SCROG Question- why scrap the lower fan leaves?

So just like the question states why scrap the lower fan leaves on a SCROG? i understand getting rid of lower bud sights so that the plant only focuses on top bud production above the screen. I just want someone to explain why most people completely scrap all foliage beneath the screen including the fan leaves? In my past grows i have not used SCROG but have scraped all the air bud production sights while leaving the lower fan leaves because i thought they would add to top bud production. Thanks for replies just curious because I'm planning on trying SCROG out. Heres some picks of the plant I'm planning on trying it on. The stem next to it in the second pick is a trophy i kept from my biggest plant that was a 9oz dry weight monster, and was the same strain as this one and i would like to beat that using SCROG.

psychoticalyez said:

So just like the question states why scrap the lower fan leaves on a SCROG? i understand getting rid of lower bud sights so that the plant only focuses on top bud production above the screen. I just want someone to explain why most people completely scrap all foliage beneath the screen including the fan leaves? In my past grows i have not used SCROG but have scraped all the air bud production sights while leaving the lower fan leaves because i thought they would add to top bud production. Thanks for replies just curious because I'm planning on trying SCROG out. Heres some picks of the plant I'm planning on trying it on. The stem next to it in the second pick is a trophy i kept from my biggest plant that was a 9oz dry weight monster, and was the same strain as this one and i would like to beat that using SCROG.

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Hey bro.
9oz monster.....niiiice!.....what size pot?

I hear ya about removing nodes and not leaves, but if the leaves are receiving little or no light it makes sense to remove them....but if their receiving light it's definitely beneficial to leave em be. I guess the reason most (myself included) cut away all the lower foliage would be as you said to eliminate popcorn and also to increase airflow, especially in a scrog setup with a dense canopy where the lower leaves get no light.

I used a 10 gallon on that one in soil, but it was definitely running out of root space and a bigger pot probably would have yielded more. I'm really interested in trying SCROG out because the plants I've grown without it I've used similar methods on just without the screen. I get that the fan leaves would't get much light but they didn't get much on the non SCROG either and where usually the first to yellow and get eaten by the plant during flowering while the top stayed green. I'm planning on running a thousand watt over it and 2 other plants and trying a three plant SCROG. 1000 watt would be cam fan cooled so i could get it probably about 6 to 12 inches off the top of the buds. I just figured fan leaves were like energy reserves and should stay on until they get eaten by the plant, and even if there is low light getting to them they could still help pull in more energy.

Thanks for the reply brother!

I might try it both ways on two plants or just see how the canopy fills out and how much light penetrates. I just feel like all the SCROG's I see in journals are always stripped bare underneath the screen and was wondering if people have tried leaving the fan leaves as like extra support for the canopy bud production, and which is more beneficial.

psychoticalyez said:

I might try it both ways on two plants or just see how the canopy fills out and how much light penetrates. I just feel like all the SCROG's I see in journals are always stripped bare underneath the screen and was wondering if people have tried leaving the fan leaves as like extra support for the canopy bud production, and which is more beneficial.

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Fair play to ya for questioning what folks are doing and not blindly following

"I just figured fan leaves were like energy reserves and should stay on until they get eaten by the plant, and even if there is low light getting to them they could still help pull in more energy. " Your totally right bro...and I believe they help act as a buffer of sorts also, but how much energy would they actually contribute? Would clearing everything and gaining the extra airflow be more beneficial than the little bit of energy generated by leaving them? Also dying leaves invites disease and pests.

If you try it both ways I'd be very interested seeing the results