Trouble reading today's article? Click here: Issue #538 - Sunday, August 14, 2022 Dear Fellow
Grower, In today's issue... - Get the scoop! Did defoliating plants in the flowering stage increase yields and THC? Yes, it did! I put together an easy-to-read summary of my recent side-by-side defoliation journal
including pictures of the plants while they were growing, a summary of the training I did, the results, tons of bud pictures, and final thoughts!
- What should I test next? I've got 4 ideas but I'm also open to new ones. Reply to this email and let us know what you want to see!
- This was the second grow I've completed using the HLG 300 R-Spec LED. Check out my review! This grow light has some downsides but the bud quality is out of this world!
- This week's trophy pics feature a re-vegging experiment from one of our readers!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com) "The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between." ~Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart
Does defoliation increase yields and THC? Signs point to yes!
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The results are in! Have you ever heard of the cannabis flowering stage defoliation technique? It involves strategically removing leaves when the buds are first forming on marijuana plants. The goal is to expose buds to plenty of light and air, which seems to increase overall
yields and bud quality on your cannabis plants. I love doing side-by-side cannabis experiments because I always end up with a ton of awesome weed lol Did defoliation work? In this grow journal we discovered that, at least in this first test, the defoliated cannabis plants produced… - Bigger
yields
- More THC in buds (details below)
- Higher quality bud (no larf or airy buds; all buds well developed)
Here’s a quick summary of the final results. The defoliated clones produced bigger yields, more THC, and buds were denser
(“tight”). Defoliation experiment explanation Clones were grown in identical conditions until the day I put the grow lights on a 12/12 light schedule to initiate the flowering stage. That is when the experiment officially began. Natural Tent did not receive any defoliation during the flowering
stage. Defoliation Tent received strategic defoliation in the flowering stage. I removed most leaves from the plant on the first day of 12/12 and once more about 3 weeks later. Let’s skip to the beginning of the flowering stage after the first defoliation. Initiate 12/12 and First Defoliation This is just before I initiate the flowering stage with a 12/12 light schedule and do the first defoliation. At this point, these plants have been grown in identical conditions.
The “natural tent” (blue tags) just before the switch to 12/12. This is the “control” tent. These plants don’t get touched between now and harvest.
All they receive is nutrient water and light. Here is the “defoliation tent” (white tags) just before the plants get their first defoliation. As you can see, the plants look almost exactly the same because they are clones and have been grown in identical conditions until this point. Week 0 Defoliation Summary: Lollipop and defoliate plants (I did this the day I switched to 12/12 to initiate the flowering stage) - Lollipop = remove all leaves at the bottom part of the plant which don’t get
light.
- Make sure there are 8 main branches for each plant (cut away the smallest ones)
- Defoliate =
- Remove all fan leaves bigger than a hand.
- Remove leaves with stems longer than 3 cm
- Note: Make sure to keep at least a few leaves at the top of each main branch.
Here is the “defoliation tent” after getting defoliated and lollipopped according to the instructions
above. Here are the two sets of clones side-by-side. The defoliation tent will receive one more plucking session in 3 weeks and then all the plants will be left alone until harvest. I wanted to make it so that people could follow along if they wished to, so I kept the training really simple and straightforward without a grower having to make any judgment calls. The plants receive only nutrient water and light for the next 3
weeks. Second Defoliation (3 weeks since 12/12) Wow, what a difference in the last 3 weeks! The plants have just been receiving water and nutrients and no other care. Let’s check out how they look.
Here’s the natural tent. It’s a jungle in there. These clones had a surprisingly big flowering stretch (more than doubled in height), which I attribute to the deep red spectrum of the HLG 300 R-spec
LEDs. Here’s the defoliated tent. The lower parts seem a bit more exposed than in the natural tent, but overall the clones look remarkably similar so far. They are about to receive their second and final defoliation. Week 3 Defoliation Summary: Defoliate one more time. - Remove all fan leaves with stems longer than 3 cm
- From then on, only remove leaves if they’re covering a bud site or if the plant starts getting so bushy through the middle and bottom that light isn’t making it to the floor
Here are both sets of plants after the
second defoliation. Notice on the bottom of the undefolaited plants are in total darkness. However, the plants in the defoliated tent get light all the way to the bottom. There was no more defoliation after this point. I just gave water and nutrients until the buds were ready to harvest.... "Natural" tent at week 8 of flowering Defoliation tent at week 8 of flowering Final results after buds were harvested, dried, cured, and sent to the lab: Final Thoughts on Flowering Stage Defoliation So, what do I think about flowering stage defoliation after this test? In many ways, it confirmed what I already suspected. Defoliation seems to increase yields and improve the overall quality/tightness of buds. I had heard growers say that defoliation might increase THC, but it was still a surprise
to see that play out in the results for all 3 clones. If all 3 clones produced higher THC in the defoliation tent, that’s not definitive but it is pretty good evidence supporting the idea that defoliation may increase THC percentage.
Defoliation tent was the clear winner in my mind. - Higher yields
- Higher THC
- Higher quality buds
But why/how does defoliation work? I don’t know for certain, but
here is my theory so far.... Keep reading for my final report plus more pictures and information about the grow results! The Platinum Cookies bud at day 38 of the flowering stage. This strain ended up being the highest-yielding as well as the crowd favorite in smoke reports!
What should I test next? Reply to this email and let us know!
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As one experiment finishes, I find myself already thinking about the next one. I was hoping you all might help me decide what to test next! What do you want to see tested next? - 3-day dark period to increase THC - I did a very last minute experiment on this a few weeks ago. Although there were several factors that could have affected the results (I harvested half the plant before the dark period, and half afterwards), the initial results were promising. In lab tests, the buds had higher THC after a 3-day dark period. If you all want to test more, I will run a real side-by-side experiment with multiple clones in identical
conditions so we can see how a dark period affects the THC in much more controlled conditions.
- Defoliation side-by-side experiment, but with super soil ("just add water" soil) - Today's grow journal had plants grown in coco coir with nutrients added in the water. As a result, the plants had unlimited
nutrients at all times. I suspect defoliation would be less effective in a super soil setup and may even reduce yields. That’s because removing leaves also removes a lot of the nutrients stored in the plant. With coco like this grow journal, I’m constantly adding new nutrients in the water so the plant always has as much as it wants. However, when you’re not adding nutrients to the water, there’s a limited amount in the soil. Therefore, I think it may actually reduce yields overall to defoliate
because the plant will run out of nutrients in the crucial flowering stage.
- Test effect of light levels on THC production - This defoliation experiment makes me wonder why defoliation increases the actual THC percentage of buds. I have a hunch that it has something to do with the amount of light getting to the plant. I suspect that more light = more THC (to an extent). But how could I test that? My idea is to use an Apogee light meter to measure how much light is
getting to buds in different parts of the tent. Then I will label those buds with their location and light levels. After harvest, I'll test them all against each other. I suspect that the buds with the highest THC in each tent are going to be the ones that are receiving the highest light levels.
- Test LEDs with different spectrums against each other - This grow featured the HLG 300 R-Spec. It seemed like it might be interesting to test it against the HLG 300 Blue spectrum
light, just to see how the blue vs red affects plant growth.
Those are just some ideas. Please respond to this email and let me know if any of those sound interesting, or if you have any ideas for future experiements!
Review of HLG 300 R-Spec LED
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I’ve now grown multiple sets of cannabis plants with the HLG 300 R-Spec LED grow light so it’s time to do a review! I have been beyond impressed by the cannabis
bud quality produced. However, it is not a perfect LED grow light for growing cannabis. It has amazing pros but also some cons. Let me spell them out for you here, to help you decide whether this is the best LED grow light for your marijuana grow. Is the HLG 300 R-Spec LED grow light good for growing cannabis? Pros of HLG 300 R-Spec - High-quality buds – sparkly, potent, and dense
- Brings out purple – tends to turn buds and leaves purple, especially the parts of the plant closest to the light (some strains stay green no matter what)
- Fast plant growth – Plants grow
fast and healthy with relatively few nutrient deficiencies or light stress compared to some other LEDs.
Cons of HLG 300 R-spec
- Tall stretchy plants – Due to the high amounts of red in the spectrum, plants tend to get tall and grow “stretchy” with a lot of space between nodes. Similar to an HPS or 3k CMH bulb. However, this can be controlled and even used to your advantage with plant training.
- Medium yields – Although I wouldn’t say this light gets low yields (in today's journal each 270W light produced about 10 oz, or about 1 gram/watt), it can’t compete on yields with “high-yield” LED grow lights like the ES300 LED grow light, which gets the best yields per watt of any LED grow light I’ve used so far.
Conclusion: I think of this as my “bud quality” light. These are the buds I bring out for guests. Read my full review of the HLG 300 R-Spec with more pictures and details about my past grows using the light.
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"I just want to say thanks. I've learned so much here. The medicine is not easily available where I am. With your help and advice, I've managed. Thanks, so much. As a suggestion, how about teaching about TOR and VPN? I wish I could meet up with you guys and share war stories. Thanks again. Seriously. Life improved, possibly saved."
~Old guy in Japan countryside Hey this email
made my day. I love to hear that people on the other side of the globe are using our website. That's a great idea to talk about how to use TOR and VPNs to browse the web privately and discreetly. I will look into putting together an online security guide for growers. Thanks for the suggestion. ~Nebula
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"Thank you for all the information." ~Steven It is our pleasure. ~Nebula "This have to be the best source if you're going to grow, I can't grow without you guys I refer to your notes every time thank you so much you guys are the GOAT, when it comes to growing cannabis thank you thank you thank you." ~Benny Hey Benny, thanks! It is so motivating when people like you tell us we're helping you grow your own weed. Our goal is to put happy plants and bountiful harvests in everyone's home.
~Nebula
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"Hi Nebula and Sirius you’ve been my go to OG’s every since I starting my growing hobby and I like to thank you for all the information and knowledge I’ve gained through your website and weekly emails. I’ve been doing some experimenting myself this summer and have created some re vegged monsters I thought you’d both
enjoy, here they are." ~Jake It's so cool to see a cannabis plant reverting back to the vegetative stage ("re vegging"). It almost seems to revert into another type of plant while it's going through "backwards puberty" before it finally starts growing normal cannabis leaves again. This plant has all the classic re-vegging signs in the first picture, and you can see how it's growing normally again by the second picture.
Thanks for sending this in! I love seeing growers experimenting and trying different things with their plants. ~Nebula
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Is there anywhere to hide from scammers?
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Getting weird direct messages on social media?
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Did someone DM you offering to sell seeds? Unfortunately there are tons of crummy people who happily scam others for profit. If you get a message from someone unexpected in your social media inbox, take a second to consider whether it may be a
scam. Scammers love to hide behind fake accounts and run their schemes using these timeless scam techniques: - The offer seems “too good to be true”
- Sends you unsolicited pictures of seeds or weed and says they will sell it to
you
- Reply very fast to DMs with high-pressure tactics
- There are no comments on any of their posts from happy customers
- Their name is a misspelling of a legitimate business
Remember when it comes to buying seeds: Real seed businesses don't contact you. They let you contact them. If anyone messages you to
sell you seeds on social media, look out! It's possible they will take your payment and send nothing. Always take a second to think before sending money to anyone, especially if they contact you (whether by DM, text message, phone call, email, etc.). Recommended Cannabis Seed Sources
These sources have gotten great reviews from our readers:
- Seed Supreme – California, United States
- ILGM (I Love Growing Marijuana) – California, United States
- Herbies Seeds – Europe (seemingly out of the UK and Spain)
We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
When I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to make it easy for new growers to get started while helping advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We update/add articles every week. Anyone and everyone can grow if they want to!
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Learn which seed sources are 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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