OK, so I have some giant fan leaves, also called shade leaves, that appear to be blocking the light from entering down deep into the plant. Maybe if I cut the fan leaves away and remove them, the light can penetrate deeper.
What should I do? What should you do?
DO NOT CUT THEM.
Get some paperclips and hold them pulled back or tucked away, if you insist on doing anything, but DO NOT CUT THE FAN LEAVES OFF.
When a large FAN leaf starts yellowing, say it is half yellow, that means in the photosynthesis process, that leaf has eaten nutrients, taken in some LIGHT and made food for the plant and buds and NOW, half of that is gone, or used or consumed. That is the yellow part. Well, what about the other half? The still green part? Can not it's energy still be used or consumed? Of course it can, it is still doing its job.
AND when it is ALL consumed or used, that leaf will naturally just fall off.
AND you say it is blocking LIGHT?
GREAT and GOOD, that means it is getting the LIGHT it needs and deserves more than the other leaves do, to do it's job.
Years ago I tried removing lower fan leaves to allow more Light to penetrate in. I cut a down of them off. When I did, the plant went into a slight shock for a day or two, and quit eating or only ate half as much, and just went on "stand by" mode. Then, after a day or two, suddenly, I saw that big fan leaf replaced by a new leaf, and I saw my plant use the energy to replace that leaf, more than it used the energy to grow bigger and make more buds or bigger buds.
I now believe that removing fan leaves is pointless, and that a leaf has a purpose and will serve that purpose until it is dead. Then it will yellow, dry, crisp and fall off.
Don't ever remove fan leaves before harvest for several reasons.
1. The fan leaves MAKE AND STORE energy for the plant. The fan leaves are doing a process called photosynthsis, and it is the most important part or task or job the plant does, to make it grow. The Fan leaves make the FOOD, the sugars and carbs needed to grow.
2. If you remove a FAN leaf, the plant will stop growing taller until it can replace that removed fan leaf.
3. Removing a healthy fan leaf is a big waste of time; they are rapided replaced unless you are in the last few weeks of flowering.
4. Even if the fan leaves are yellowing in late bloom I do not remove them until they are almost ready to fall off. The yellowing in the fan leaves at late harvest is the plants metabolism at work. She is transferring all stored energy from the fan leaf to bud production. It is the easiest source of energy the plant has late in life.
Daily I do very gently tug at wilting yellowing leaves. If it wants to hold on, I let it hold on and stay. If the leaf comes off very easily because of my gentle pull, it was dead anyway and ready to remove.
From the Growers Bible by Jorge Cervantes:
Leave leaves alone! Removal of healthy leave hacks up a healthy plant. Removing large or shade leaves DOES NOT make plants more productive. This practice DOES NOT supply more light to smaller leaves and growing tips. Plants need all their leaves to produce the maximum amount of chlorophyll and food. Removing leaves slows chlorophyll production, stresses the plant, and stunts its growth. Stress is a growth inhibitor. Remove only dead leaves or leaves that are more than 50 percent damaged.
