Twilight - Dutch Passion - Defoliation

[lamsbread]

Twilight - Dutch Passion - Defoliation

Twilight by Dutch Passion is a purple variety, the seed is fem.

I've had these seeds sitting around for a whole year , so I thought about time I gave them ago.

When i first sprouted the seeds the idea was to veg them under CFL and flower them under LED.

Due to unseen circumstances money had to go elsewhere and the LED light did not get bought.

In the mean time I was keeping the plants small, effectively "Bonsaing" them keeping them in small pots and defoliating them and fimming the tops.

Defoliation is a technique where once the plants are 15cm tall you pluck the fan leaves and the resulting growth produces more bud sites.

I eventually got bored of keeping them in my veg box and decided to grow them on and will flower them in the near future.

I didn't really bother taking pictures of them when they were young, I had more pressing things to deal with.


The Grow Spaces

Veg Box
Dimensions- 48cm width x 33cm depth x 80cm high
Diamond mylar lined.
Lights - 3 x 36Watt Ubrella CFL's, 6500K (Daylight specrtrum)


Grow Cab
This is a small wardrobe/cupboard (The same one I grew my Supercritical Auto's in).
Dimensions - 45cm width x 48cm depth x 200cm high.
Lined with Diamond mylar


Veg Light - 70Watt HPS
- 3 x 36Watt Umbrella CFL's, 6500K (Daylight Spectrum)
- 1 x 25Watt CFL, 6500K (Daylight Spectrum)
- 4 x 23Watt CFL's, 6500K (Daylight Spectrum)
- 2 x 20Watt CFL's, 6500K (Daylight Spectrum) - Free hanging (not in the reflector)

Flower Light - 70Watt HPS
- 8 x 23Watt CFL's, 2700K (Warm white Spectrum)
- Maybe some free hanging 23Watt CFL's, 2700K (Warm white Spectrum)

Ventilation - Ruck 100mm Inlinefan in homemade accoustic box with fan speed controller
- Homemade carbon filter
- 100mm 12v intake fan
- 200mm air moving fan

Temp/Humidity - 1 x Hygrometer reading temp and humidity with max and min readings
- 1 x Aquarium thermometer, for reading temp without opening cab

Grow medium - 3 parts Miracle gro Organic (no added chemicals 100% organic)
- 1 part Perlite
- 1 part Clay pebbles
- clay pebbles at the bottom for drainage

Pot size - 40cm width x 40cm depth x 30cm high

Nutrients - Biobizz-Biogrow
- Biobizz-Biobloom
- Blackstrap molasses
- Maxicrop seaweed extract

Other Items - Small watering can
- syringe in mm to measure nutrients
- HM digital TDS & Temp pen
- PH-009(111) PH & Temp pen
- Moisture & PH probe
- Digital & segmental timers








Peace Hunters

Lams

[Dust]

That sounds like a nice setup, and that reflektor looks nice, is it homemade?

are we going to see some pics of that defoliated plant?

Hope it will work for you man, Have a good grow

[lamsbread]

Hey Dust

Yes home made reflector, wired by me.

Carbon filter is also homemade. It works well and was used on my last grow.

Yes I will add more tomorrow too tired right now, pictures have already been compressed just waiting for upload.

I wanted to get all the specs down in the first post then show plants in the next.

Peace bro

Lams

[Romeu9]

Here we go

Good luck my friend!

[Bam-Bhole]

Cooool set-up like that CFL reflektor, saves energy and is effective, too

Got all you need

Good grow buddy !

[bozoph]

love it

[lamsbread]

Thank you Rom,Bam,Boz & Toka

The Seeds - Twilight - Dutch Passion

Seeds Soaking

Young Plants

Time Passed & david bailey wasn't around to take photo's

When the plants got to 15cm they were fimmed and the fan leaves were plucked to promote more bud sites (Defoliation technique).

Tops were fimmed as nescesary to slow top growth and to encourage side branches to grow to the same level as the tops.

As the side braches reach the same height as the tops they are also fimmed, in time all will be at the same height and a scrog screen will be added.

After each defoliation the plants are left to recover/regrow untill they are thick and bushy and then defoliated again.

The plants before a defoliation

The plucked leaves

The Defoliated plants

Defoliated brach shots - Braches have been bent over by unseen hand to show the defoliated branches

Pictures - showing defoliated plants,air moving fan,intake fan & free hanging CFL side lights

View of the Lights on

History of the grow so far

1. 2 Seeds soaked 24 hours 12-1-12

Seeds sprout 13-1-12

Seeds put in seed compost 14-2-12

2. 2 more seeds soaked 24 hours 21-1-12

Seeds sprout 22-1-12

Seeds put in seed compost 23-1-12

3. Plants vegged under 3 x 36Watt umbrella CFL's. Total Wattage 108Watts.

Plants effectively "Bonsaied" by keeping in small pots,fimming & defoliation. Due to the size of my grow space this is the best way to fit them in.In a bigger grow i would let them get bigger.

4.Transplanted into big pot 40cm W x 40cm D x 30cm H

Light 70Watt HPS

3 x 36Watt umbrella CFL

1 x 25Watt CFL

4 x 23Watt CFL

2 x 20Watt free hanging CFL

All the above CFL's are 6500K Daylight

5. Plants fimmed and defoliated as per the pics above 14-3-12

Peace

Lams

[Romeu9]

Man I kinda always loved that bed kind of thing pot that you are having now!

Next Winter will do it for sure, not next in Spring or Summer time because I will move the plants outside and inside again for dark periods but in winter for sure!!!

Seems wonderful, good job as usual Lams!

Take care

[Dust]

yeah agree with rom that big pot is pretty cool, will have to look if they make 1x1m pots too, would be alot easier for the watering if all girls are the same ^^

Nice report man, they seem a little less defoliated than on the link you had given, so it breaks only Half of my heart this time, good for my heart

So far they seem to like it that way, i would have been cool i f you had let a non-defoliated girl to see a "live" comparison of the technique. but i'll be happy with that too ^^

Have a good grow man

[bozoph]

get er done. lol

[mopman]

Looking great , cant wait for the follow ups

[Nutes]

hey Lambs mate great looking stealth grow u got their, pure organic aswell loving it

anyway il keep passing by to see them lovely ladies grow out

wishing you all the best for the flowering

peace

[lamsbread]

.

[lamsbread]

Twilight - Dutch Passion - Defoliation

4 days since last post - 5 days since the photo's in that post were taken.

I haven't watered the plants for about 10-14 day lost count, The pot i am growing in has lots of soil and using my moisture probe I could see there was moisture further down.

I have been letting the soil dry out slowly and hoping that the roots would go further down in this time and make a larger root system, the top 2 inches were dry and dusty, the plants never drooped and kept growing, so they must have found the moisture.

Yesterday i gave them a good drink using some "Maxicrop Seaweed plant growth stimulant". Here is what I found online -

Maxicrop Original Plant Growth Stimulant

A concentrated seaweed extract containing 8% seaweed extract.

Maxicrop Original is used widely on many plants including fruit, vegetables, flowers, bedding plants, herbs, salad crops, turf etc.

Maxicrop has commissioned much research into the mode of action and effects of our seaweed extracts and several factors have been noted:

• Rooting and root development is greatly enhanced. A bigger stronger root system, with more fine root hairs, is better able to access moisture and nutrients for effective plant growth. A stronger root can withstand attack by root pests and disease more effectively as well.
  
• 
  
• Maxicrop encourages greater levels of beneficial soil bacteria. These bacteria help with nutrient availability and have also been shown to help natural suppression of certain soil borne pathogens such as Rhizoctonia and Pythium sp.
  
• 
  
• Chlorophyll levels are greatly enhanced, by as much as 30% to 50%. This helps improve the plants overall health and colour and helps improve photosynthetic capacity, so that the plant can put more energy into yield or flower production. Greater chlorophyll levels help slow down a plant’s senescence and also helps the plant to withstand environmental stress factors as well.
  
• 
  
• Maxicrop helps boost the plants natural health mechanism, so that it is better able to withstand pest and disease attack. It should be noted that this does not mean growers should abandon conventional means of controlling pests or disease, but Maxicrop seems to work in synergy with some chemicals, helping the plant to recover ore rapidly.
  
• 
  
• Trials showed that in some situations, if Maxicrop is applied prior to a frost, it can help improve the ability of a plant to withstand frost. This does not mean plants become frost resistant, rather it can develop some frost tolerance.
  

Copied and pasted from - http://www.kissmygra...owth-Stimulant/

Since i last plucked the leaves (Defoliated) 5 days ago the plants have put on lots of new growth.

There were a couple of slight leaf burns were they touched the CFL's, I should have raised the light but i was eager to get as much light to them as possible.

The pile i plucked from them after just 5 days was quite impressive, the plants to thier defoliation in their stride and just put on a mass of growth.

The picture I took this week aren't my best but they show how much they grew and also how much i had to pluck.

very soon the scrog net will go on and the flowering will begin.

I have been biding my time, so to let the side branches reach the same height as the other tops.

where i have fimmed I have left more leaves, soon i will stop fimming as all the top reach the same level and will defoliate all equally.

Pictures

Peace

Lams

[Gfarmer]

awsome techniqiue its cool to find another guy on this site that uses low wattage techniques. its because of dudes like you that i decided i can finally start growing and get results on a budget. if people only knew how cheap it is to grow like a quater pound of ganja with the right techniques in a couple of months.

lambsbread do you think you could private message me about the purpse and how to do this defoiliage technique. i dont something similar without actually cutting the leafs off i just duck the leafs under the bud sites to encourage the latteral bud branches to even out and catch up to the main cola.

but on my grow right now the technique your using is what im gonna do to my LA confidential. so any info would be nice.

also i was wondering do you know that technique where you turn the plant into one main cola bud and thats it so it looks like a stick of bud?

[lamsbread]

Hey Greeno

Thanks for stopping by.

Defoliation

The defoliation technique is something i have recently come across.

This is the first time i have tried it, seems to be going well,if things keep going the way they are at the moment , I think I will have good results.

I originally found the technique in a pdf torrent, after reading it I went to ICMAG where it was originally posted.

The pdf is a condensed version of the post, outlining the most pertinent details of the technique.

Keep watching my grow and we will see how it goes.

Here are some links that are helpful -

Defoliation - hi yield technique - https://www.icmag.co...ad.php?t=174163

Download the "hi yield technique" PDF here - https://www.icmag.co...&postcount=1381

Defoliation - the field test - by "vprising" - https://www.icmag.co...&highlight=k33f

Defoliation post I made here (An introduction) - http://www.strainhun...__fromsearch__1

Feel free to ask questions,I'll do my best to answer them.

Peace

Lams

[Bam-Bhole]

WGood seeds with massive Colas from GHS include Superbud and of course The white Rhino with it's massive horn like top It is true how different the same strain ends up when grown from seeds vs clones. If you check the Grow Video for the Jack Herrer .Arjan & franco show 3 Jacks they both grew from seed vs the Clones, they used for the Grow Video and even though they all looked great one was way shorter than Franco and bushy, the other was at heads level but the third was a giant, a goof 12" higher than Arjan ! No Grow Tent could hold that plant, let alone offer the space for the 600 watt HPS they used...

That last one had a beautiful xtra large Cola. A fine strain - Indica/Sativa Hybrid - So the long one had that Sativa stretch....

[lamsbread]

Thanks Bam for the Info, good to know.

I have PM Greeno with the single cola info i posted here and have removed it from this post.

I realised that i should have done this in the first place as iI want to keep this purley a grow journal.

I will try to start a post about single cola varietys, as I think it is an interesting subject.

thanks for stopping by.

Peace

Lams

[lamsbread]

Hey fellow Hunters, been a little while since the last update, so here it is.

A brief recap - Defoliation is a form of supercropping which is ideal for small spaces,by defoliating it keeps the plant from out growing it's space by keeping internodes close together & creating many bud sites.

To recap.. the basic procedure is:

At 6 inches tall, pluck off some leaves.

Do this periodically (every 2-3 weeks or when leaves get shady)

Stop and let leaves grow out before flowering and until stretch ends.

After stretch, defoliate severely (and then again after 2-3 weeks or when leaves get shady) Copied from the original ICmag article.

Decide how big you want your plants to get,use this technique with lst or scrog as i have, this allows maximum light to the canopy.

This is the last defoliation before flowering, which i will start next week.

So far i am very pleased with the results and i am hoping it will put on a fine display of buds.

without further ado here are the new pics.

Before this weeks pluck

The Pluckings

After the Pluck

[attachment=3269:TWI DEF 3 011 a.jpg]

Peace Fellow Hunters

Lams

[Dust]

very nice man, so far that defoliation thig seemed to be working pretty ifne on your grow

I might try it on 1 plant just to see what it gives, i hope you won't have ant hermie or whatever

Have a good grow man keep us updated when those little nuggets will blow, and good luck with your scrog

[mopman]

Also came across this a while back , glad you are trying this as it seemed to get good results. Cant wait to see these lady's progress. nice grow man

[monster222]

nice job, its ridiculous that the so called educated horticulturalists say that removing fan leaves is a bad idea...in this regard their knowledge can be summed up as HYPOTHESIS only with no real world applicaton because they have not tested this technique, they cling to their beautiful theorys.  Shut yo mouth and do the stufy for your self, speak with data and facts only!  NOT theory or how you want things to be.  This doot presented a hypothesis about defoliation and then backed it up with data and facts that defoliation for the indoor grower works.  do the study yourself you will find that defoliation in an indoor setting debunks the myth of the so called knowledgeable long term growers who are afraid to think out of the box.  with a limited light source indoors, the actual focus on bud site development is more important then some pretty leaves.  the focus of your energies is redirected to what really matters and the plant responds by rewarding you because you meet its needs.

[jankahar]

nice job, its ridiculous that the so called educated horticulturalists say that removing fan leaves is a bad idea...in this regard their knowledge can be summed up as HYPOTHESIS only with no real world applicaton because they have not tested this technique, they cling to their beautiful theorys.  Shut yo mouth and do the stufy for your self, speak with data and facts only!  NOT theory or how you want things to be.  This doot presented a hypothesis about defoliation and then backed it up with data and facts that defoliation for the indoor grower works.  do the study yourself you will find that defoliation in an indoor setting debunks the myth of the so called knowledgeable long term growers who are afraid to think out of the box.  with a limited light source indoors, the actual focus on bud site development is more important then some pretty leaves.  the focus of your energies is redirected to what really matters and the plant responds by rewarding you because you meet its needs.

 

 

it has been tested all around the globe, look and you shall find.   there is huge amount of evidence you are getting much slower growth, spend more time and get smaller buds in the end with defoliation

 

i have yet to find any side by side grow that  did not show slow retarded plants,   that defoliating field study link is also not showing anything only slow vegging plants in dwc, it doesnt even have the flowering period or side by side control plants

 

''the so called educated horticulturalists''  its not some hypothesis its bases on thousands of years of experience and scientific research,   the laws of thermodynamics

 

leaf collects light the light energy that allows the plant to make lots of buds    you take leafs away you take bud building energy away  its the laws of physics and thermodynamics not magic

 

leaf cannot block light from plant its there to to take the light for use doh,  i understand that big monster plant might need some trimming on the center parts to get airflow in but never canopy leaf to expose budsite... that is ridiculous faith/religious based thinking and does not make any kind of sense

[Bam-Bhole]

i once picked a lot of leaves from a Caboose, which grew enormous amounts of large fan leaves and with a very small internode distance it looked more like a cauliflower than a indca; but the more i plucked the more leaves came up and it only mde matters worse.In the end I got some nice buds and a top smoke but the plants stayed extremely low less than 50 centimeters. You can tuck away a few leaves in flowering every few days but it doesn't really matter much. Stripping all leaves off as some recommen equals killing off all of the energy and potency of the few buds that actually build after that torture. Let nature do it's job, just feed it and watch that there are no problems.