Removing Fan Leaves?!

Wat r the school of thoughts on removing Fan Leaves from plants during the vegetative stage?

Does it:

- Allow good light through to the crown so they may develop better, and not waste nutrient on the leaf?

OR

- Put unneccesary stress and possible wounds on the plant and remove their means of gathering light?

Need to know wat ppl have done prior and how it turned out so i dont ruin my crop..

how old is the plant?

Its just a question of wether or not it can b done throughout the Vegetative stage?

i personally wouldn't do it unless i was LSTing but yeah it can be done to a certain extent don't push the plant to far ya know. I'd rather someone cut off one of my arms then both of em and my legs ya feel me.. hope that helps
p.s. and i also wouldnt start doing it until you're about a week maybe two from flowering.

Sounds like you know what ur talking about there Big Bink, so i think il leave em and let the 'solar panels' power up my ladies Cheers.

this should be in FAQ... do not cut your healthy leaves. so simple..

nooooooooooooo..dont do it

If your really insist on the wanting more light to get to the buds... then try tucking leafs under other branches and such ...
It is a silly silly thing to remove any leaf that is less than 70% damaged.....
The only leafs you should be doing anything to, are the ones that really die back.... which shouldnt really happen, but doesn sometimes.... even during your flush, Leaves will yellow big time, you still dont wanna remove them... wait for them to fall, if they do.... and whatever falls off take out of the grow room to prevent disease and pests...
take it easy,
Peaaaace out....

i believe fan leaves may be removed such as the lower oneS for light to get to it better

And if you'd like first hand knowledge, then Germ 2 seeds of the same strains. grow them both identically under the same lights with the same feeding scheds. etc. only difference as one starts to grow periodically cut off fan leaves and never touch the other.. you be the judge.. i'm always down for an experiment

GrowingNoob said:

i believe fan leaves may be removed such as the lower oneS for light to get to it better

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What do you want light to get to and will that portion or portions of the plant collect as much energy from the light rays and create the sugars and chemicals the plant need to grow the way the large fan leaves will?

The only partially valid reason to remove leaves is to get more light to buds. The THC in the resins balls act as a sunblock and when sun hits the resin balls it breaks down THC but it also then causes more THC to be produced so there is some argument for allowing more light to reach buds.

But if you remove the leaves the buds will not receive as much of a supply of the chemicals that are needed to create THC so it is a double edged sword. By trying to increase THC you decrease the amount of chemicals that are needed to produce THC.

If someone wants to increase light to buds then tying back or bending leaves is the answer but not removing leaves.

Since the question was should large fan leaves be removed during vegging, and not during flowering, the THC production argument is mute/invalid in this case.

Also if someone wants to increase the production/levels of THC in their buds the answer is to give them a 72-hour period of darkness before harvesting.

Research has shown that some strains will get as much as a 30% increase in levels of THC by giving them a 72-hour period of darkness before harvesting and a 30% increase in levels of THC is MASSIVE.

Unless someone is lollipopping or doing a SOG there is no valid reason to remove any leaves of any size at any time as long as they are healthy.

Geez I'm soo stoned right now but, I cabn just imagine someone cutting all the fan leaves off a plant, who the hell would do that lol.

here let me solve this for everyone, speaking from my personal experience i used to remove fan leaves, untill i became a member of RIU and did some research. Now i do not remove the large fan leaves and I see a notable improvement in this round of plants!!!

ThaBigBinkk said:

And if you'd like first hand knowledge, then Germ 2 seeds of the same strains. grow them both identically under the same lights with the same feeding scheds. etc. only difference as one starts to grow periodically cut off fan leaves and never touch the other.. you be the judge.. i'm always down for an experiment

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this would be a very inconclusive test. just because you have two seeds from the same parents doesnt mean they will grow the same. do you look just like your siblings? same height? weight?

you would have to start with clones from the same mother to get any kind of result worth talking about.

NO WAY!! listen to brick top!! hes on point all the way! Mister bishi, love pic. of your son! if it aint a pit, it aint shit!!

SlikWiLL13 said:

this would be a very inconclusive test. just because you have two seeds from the same parents doesnt mean they will grow the same. do you look just like your siblings? same height? weight?

you would have to start with clones from the same mother to get any kind of result worth talking about.

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Agreed i know a friend who cuts his leaves and his plants always stunt growth or die, even though he swears it has nothing to do with it... Oh well mine do fine with no cutting LOL

please,,,only listen to the posts that are you NOT to remove fan leaves!!
i had the same question 2 months ago!!!!
big fan leaves=big solar collectors!!
leave 'em,,, you'll and your plant will be much happier

XxNinjaxX said:

Its just a question of wether or not it can b done throughout the Vegetative stage?

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At about 3 wks of age, I like to top my plants right above the 4th node. This leaves 8 shutes and makes a nice bushy plant to grow in a small area. At this point I trim any fan leaves that are shading these side shutes, this promotes even growth. Yes this will slow things down a bit but, most plants will react positively to this within a few days and this side growth will explode producing many more fan leaves than you had to begin with. After you have nice even growth at a height you're comfortable with, flower it.

Keep in mind, this is not for someome who is in a hurry. I usually veg for at least 45 days when I use this method.

ThaBigBinkk said:

And if you'd like first hand knowledge, then Germ 2 seeds of the same strains. grow them both identically under the same lights with the same feeding scheds. etc. only difference as one starts to grow periodically cut off fan leaves and never touch the other.. you be the judge.. i'm always down for an experiment

Click to expand...

Yeah than after you harvest it you can send all the bud to me so I can do my observations on it's output in THC. then repeat.