Why It’s Time to Stop Skirting Your Plants

Traditionally, under-clearing or skirting is a task that is a part of the production process. By removing the lower branches of the plant that receive little light, plants can distribute energy (growth) to areas of the canopy that will produce better quality products. Enter under canopy lighting (UCL). Undercanopy lights increase the amount of usable canopy depth, which means the standard practice of trimming the bottom third of the plant may be diminishing your yield potential. If you’ve implemented UCLs, you probably need to adjust your workflow from removing or skirting your plants to what we call a “strategic deleaf” instead.

What is Strategic Deleafing

Reference video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUxhDtBcqXU
The goal is to increase light penetration from both top and bottom lights while keeping as many viable branches and bud sites as possible. Strategic deleafing focuses more on removing fan leaves to open up the canopy. Deleafing typically involves less work for cultivators, but the work needs to be more precise.

A Quick Guide to Strategic Deleaf

Typical plant work occurs 2 to 3 times throughout a run:

• Week 1 - Small under clear (Optional)
  This step is quick and should be performed after plants have been placed in the flower rooms and UCL installed. Remove bud sites that sit lower than the under canopy units, as they won't receive enough light to become viable. Then remove any leaves that may block the UCLs. 
  
• Week 3 to 4 - Post Stretch Cleanup
  The most important clean up comes after plants have stopped stretching, typically performed days 21-26 of flower. First, remove all big fan leaves from the main stem. Then identify any clusters of fan leaves that are limiting both the penetration of UCLs and top lights. The goal of this step is to allow for light to penetrate evenly from the top and bottom. The greatest yield potential is in the middle of the plant.
  
• Week 8 - Final Strip
  This process is standard in many facilities and does not change much with the addition of UCL. Removing most of the fan leaves left in the canopy helps create a uniform final product during the final few weeks of flower. This period of time is often referred to as the ripening stage. The goal of UCL is to have a uniform final product, and more of it through yield increases.
  

If you have any questions, or if you’re thinking about using under canopy lights in your grow, please reach out to us at favenlighting.com