Fan Leaves

Can the large fan leaves that come off of the main stalk be removed? The reason I would like to do this is to help light penetrate to the lower branches. If doing so would cause harm to the plant I wouldn't do it.

If this isn't a good idea, what else could I do to help the lower branches develop faster?

i dont recomend cutting off ANY healthy leaves ever. they are the solar power facilities for your plants.

try some LSTing. what kind of light are you using? the power of your light determins how deep of a canopy you can maintain before you grow leafy, airy buds.

I don't have high wattage lights, but they are bright. I use two 70watt HPS, and two 20 watt black lights. The black lights are an experament. I read on the internet about people using black lights for indoor growing because they produce UV. UV light is lacking in indoor grows. I want to see if it makes a difference. I read that it will cause the plant to produce more resin glands, because it uses the glands as a sort of sunscreen. The buds are young, but look good so far. What do you mean by LSTing?

props for experimenting, but drop the blacklights. they dont do anything, your thinking of UVB light. you get that from those reptile lights at the pet shop. i think they make them that will fit in the blacklight fixtures.

LST - low stress training... bending and tying down branches to attain the canopy you desire.

unchecked, pot grows to resemble a xmas tree. with a primary "A" bud on the top widening toward the ground and growing smaller "B" and "C" buds. with various training methods most growers try to grow a more evenly spread out canopy full of "A" buds.

lumen loss is exponential the further away from the source you get with HID lighting. with your 70w hps's i wouldnt expect great canopy penetration more than 6-10". anything deeper into the foliage will grow airy buds. keep them as close as you can without burning as well. use the back of your hand as a guage, if your hand can take the heat, so can your plants.

luck

Thanks for all the help. Will, do the UVB lights actually do anything, or would I be better off just putting regular florecents back in my fixture?

HappyHomeGrower said:

Thanks for all the help. Will, do the UVB lights actually do anything, or would I be better off just putting regular florecents back in my fixture?

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with the lower wattage hps's you have i would put regular tubes in the fixtures.

i have no personal experience with UVB lights but personally wouldnt add any till i got my wattage up.