The defoliation of marijuana is a technique that when done correctly gives us long, dense buds, full of resin
Defoliation of marijuana. This technique increases the development of denser and more resinous buds. On some occasions, especially in indoor crops, if we do not perform any kind of pruning or defoliation, cannabis plants produce fluffy, light flowers with little resin. This happens because some leaves of the plant prevent the light from reaching the buds. Correct defoliation will improve the quality of the flowers. If you are not an experienced grower you must be cautious. But following the advice we give you, the result will be spectacular.
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What is marijuana defoliation?
The defoliation of marijuana is a pruning technique that involves the elimination of certain leaves of the plant to increase air flow and allow light to affect the flowers. When there are too many leaves the light cannot reach all the flowers. With this technique we will get the whole plant to receive more light, with the result that it will produce more resin and denser flowers and full of tough resin.
This technique can only be done during the flowering stage of cannabis. In short, this technique aims to direct the production of the plant to the formation of buds. We achieve this by defoliation of marijuana so that the plant uses its energy during the flowering period in the formation of larger flowers instead of in the leaves. The defoliation of marijuana manages to modify the growth patterns of the plant.
Through the technique of defoliation of marijuana we get the buds known as “foxtails”, which are longer and denser. This pruning system is somewhat similar to some training methods of the cannabis plant such as Supercropping. It is a way to prepare the plant to improve its production. When we do it correctly we do not endanger the harvest but quite the opposite: we will achieve a better production.
How to make a defoliation of marijuana
First of all you have to keep in mind that it is a technique that can only be done during flowering. We deceive the plant so that it believes that it must use its energy in the production of flowers. It is a technique with which one must be cautious and with which we must not overdo the removal of leaves, because we can stress the plant too much, especially when it is too young.
We can perform the defoliation of marijuana with scissors and cut the leaf from the petiole of its branch or we can also pinch the same area with the nails. The defoliation of marijuana is a process that must be done gradually to avoid stress the plant too much.
First phase of cannabis defoliation
We must remove the larger leaves of the lower branches where the light does not affect. It is important to do it right at the beginning of the flowering phase. In this way the plant will use all its energy in the development of the upper buds, which are larger. This technique is also known as Lollipopping, because the plant takes the form of the classic lollipop, with the upper part very dense and the lower part without leaves.
Some growers also extract the buds below because they are not very large and it is worth getting very large top buds. It is very important to be careful not to damage future buds when removing the leaves. It is necessary to identify the pre-flowers of the marijuana so as not to affect these spaces of bud creation.
After having removed the leaves from the bottom, the leaves of the plant will grow back. It is then the ideal time to remove the rest of larger leaves although this time we will not remove as many leaves as in the first defoliation. You have to leave some small leaves and some large leaf of each bud of buds.
Second phase of cannabis defoliation
Three weeks after the first defoliation the plant has grown and the leaves have returned to sprout. It is at this time when we have to remove most of the large leaves with which the plant concentrates all its energy in the buds during the last stage of flowering. At this time we are done with almost the entire process of defoliation of marijuana.
From the third week of flowering onwards, remove only the leaves that prevent the entry of light to the buds. Do not remove too many leaves as they are essential for plant photosynthesis.
After 7 or 8 weeks, depending on the genetics you cultivate, your plant will be ready to harvest and will have numerous “fox tails”. The correct defoliation of marijuana is a technique that is purified with practice. This way you can learn to defoliate marijuana very effectively. It is a way to modify the growth patterns of marijuana to achieve greater production.
