Does the leaves require more sunlight than the buds....?!

grow space

grow space

Well-Known Member
So, the question remains...A veteran member tom tom said that leaves can shade the buds and that leaves need more sunlight, and that buds do not need the direct light...It all sounds logic but really..?!I have always folded me leaves carefully, so the buds get the most of the light..



Which method is more effective..?
Pls answer on your heavy, many years of growing wisdom!



















:peace:
 
genuity

genuity

Well-Known Member
over my time growing,i do see that the bud's not in direct light seem to have thicker/bigger hairs,and better production of gland's...IMO
 
simpsonsampson420

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
basically i look at it like this...

the leaves on the plant are what absorb the light we use.... the more leaves that there are the more light that gets absorbed...

the plant uses light and turns it into energy for itself.. the more light it can absorb the more energy it can make...

the plant uses that energy to grow.. be it more foliage in the veg stage or flowers during the flowering stage...

now we already know that during flowering the plants need more light anyways than in veg... so it seems counterproductive to add more light, which supplies more energy for the plant, but then remove fan leaves which absorb that light....

in my humble opinion it is crazy to remove foliage... the flowers themselves dont absorb much light until the fan leaves start falling off... thats when the little calyx leaves start doing their job...

also think of it like this.. which would absorb more light.. 1 large ass fan leaf.. or a bunch of tiny little flower leaves??

now im not saying that the calyx leaves dont absorb light... just that they dont absorb near as much... so essentially removing leaves strips potential energy from your plant...

this is what i believe to be true.. or at least what i have noticed in my grows.. i always get bigger thicker nicer buds from plants that are thick with foliage than those that have a smaller amount of foliage...

this also assumes that everything else (watering needs, co2, air, nutes, ect) are all up to par with what the heavier foliage plants needs are...
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
My take is that only leaves can utilize light, but then there are leaves all around the buds. I don't think trimming fan leaves to get more light to buds is productive. But, it may be productive to prune foliage down low where you won't get large buds anyway. Many cut away the entire bottom one-third of the plant. It does make sense that the plant diverts energy from trying to grow hopeless buds down low, into those at the top which is what we want.

Lolipopping is the extreme version of this, but although I have seen huge colas that way, it still seems counter intuitive.
 
simpsonsampson420

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
i agree.. lollipopping is the only time i remove ANY foliage at all myself.. and that is only if my plants have out grown the light i am using.. if that light has the penetration power or i dont need clones (when i lollipop i basically do it for clones..) then i dont cut shit off the plant...
 
grow space

grow space

Well-Known Member
yes...
Thanks for all the responses...I do agree that removing leaves is bad and causes stress..i used to just fold my leafs down, but i think for now on i will let the leaves be naturally, almost-i still will bring out lower buds with leafs on top of larger leaves, cas that way the lil buds produces more:hump:


But with all that foliage that is needed, why ppl use srog and other similar methods(it seems pointless now)...Most of the leafs are shaded and the main light is on the buds?!?!
 
simpsonsampson420

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
you have to remember, even with scrog there are fan leaves under the screen absorbing light.. the idea of a screen is to allow only colas to grow through it.. but the grower still has to weave the branches in and out of the screen... and all the original foliage is still there.. it just makes the entire screen like the top of the canopy... light still penetrates and gets absorbed below the screen..
 
P

plaguedog

Active Member
simpsonsampson420 said:
basically i look at it like this...

the leaves on the plant are what absorb the light we use.... the more leaves that there are the more light that gets absorbed...

the plant uses light and turns it into energy for itself.. the more light it can absorb the more energy it can make...

the plant uses that energy to grow.. be it more foliage in the veg stage or flowers during the flowering stage...

now we already know that during flowering the plants need more light anyways than in veg... so it seems counterproductive to add more light, which supplies more energy for the plant, but then remove fan leaves which absorb that light....

in my humble opinion it is crazy to remove foliage... the flowers themselves dont absorb much light until the fan leaves start falling off... thats when the little calyx leaves start doing their job...

also think of it like this.. which would absorb more light.. 1 large ass fan leaf.. or a bunch of tiny little flower leaves??

now im not saying that the calyx leaves dont absorb light... just that they dont absorb near as much... so essentially removing leaves strips potential energy from your plant...

this is what i believe to be true.. or at least what i have noticed in my grows.. i always get bigger thicker nicer buds from plants that are thick with foliage than those that have a smaller amount of foliage...

this also assumes that everything else (watering needs, co2, air, nutes, ect) are all up to par with what the heavier foliage plants needs are...
Click to expand...

Good answer, +rep.
 
elduece

elduece

Active Member
I've alos read somewhere in a gardening article that -in short; as leaves get older, their effectiveness in absorbing light is becomes more hampered as it begins to store/manufacturing more food and whatever suplus gets accumulated by the leaf itself as the leaf grows bigger. That is why plants keeps growing new nodes for more young leaves that are more effective in absorbing light energy while less effective in manufacturing/storing food until they get mature into a "storehouse" role themselves. And by that time there are new nodes with leaves formed above the once young sunleaf. Equally important is that plants needs leaves(young and mature) to breath/transpire. Therefore removing good leaves(young and mature) for the sake of enhancing yield or quality isn't really doing it.
 
grow space

grow space

Well-Known Member
simpsonsampson420 said:
you have to remember, even with scrog there are fan leaves under the screen absorbing light.. the idea of a screen is to allow only colas to grow through it.. but the grower still has to weave the branches in and out of the screen... and all the original foliage is still there.. it just makes the entire screen like the top of the canopy... light still penetrates and gets absorbed below the screen..
Click to expand...
Thank You for lightening my path sammpson...


Good to have people like You in our community!!!




:peace:
 
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