Do bud sites need light?

[shortnweak]

Hi guys, second grow here.

 

Do buds sites need light? I have read (on other websites) that they do. From what I understand, the flowers grow bigger? 

 

On the other hand, if there are less leaves then photosynthesis is not taking place as much? However, defoliation, especially around bud sites seems common practice to get lights to the bud sites.

 

I defoliated quite a bit the plant at the back and the one at the front not much at all.

 

Low stress training on both of them.

 

Vegging for 4-5 months on both plants. Around 9 days into 12/12 light cycle.

 

Back plant has a 10 gallon pot, front plant a 15 gallon. Grown in osmocote organics plus and powerfeed pink.

 

 

 

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Seems people have a few methods in regards to this. 

 

Defoliation seems to be more common among people using LED's as light penetration is not as good as HPS lights. I personally teend to defoliate to ensure proper air circulation through the plant especially on those short chunky plants. 

 

nice plants

[shortnweak]

Okay thankyou I am using LEDs. I have read plenty of websites on defoliation (like this https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-defoliation-a-high-risk-way-to-increase-yield-n562), I wanted to get some thoughts on the people on here.

 

So the point of defoliation, is not getting light to the bud sites, it's to get light through to the whole plant plus to aid air flow.

 

Is that correct?

 

Thinking about it, it seems counter productive. There is light on the top leaves, to remove them to get light on the bottom leaves.

 

This would only stress the plant more and/or have less leaves available for the light to work its magic.

[buzzer]

I don't defoliated mine and have no problem growing big buds. I scrog and leaf tuck which exposes all the tops without stressing the plant and still allows for max photosynthesis. Also doing it this way you don't harvest the whole lot at once. chop all the tops and then let the lower buds have some light and mature then harvest a week or 2 later. And You gotta have a lot of fans in there to move the air so you don't cop bud rot

 

Done right it can have benefits but I'm not willing to take the risk because done wrong it will seriously reduce your plants harvest.

 

Here some shots of my last grow

 

Posted from the OZ Stoners mobile app

Edited August 24, 2020 by buzzer

[shortnweak]

Thankyou Sir for your informative post.

[Frank Reynolds]

At least from what I have read, the argument for defoliation in regards with LED has a lot to do with light penetration to lower buds and canopy, but it also seems with proper canopy management not so much of an issue.

 

I'd take all of what you read in regards to this online with a grain of salt and test it out yourself a bit in your own setup as it seems there are a lot of variables that could affect how much you want to defoliate in your own grow space.

[shortnweak]

Will do Sir, thankyou.

At least from what I have read, the argument for defoliation in regards with LED has a lot to do with light penetration to lower buds and canopy, but it also seems with proper canopy management not so much of an issue.

 

I'd take all of what you read in regards to this online with a grain of salt and test it out yourself a bit in your own setup as it seems there are a lot of variables that could affect how much you want to defoliate in your own grow space.

 

[Serrated edge]

there is no set  rule..,,

 

It all depends on the plant,,,or strain..

You can come across some really leafy plants that if not defoliated  you’ll end up with a lot of shitty Small buds in the undergrowth.Takes forever to chop up for little return.,,,,same plant defoliated will have better buds lower down that make the chop up worthwhile,,

I ran WW clones for a few grows just before I got into ordering seeds,,,was extremely leafy Plants ,,,Needed 3 major defols in a grow..Plants didn’t miss a beat..

 

So a leafy plant ,,it doesn’t matter if you defol coz lots more leaf and bud sites below the canopy will be happy to receive light ,,,and reward you for your effort.

 

If your worried you might stress the plant then do it gradually over a few days ,,spreading out the branches let’s light in too.

 

 

I don’t agree with extreme defoliation coz I doubt many strains would respond too well but that’s my guess .