Should i cut my fan leaves away????

bgpimpn07

Active Member
Ive read different stuff on whether or not i should cut away fan leaves... IDK what to do!! should i cut them off??
 

happyface

Well-Known Member
depends on how bad u need to cut them. if its a few for light penetration i would say its fine.u shouldnt go crazy tho cutting to many fan leaves can shock a plant.fan leaves are needed on the plant for transfers of nutrients or some shit like that so cutting all fan leaves i would say is bad
 

miko

Well-Known Member
Its also a good idea if your crop is thick to prune the lowest branches to provide better air flow and redirect the plants energy to the top of the plant where your bigger, thicker buds will be produced. However, its all about what your comfortable with, but I'll tell you from experience, dont take too many leaves . . it will affect your end results because it's your leaves that process the light by photosynthesis therefore producing buds.
 

Joe Camel

Well-Known Member
You shouldnt but, just to show you.

I flowered without a single fan leaf.
Everyone fell off during the first week off 12/12

here is what they look like today.






~~Joe~~
 

Silky Shagsalot

Well-Known Member
leaf stripping is a common technique used to maximize bud production. most folks will tell you to not cut fan leaves. this is true, for the most part in veg, when the majority of root production is accomplished. after about 2 or 3 weeks in flower, root production ceases, and the plant concentrates on above ground growth. do a search on lollipopping, and you'll have an appreciation for leaf stripping. one thing to remember when trimming leaves, don't do too much at one time. this can cause a lot of stress, which can cause plants to hermie. i "always" do a lot of trimming in veg. the lower growth isn't going to get much light anyways. removing the lower leaves aids in air flow which is important. the light will only penetrate so far beneath the canopy. everything beneath that will be popcorn.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
I'll weigh in and say it is never ever a good idea to cut fan leaves.
 

MediMaryUser

Well-Known Member
You shouldnt but, just to show you.

I flowered without a single fan leaf.
Everyone fell off during the first week off 12/12

here is what they look like today.






~~Joe~~
crazy bro that shit looks dank must of looked weird watchin it grow and i guess itd be easier to manicure lol
 

SlikWiLL13

Well-Known Member
joecamel- imagine how much bigger those buds would be if you had solar panels on your plant.


lollipopping is the only reason to cut fan leaves. read up.






side note- im in a position to make a tutorial with pics on lollipoping so i may put that together today as im sick to death of these fan leave threads.
 

imanoob

Well-Known Member
hey SlikWiLL13, i didnt do any lollipopping duing my grow...wish i did. i never knew about it until flowering...so I would love to see a tut!
 

SlikWiLL13

Well-Known Member
i trim leaves to allow the branch to receive all of the nutrients instead of having to share with leaves
congratulations! you have the dumbest first post i have seen in ages!:clap:

you my friend, have absolutely no idea how plant biology works do you?

EDIT: AND his name is easyhelp!



tut will be later today after the kid goes to school and i have more coffee.
 

imanoob

Well-Known Member
good man, looking forward to it. i watched a video (see more buds) and he mentioned it...although didnt go into too much detail.
 

Joe Camel

Well-Known Member
joecamel- imagine how much bigger those buds would be if you had solar panels on your plant.

Slick is 100% correct on this.
That was going to be my next comment about trimming fan leaves.

#1: I would never purposely trim off all my fan leaves.

These leaves actually all yellowed and died off one by one from either the pesticide I used and / or a combination of Ph' ing my water down.

But yes I could only imagine what the potential harvest would have been.

I would probably guess Double what I'll harvest.

I vegg'ed those suckers for 2 months, and super cropped them. I was looking at a potential of a few Oz's a piece.

But my point is Yes you can flower and harvest without ANY fan leaves. But there is no positive reason behind it.

Now saying that and seeing what a plant with no fan leaves can achieve.

I can say that trimming some of the lower fans would not be detrimental to the plant (with moderation) and the lower exposed buds may see more benefit with the additional light.


~~Joe~~
 

SlikWiLL13

Well-Known Member
I can say that trimming some of the lower fans would not be detrimental to the plant (with moderation) and the lower exposed buds may see more benefit with the additional light.
although some photosynthesis does occur in the buds, its a tiny amount compared to what takes place in the fan leaves. a fan leaf blocking a bud/another leaf/whatever is obviously closer to the light. when we grow using artificial lighting we need to be as close to the source as possible because intensity is lost the further away you are. if you expose a leaf or bud by cutting a closer leaf your wasting light. plain and simple.

im sorry for those waiting but the tut is gonna have to wait. i cannot find my camera.:cry:
 

Green Cross

Well-Known Member
leaf stripping is a common technique used to maximize bud production. most folks will tell you to not cut fan leaves. this is true, for the most part in veg, when the majority of root production is accomplished. after about 2 or 3 weeks in flower, root production ceases, and the plant concentrates on above ground growth. do a search on lollipopping, and you'll have an appreciation for leaf stripping. one thing to remember when trimming leaves, don't do too much at one time. this can cause a lot of stress, which can cause plants to hermie. i "always" do a lot of trimming in veg. the lower growth isn't going to get much light anyways. removing the lower leaves aids in air flow which is important. the light will only penetrate so far beneath the canopy. everything beneath that will be popcorn.
Since when is l;ollupopoing called "leaf stripping"? This is a new one.

It's fine to remove the lower branches (lollipopping)... but that's not what this thread is about!

Leave the big fan leaves so the plant can draw energy from them in flower.
 
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