Trimming off leaves while flowering

Just wondering if it hurt my girls any by trimming some of the leaves off, there were to many blocking light.

no it should be fine

No IMO its good for them. I trim off a lot of leaves and it really puffs up the buds and lets light down to the bottom resulting in bigger buds at the bottom too

Thanks for the info...I just sent my girls into flowering under SCROG and leaves have been getting in the way.

I've recently trimmed my plants for the last time before harvest to increase air and light to the middle of the plant. I worried, but after a few days they perked up and were a lot better for it. Wich is not to say that it can't be over done. Take care always.
30 day + or - till harvest!

edro

I was 3 weeks into flowering thats the only reason i ask, i was just wondering if it would have hurt it only cause it was in flowering faze but now i know its ok. thanks guys

That way I see it is under every side-shoot there is a fan leaf, and the fan leaf is what keeps the side-shoot above it alive, and so forth for every side-shoot and fan leaf. I think this because whenever a single fan leaf falls off,the side shoot it supports stops growth. And then the fan leaf directly oppsite is still on the plant, and the side shoot it supports is still growing and much much taller than the other side shoot with no fan leaf directly across from it. So I don't cut anything.

W33D said:

That way I see it is under every side-shoot there is a fan leaf, and the fan leaf is what keeps the side-shoot above it alive, and so forth for every side-shoot and fan leaf. I think this because whenever a single fan leaf falls off,the side shoot it supports stops growth. And then the fan leaf directly oppsite is still on the plant, and the side shoot it supports is still growing and much much taller than the other side shoot with no fan leaf directly across from it. So I don't cut anything.

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no sorry this is incorrect. Leafing is good, (not during veg) after the seconed week of flowering its good to remove all the water leaves.

W33D said:

That way I see it is under every side-shoot there is a fan leaf, and the fan leaf is what keeps the side-shoot above it alive, and so forth for every side-shoot and fan leaf. I think this because whenever a single fan leaf falls off,the side shoot it supports stops growth. And then the fan leaf directly oppsite is still on the plant, and the side shoot it supports is still growing and much much taller than the other side shoot with no fan leaf directly across from it. So I don't cut anything.

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Yea this is wrong, I've never seen a pruned plant (no matter the type) kill off a new shoot just because it lost its fan leaves. Now yes I've seen them not grow a shoot there if the leaf is lost before growth starts, but never have I seen the shoot die off because it lost the fan leaf. Maybe if you weren't careful and got the plant infected....but I've always been a fan of cutting the leaf right where the leaves meet on the fan leaf then letting the plant suck up the rest of the nutrients in the leaf stem.

the way ive seen it. the large fan leaves when clipped allow the smaller leaves that make up some of the bud to engorge with crystals.

smaller fan leaves eventually end up having some crystals on them, but they get thrown into trimmings. at this time i dont make hash or butter so having leaf with crystals on it is just a waste of thc.

so when i start seeing red hairs, ill trim some of the larger fans. a few days later some of the smaller ones that are tighter in. overall ive experience some denser nugz and more crystals on smokeable nugget.

but im still noobish.

I know everyones technique is different but i can't believe some of the things i'm hearing.. alright now please believe what i have to say, I am a Biology major and a very seasoned grower.. I've had single colas that have litterally been bigger than my arm from finger tip to top of shoulder LITTERALLY this is how: The most potent and heavy buds on your plant are the top colas that recieve the freshest air and most light and are the oldest nugs on the plant.. Those fan leaves are the freakin POWERHOUSE of the plant.. the branches are straight cellulose and the buds are the result of the unique chemical makeup of marijuana.. the leaves are what makes the plant, well a plant.. it holds the chloroplast that trully uses the light and the central vacuoles that hold the water.. it pumps the nutrients up the branches and into the nugs.. the bottom nugs are just tiny frath anyway (i call em energy suckers) so here's what you do.. you trim the branches on the bottom 1/3 of the plant to let the air circulate underneathe and focus ALL of the plants energy to the important nugs up top.. any fan leaves and excess growth toward the main stalk (inward) is useless and can even cause mold so cut that too.. if you have a really bushy plant and after all this you still have valuable nugs being obstructed.. it's time to start supercropping.. this is something i do all the time and is very useful.. look it up if your interested i really recommend it.. hope this was useful.. happy growing

Check out this Video from Arjan from Greenhouse seeds. He trims this plant at week two. Some of his other videos he trims off as much as 1/3 of the bottom of the plant. I now trim off 1/3 of my bottom leafs also. It allows all that energy that would go to those lower buds that do not get enough light anyway. I trim the leafs and side branches of everything that does not at least reach half way up the plant at week two.


WWW.GREENHOUSESEEDS.NL - Green House Seed Co. Amsterdam Since 1985

no actually i think it somewhat slows the flowering down to extend your cycle. so if its already started flowering clip away its been doing wonders for me. ive been in flwer with 4 plants for almost 2 months and the one being trimmed alot is taking its time and getting HUGE!

I think we need to take a pole...or at least my wife does..oHHHH

During veg, only trim leaves that look suspect to disease..
During veg, start "pinching" off any shoots that you don't plan on flowering
"Transition" last week of veg, trim up 1/3 of the plant of all branches
1st week of bloom, start pinching all nodes that will not be flowered, leaving fan leaf.
2nd week, keep pinching and leaving fan leaf
3rd week, final pinch, pull any leaf looking suspect or extreme yellowing
4th-6th, pull a 5 fan leaves a week, and any start opening up the canopy
7-8910 you should not have to do much besides pulling off fully used up fan leaves.


I think fan leaves are pulled off to soon usualy, the main cause is that we don't have the patience to let the plant "stretch" during the first 3 weeks, this stretch naturally opens up the canopy. I like to leave fan leaves on as long as possible, giving the plant time to use the stored nutrient "alot of N" during the early-mid stages of bloom. Then as the buds start to develop "where you want, due to pinching" you can start to open up the key areas of the canopy by taking off fan leaves. Now this is just my system, and it works very well with the size plants, and conditions that my grow space provides my ladies. Hope this helps someone out there...DCG

Aren't fan leaves like little solar panels for your plants? Why would you want to remove any of these? Trimming from the base up makes sense to remove the little "popcorn" nugs so you get bigger colas but not from the top down.

Aren't fan leaves like little solar panels for your plants? Why would you want to remove any of these? Trimming from the base up makes sense to remove the little "popcorn" nugs so you get bigger colas but not from the top down.

I believe you are right when you say "fan leaves are like little solar panels". The thing is that we are limited in many ways when we grow indoors, one of them is light penetration into the canopy. At a certain point in the bloom cycle, I find it is more beneficial to take off fan leaves that obstruct the light to the lower branches of the plant. I believe at this point, that by taking these leaves during late bloom "slowly" that the yield will increase, and also the quality of the lower buds increases. This is a sensitive procedure, and should be done with great care and sensitivity to the plant. There is a balance between benefit "yield" and stress on the plant, and every strain reacts differently. The way I have learned "my" style of grow, is mostly by experience and curiosity, so far so good I would say!

Oh yeah about your question ridgegoo, I pinch from the bottom up, but I leave the lower leaves "solar panals" for as long as possible. If the air flow is good, if there is no sign of bugs, if they have not turned yellow or suspect in anyway, all leaves stay on until the 3rd week of bloom. Then slowly "5" at a time "weekly" they get trimmed off. If the bottom leaves are not obstructing any new growth, due to the heavy pinching, all they do is good, if they are healthy. I hate to take from the top, but if the plant is not stretching anymore, and a fan leaf is obstructing lower develpment, then a choice has to be made. Some times I just try and tuck it and leave it on for as long as I can, so the plant can use the stored nutrient, and take in more light. But some times it has to go....This is when you have to know how the strain you are growing is going to react, and be sensitive to what you are about to do. I hope I answered your question.

i have two plants under 1000watts hps. and have been trimming from veg to now 3 1/2 weeks into flowring. I have buds everywhere, from top to bottom and i just leard yesterday that your not suppose to trim bc the leafs hold all the nuts. but then again i can controll the ppm in a hydro setup. so i guess im just going to slow up on the trimming, not bring it to a died hult.