Should you cut off fan leaves during flowering
- Thread starter baggins1986
- Start date
Scwirl1611
Active Member
Who
Dreamwalker_j
Member
The idea is to only remove fan leaves that are blocking light from getting to apical growth (the apex from each node, or, "the bud site") and to allow adequate air flow rhrough the plant. I try to bend and tuck any leaves i can under existing branches and i remove the ones that need to be removed. The main reason for ALL THAT TIME IN VEG is TO GROW MORE NODES, NOT LEAVES. For someone raging about the forum being full of misinformation and opinion, then stating that people should learn the science behind the plant , im not exactly reading a whole lot of science in your comment.. Defoliation is good, extreme defoliation can be very harmful unless you know exactly what you are doing. If you can look down on your plant from above and you can see the floor/soil/hydroton/ect.... then you jave removed too many leaves. If there is light hitting your floor, it is wasting that precious light energy the plants could be using if there was a leaf there to absorb it. So, I'll state it again.... defoliating so that every node gets light is very very good for flower development. Extreme defoliation is very bad and you have removed so many solar panels that the plant is not getting as much light energy as it could be and bud growth actually BECOMES SEVERELY RETARDED. If you pulled all the fan leaves and still harvested decent nugs, imagine how much better it could have been if the plant was able to absorb more light per square foot. The only way removing fan leaves improves taste is if you remove them before smoking/processing. Look at the process of mainlining or manifolding and then look at rye results. Ive been growing for 15 years and in a side by side comparison, WHEN IT IS DONE PROPERLY, it definitely grows more bud
Scwirl1611
Active Member
hey thanks man,I’m new to this forum and have found most info to be helpful. What you said makes the most sense. When it comes to “the science of the plant” lol . I’m almost forty and have grown a few indoors and a lot of outdoor. So I need all the help I can get with these autos. I got a few photos going that I’m excited to see. If you don’t mind can I hit you up for advice or that’s not how this works?
Dreamwalker_j
Member
Hey, yeah man im happy to help with anything i can. My email is JS.BBEMAIL @ GMAIL.COM. i dont check this message board very often so email me any time you want. Happy growing.
DoubleAtotheRON
Well-Known Member
About week 5... like now, I do a final stripping of "shade makers". It gets more light to the mid section that otherwise would make larfy crap. I've had good luck with it, but everybody does it different. Pulled about 15 lbs off this past week. It's made controlling the RH alot easier as well. YMMV.
Scwirl1611
Active Member
thanks will do
xwant2LeaRNx
Well-Known Member
I defoliate through veg and for first week of flower then one more time when the stretch is done... And lollipop and top and lst 
Scwirl1611
Active Member
Nice! How many are there? And is that an auto?
xwant2LeaRNx
Well-Known Member
8 plants no autos here....
GanjaGrowingGranny
New Member
I know this is old but...
If u ask this question on google, ur reply comes up minus the sarcasm
Scwirl1611
Active Member
See the problem I’m having is with an auto. First time and last.
Holeleeshet
Well-Known Member
So I purchased a spider farmer sf 4000 and learned from last harvest to only pull what’s under my scrogg net week one of flower and tuck for a week then untuck. After that raise the light and tie we down. I learned it’s better to only make 8 -10 bud sites that will be the size of my bed on each plant with satellites also having bud sites attached to it then to make as many cola sites as possible making popcorns if that makes sense. Last harvest it took almost 15 weeks to harvest because I pulled way to many levels at week 2 of flower and I got more leaf than calyx ratio. From learning that I am just flipping today and have at least 50 plus branches with main cola sites and sati as live that spider farmer. I’m trying to do a low nitrogen and all p and k for bloom. Gonna try 0-10-10 for flower. Last crop I used tiger farm and it was crap. Burned my ladies badly.
Rurumo
Well-Known Member
Some nitrogen is still important during bloom, it has a huge impact on bud size and plant health, esp during stretch. If you want to tone down nitrogen in the final 3 weeks or so, that would be fine, otherwise you might bottleneck your plants if you do it from the beginning. In general, keeping your PPMs at a normal, healthy level, and not trying to "push" them will create good tasting buds.
Holeleeshet
Well-Known Member
For some reason these plants love the ppm at 5.4–5.8. There very acidic I tried using 6.8 and they bairly wanted to take any nutrients at all if any. I have to add lemon juice just to average it out and lower the ph level. I might get Alaska more bloom since it’s 0-10-10 and add a different feed with maybe 2-0-0 and mix em for my feed. That way they get enough nitrogen but potassium for there flower. We’ll see in 12 weeks.
Dreamwalker_j
Member
Check out gen hydro's koolbloom.the liquid is 0-10-10 but it has extra sulphur to aid essential oil production. The koolbloom powder is for the last 4 weeks and it makes for amazingly big, tight, glass-breaking nuggets. If you get the powder tho, its important to not go over the recommended amount
Holeleeshet
Well-Known Member
I’ll look into it
Dreamwalker_j
Member
Also, with your pH that low are you growing in hydro or soilless? In soil is should be 6.3 because the soil and the bacteria/microbes/root processes drive the pH down an back up. If you literally have no biologicals in your soil (making it soilless, technically) then your pH needs tobe between 5.5 and 6. Personally, i keep ot at 5.8. As the media dries, the pH raises. If you start with a high pH, it will quickly raise too high for the plants to absorb any nutrients. I give between 500 - 700 ppm and in flower its between 900-1200 in late bloom. Then down to 400ppm for 2nd last week before harvest, then 0pmm for the last 7 days, then harvest.
Holeleeshet
Well-Known Member
Growing in soil but they act like there in water. You’d think they were hydro. I tried 6.5 and they started to die.
Dreamwalker_j
Member
Are you sure your pH meter doesnt need caibrating? I've never heard of anyone needing the pH that low in soil unless the nutrients they were using were not the greatest. Theres also a couple brands ive heard of that do weird things like this. Oh and heres a chart that shows you cannabis nutrient requirements throughout its life cycle. an NPK ratio of 1:3:2 is best for early-mid bloom then 1:2:3 for mid-late bloom. Some people (myself included) use a finisher (like the dry koolbloom powder by gen hydro) the koolbloom liquid is a bloom BOOSTER where as the dry koolbkoom powder is meant to shock the plant durin the final 2 weeks before flush and it makes the buds, the calyxes swell with resin and get rock hard.
