Revisited! by Nebula Haze
• Watch 3 cannabis plants get defoliated – Before & After by Nebula Haze
• (Experienced Growers Only) Controversial Defoliation Increases Marijuana Yields by Keef Treez “The Defoliator”

[HawkMan]

defoliation: generally I do 2 “heavy” defoliation one in 4th week of veg and 4th week of flower (strip all fan leaves, ect) Then thru-out your grow remove (prune) leaves that cover budsites - when in week 7 remove all remaining fan leaves. There is a method that one removes excessive amount of leaves called: Schwazzing" It does work !

[melissa420]

My husband is a pruning fan, scares me a little to be honest lol. Ive been removing all the bottom leaves that serve no purpose, but ive been wary of doing more. I’m coming up on my 4th week of veg and will probably try defoliating/pruning more than I have. Thanks

[HawkMan]

know what you mean after a “heavy” defoliation - plant/s look like shit and by the looks of them one would never think one could get a great yield by def. note- Also many cultivators defoilate 2 days before you flip to 12/12 (this really elimates many fans that will block light no matter what defoliate before you go into flower

[Mark0427]

Pruning is not a bad thing. As long as u get the plants at the right times it does no harm to them really at all. I plick any that have 2 inch stems or more or if it covers a potential good bud site. On autos I try and wait to do any plucking til I atleast see that the plant is shooting pistils and forms little bites basically. When I see the bites there will be a small stall after the budlets form while the pla t throws down more roots to support the new stuff grown. If u hit an auto then while in the root making period u shouldn’t do any harm and then I do autos one more good defol like 2 weeks before I chop I remove most all fan leaves and let buds ripen up a few days. On photo plants it is different t u can plick leaves thru veg without issues I like to keep the bottom 1/3 and very centers of the plants on the thinner side of leaves as it helps keep the plant from getting molds or mildews with less leaves in the centers but photos in flower if u defol in veg whenever but flower 21 days after flip u should be seeing the budlets form that’s when I tag the photos around days 21 and then day 42ish r defol days for photos so keeping track of when flower started is a plus.