Growing a cannabis plant and training it properly to get you maximum yields is what every grower wants to do. But there are as many (or more) tips, tricks, techniques, and opinions about how to accomplish that goal as there are indoor cannabis growers.

When growing cannabis indoors, space is at a premium for most of us. You want to grow densely packed plants with tons of flower sites so you can get great yields along with high quality. Lush, thick vegetative growth makes your plants look great but what if it is having a negative impact on your final yield?

Excerpts from High Times.

Most growers think that removing one or two big leaves is okay, especially since removal of the large ones allows other parts of the plant to produce bigger sticky buds. But then again, those big home-grown solar panels are gathering energy for the plant. Removing them is like cutting off a source of energy for growth.

And most growers, in my experience, really want to grow magazine-cover-photo quality plants. They look great and of course there is a ego component here – who doesn’t want to show off some beautiful cannabis photos to their friends?

Plucking / stripping leaves (defoliation) can lead to bigger yields if done correctly and at the right time. Perhaps increased yield will offset a grower’s desire for pretty plants?

. . . I asked the secret for getting consistent quality and big yields from top to bottom on very-tall indoor plants. I was told that plucking leaves was key. Turns out the answer has more to do with when rather than yes or no.

With OG Kush crops, after about four weeks into the bud cycle, the growers almost completely defoliated the big, beautiful leafy plants. Seeing the before and after, I was a little shocked (“what are these guys smoking?”): Big, healthy bushes stripped to sticks with just a few fan leaves, but with all of the budding sites intact.

Something to keep in mind is that there are several factors that determine whether plucking or defoliating will work on your plant. Some strains respond better than others to this technique. The key here is to experiment on a small scale before trying it on your entire crop.

Not all strains will respond favorably to this method, but all of the tested Kush strains and indica-dominant strains responded very well, sometimes giving up to 30{2b4a1a3f3bbc9c5a43771f34362679a3afcf9df24c0d9f4fe2fa80a69d802033} more yield. Seriously. Some Sativa hybrids respond well too, although they typically need to have fewer fan leaves removed. When in doubt, test a plant or two before subjecting a whole crop to any kind of plucking.

In a natural setting – cannabis growing in the wild – plants naturally drop many of the lower leaves as the nutrient content in the soil is depleted. This allows more of the nutrients to be directed to the flowering process where it is needed. This tends not to happen with indoor grows because we always supply 100{2b4a1a3f3bbc9c5a43771f34362679a3afcf9df24c0d9f4fe2fa80a69d802033} percent of the nutrients needed at all times…thus the fan leaves never drop off.

Growers that are concerned about reducing nutrient availability by stripping leaves need not worry – there is a constant supply of nutrients available at the roots! So what can you expect when pulling off many of the big leaves on your cannabis plants?

. . . more light reaches all parts of the plant and humidity isn’t trapped in the canopy, you will see bigger, harder and frostier nugs at harvest time. Buds swell up almost overnight, because the roots can now channel more juice into buds and there is no foliage to rob the bud of fluid.

Do pluck all at once: not a little here and there. While it does shock the plant, healthy plants recover virtually overnight . . .

Increase Cannabis Yield Through Proper Training

Boosting your yield through defoliation can be a pretty simple but effective tool to make you a better grower. We are here to help when you need growing advice – from lighting to nutrients and environmental growing conditions.

An increase of 30{2b4a1a3f3bbc9c5a43771f34362679a3afcf9df24c0d9f4fe2fa80a69d802033} yield for a small scale grower can be very important – having an extra cushion of a couple of ounces potentially means that a cannabis patient wont have to worry about running out of medicine.

Commercial Cannabis Growers – Boosting Yield = Increased Revenue

For commercial cannabis growers, 30{2b4a1a3f3bbc9c5a43771f34362679a3afcf9df24c0d9f4fe2fa80a69d802033} increase would mean a much faster ROI (3-6 months), and increased revenue. For example, a commercial medicinal or recreational cannabis grower with 100 lights could see a boost of over 30 lbs per grow cycle. At a wholesale rate of $2000 per pound and 3 cycles per year . . . that means an extra $180,000 of income.

Whether you are growing one plant or 5000, feel free to contact us for cannabis grow consulting. Also, sign up for our newsletter (to the right) for a Free Grow Guide and for updates and occasional special offers.

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