defoliation advice
defoliation and topping advice. Here is video of my plant, https://youtu.be/qkHxOebIV54
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I would start at the top and pull the largest leaves first. as the light starts to hit the leaves that were hidden underneath I start to judge how much light is going to hit the bud/branch sites in the center of the bush. If I was planning on flowering soon I would be sure to clear the majority of leaves off the majority of branches, also taking smaller branches from the interior. on the bottom I would make sure to pull anything that looked discolored, shaded or was touching the container or cover crop.
On the first picture, a screenshot from your video, I crossed off the leaves that would go. I would do it symmetrically around the plant.
For each branch I would take off all the fan leaves, being careful not to pull off the nodes(purple arrow) that grow right at the pit of the stem and petiole(red circle), if i was going to veg it longer. if i am planning on flowering in the next couple weeks i would take the nodes and leaves off the branch, with only the blue circled area remaining. I might keep a little more than just the tops but this seems like a squat lil lady and you want a good amount of air all around the buds.
on the screenshot from your video, I also have denoted that i would top that plant. This is only if you are planning on vegging for longer.
Also, when I said “flowering soon” i mean changing the lights within 10-15 days. “vegging for longer” means waiting at least 3-4 weeks before a light change. Thats just to put a time frame on the info.
All in all, I would probably top this gal, in which I would remove the blue circled part of the main stem. Then defoliate lightly, focusing on the bottom where my lowest fan leaves are touching cover crop and container. From the top, I would take 3-6 fan-leaves that blocks a branch, anything that is making shaded areas. Then i would wait 4 weeks, and flip to flower.
The topping will make those smaller branch sites pop off and with another 4 weeks of veg you should have a good sized bush for that pot-size. around 7-10 days of flower do a light defoliation, focusing on leaves that are blocking bud sites.
