cutting off all the big fan leaves?

I got sum plants that the big fan leaves are covering all the undergrowth of the plant. Is it ok if I cut off all the big fan leaves and just leave the "growths" that come up?

some people would tell you its okay to do so, so that way the plant can focus more energy on other parts of growing, but everyone has an opinion and i dont agree with this opinion lol i believe mine makes a lil more sense. my favorite analogy to use is "the leafs are the solar panals that power the bud!" as put in Pot Planet author Brian Preston(good book btw) i believe that even if they are dying that they are still using and absorbing the light for energy for growth so why cut them?? just some advice hope it helps you make a decision and good luck with whichever you go with!! Happy Growing! Peace and welcome to RIU!

The bigger the leaf the more light it can absorb. Most new leaves are always bigger than their older siblings.

leave em.

the bud site does not need the light. the fan leaf needs the light, the buds can then take what they need through the fan leaf.

kzeroone said:

I got sum plants that the big fan leaves are covering all the undergrowth of the plant. Is it ok if I cut off all the big fan leaves and just leave the "growths" that come up?

Click to expand...

it is ok to do that but it actually makes a lot more sense to cut the undergrowth and leave the canopy of fan leaves at the top to produce the largest and most potent buds.

I trim My big fan leaves to help distribute light to the bottom of my plants, and it seems to work well for me.

tip top toker said:

leave em.

the bud site does not need the light. the fan leaf needs the light, the buds can then take what they need through the fan leaf.

Click to expand...

If this is the case then why are the buds that are farthest from the light the smallest,least mature and take the longest to rippen? Alsohowdoyou explain lollypopping?, where there are basiclly no fan leaves to speak of and people still can get 1 oz. per plant? Not trying to bust your balls TTT just wondering

mrduke said:

If this is the case then why are the buds that are farthest from the light the smallest,least mature and take the longest to rippen? Alsohowdoyou explain lollypopping?, where there are basiclly no fan leaves to speak of and people still can get 1 oz. per plant? Not trying to bust your balls TTT just wondering

Click to expand...

Because the leaves on the bottom of the plant are furthest from the light, so they photosynthesize less.

Lollypopping is done in SOG to improve ventilation through the bottom of the plants and to prevent mould.

Lollpopping is not *only* removing the leaves, the bottom 1/3 of all the branches on the plants are cut off.

If you're not doing SOG or ScrOG, keep the leaves on. I've removed fan leaves on plants before and yields are almost always lower than those with fan leaves intact.

so really in the end it leads up to an opinion like i stated earlier its really your descretion and you can prob do what you wish and have no problems with yielding or growin. so good luck!! happy growing! and Smoke it Up!!!

thanks for clearing that up ANN makes sense now

yes everyone thanx for your reply's... i kno its up to me and people have their own opinions.

the way i got my plants is that I got them tied down but only at the top of the plant. Now the fan leaves are covering some of the new bud places on the canopy. this is why i ask

tip top toker said:

leave em.

the bud site does not need the light. the fan leaf needs the light, the buds can then take what they need through the fan leaf.

Click to expand...

buds need light to but cutting any thing in flower is not good, my friend just cut all his fan leafs off in flower like a dumb ass.cant tell old heads nothing they older and think they know every thing

Those " bud sites " are going to bud so leave the fans alone, you won't regret it

I only trim them if they are hampering airflow because that can promote mold

More leaves = more energy for the plant

I agree with the majority consensus: I typically trim growth (branches) when I trim lower
growth. I never target Fan Leaves. They are the power factory of the plant.

I'd cut the under growth if it were me

Why anyone would cut weeks worth of stored up energy off is beyond me.

Fan leaves are awesome, never cut them off. The plant will remove them on it's own.

10 percenting, Around week 5 if you are doing scrog or something that is just a sea or green set up just cut one to 2 top fan leaves off to give the lower branches. Have done it both ways for many years and I find the 10 percent method works great for large set ups. Just a personal opinion.
Peace love and drugs and clean kitties

This should mainly be for air flow purposes when things are getting Big. Also it will slow things a bit but you could nearly clean the plant and it will recover within a few days.

I would get rid of the bottom third of your plants, if your not doing scrog that is. It will efficiently increase air flow, prevent most pest problems, optimize the plants energy use to the main upper colas, I use hooks to hold my branches closer to the soil to get light on my under growth during vegg. I also clip off all fan leaves bigger then my palm during and throughout flower phase and on average(with additional scrog setup) pull three to five ounces per plant, however I vegg 8-10 weeks. Gets my plants big and bushy, if I'm going to do something, I ought to do it right. This is my opinion anyhow for all who might want to roast me over my opinion