Pick sucker leaves or not???

Dadopeboii said:

i have heard of many people that pluck the "sucker leaves" or the leaves around the forming bud in order to increase the yeild. So far all I've read says that this will only slow growth. But I noticed many expert and famous growers use this technique and it is very common in tv shows about marijuana growing. Everywhere I look, and everyone says picking off sucker leaves increases yeild except for people on forums..
What's the true answer!

Click to expand...

Depends on the strain. Clone a mother and try different methods. It's the only way to be certain.

BabyAndaconda420 said:

Dont be scared to cut them big fan leaves off it will not hurt your plant Cut them off 3-4 week of flower

Click to expand...

That's terrible advice. Someone tried to help my plants, "big leafed" them, they got stressed and a dozen or so died. Trim away dead leaves, don't impair the plant's ability to make food.

I'm still not convinced, what's a sucker leaf anyways? I've heard of sucker branch, just not sucker leaf?

Illinois Enema Bandit said:

techniques are gimmicks,plain truth is some egg head stoners posting shit in high times its doubtful most even do.

botany is a science,enough research has been done on cannabis that we know what these " gurus" call sucker leaves are actually a part of the plant with an extremely important role to play,the leaves sticking out of the buds generate about 5% of the pohoteosynthis that the sun leaves generate,the sun leaves job is to convert more energy into sugars & carbs the plant can absorb.

if anything gently tie your large sun leaves out of the way of the bud site its shading but never remove them until they gobyellow & pop off with a gentle push downwards .

the sun leaves are the solar panels 4 your buds,I've done side by sides of entire tables where I've cropped the sun leaves to prevent bud site shading,vs the rest of my tables being ran sog single cola & the colas in the unmolested tables produce from 10 to 20% more useable bud with just as much resin as the less weight pruned plants .

Click to expand...

I may try this, prune and pick leaves off of some of my plants and not on the others and see the difference. I may record the results and post the experiment.

whitebb2727 said:

I have tried it. Its bullshit and goes against basic botany.

Pot growers do and repeat some dumb shit.

If it really increased yield, why is it not a standard practice in farming.

Yes, I'll cut suckers off my corn. Cannabis doesn't have suckers. You could consider under growth that is very small suckers and prune a little.

You are talking about fan leaves. That hurts yield. That's what drives the plant.



You go ahead and cut them. I'm looking for fans the size of dinner plates. You know big enough to cast a shade. Then I know there is big buds coming.

Click to expand...

It actually is a common practice with some types of flowers, not sure about farming but have heard of pruning sucker leaves on tomato plants. Many people pluck leaves or flowers off of flowers because they believe it will make them grow back with more

KryptoBud said:

Lets pretend leaves aren't responsible for food, temp regulation, or hormone production among others.
Ever hear of the inverse square law of light? Light intensity drops dramatically in a very short distance. If you take a leaf from the top of the plant to expose one thats a foot lower on the plant you just cut the intensity of the light in half. Ever heard the expression "stepping over dollars to pick up dimes? Real science not forum bullshit.

Ever seen the way the buds move and angle themselves so they get more light....... me neither.

Click to expand...

You can watch them on time lapse actually track the sun.

Dadopeboii said:

It actually is a common practice with some types of flowers, not sure about farming but have heard of pruning sucker leaves on tomato plants. Many people pluck leaves or flowers off of flowers because they believe it will make them grow back with more

Click to expand...

I pick flowers off. That's totally different.

And no, no sucker leaves on tomatoes either. I grow them to.


No such thing as a sucker leaf. Suckers are just a branch. Removing them doesn't always increase yield. Just gives you bigger fruits.

Dadopeboii said:

I may try this, prune and pick leaves off of some of my plants and not on the others and see the difference. I may record the results and post the experiment.

Click to expand...

do it even just 4 the fun of doing something different,after a few decades of watching plants grow u start to get a bit looopy!

I've experimented with just about every method u could think of in soil & hydro so now its just work,unless I make it fun.
I like to listen to the 60's band Traffic while I'm tending garden & do a little dance

whitebb2727 said:

I pick flowers off. That's totally different.

And no, no sucker leaves on tomatoes either. I grow them to.


No such thing as a sucker leaf. Suckers are just a branch. Removing them doesn't always increase yield. Just gives you bigger fruits.

Click to expand...

I agree there's only sucker branches, or branches that are low and a waste of plant energy

And yes, yes there are sucker leaves or sucker branches or whatever u wanna call it on tomatoes too and it's a very common practice; https://bonnieplants.com/library/how-to-prune-tomatoes/

So altogether the overall consensus seems to be that plucking lower branches that are going to be completely under foliage can and should help grow larger top buds. And that plucking fan leaves around the top buds only decreases energy intake. Lastly that all the plucking should be done before flower..

Do most agree?

Dadopeboii said:

Do most agree?

Click to expand...

are you serious, have you been here (RIU) long?

have you seen the 200 page defoil arguments lol (they are entertaining)

Source/sink 101 for dummies...

http://www.dummies.com/education/science/biology/how-plants-send-sugars-from-sources-to-sinks/

If you have airflow issues pots are too close together, if you have lots of low down popcorn shit, you let them get/stretch too tall for the light you have (light too high, veg too long etc). A few lowest or inner most leaves not getting enough light after stretch will yellow then brown by themselves, give up their stored energy to the rest of the plant and then drop.

Those are the collective postings of other users to counter most of the reasons that people defoliate. It makes defoliation appear more like a fix for a mistake, but a fix that's worth knowing in the event one was made.

whitebb2727 said:

When I shave my pubes off my pecker looks bigger to

Click to expand...

Lol seriously crazy thread. But really in all honesty it's a moot point. Some leaf removal & lolipoping and lst are all that's required for this plant. Too many new growers read into every little thing they see. Best free advice is this. Learn the genetics your growing by growing it repetively for at least 4-6 grows and master what she likes. My favorite cash crop strain currently I got 32.5 oz. off of my biggest girl first run all same strain in undercurrent. Second run got several of them to yield over 2 elbows ea. Because as you keep growing and learning what one strain likes compared to another it makes growing that strain a breeze. This particular plant is a 10week strain that stretches into week 3.5 of flower and demands much training and undergrowth pruning to direct energy to the top. I would not even attempt the bondage on some other strains that I do to this girl. It's all depending on the plant & what she likes. Gotta tell you though I've never ever heard of a sucker leaf on a marijuana plant.

Dadopeboii said:

I agree there's only sucker branches, or branches that are low and a waste of plant energy

And yes, yes there are sucker leaves or sucker branches or whatever u wanna call it on tomatoes too and it's a very common practice; https://bonnieplants.com/library/how-to-prune-tomatoes/

Click to expand...

Did you read your own link? Only trim indeterminate varieties That grow new leaves their whole lives.

Indacouch said:

Please explain to us what a sucker leaf in your opinion is ......what makes a leaf one of these terrible sucker leafs in your opinion ....what's it doing to harm your plant I'm curious please enlighten me

Click to expand...

Being that he's asking perhaps u could explain to him why not

Budley Doright said:

Being that he's asking perhaps u could explain to him why not

Click to expand...

Read the thread I'm not guna repeat stuff that's already been posted several times in favor of and against his question .......never got the oppurtunity to explain to him why not to as it was done for me ...my question of asking him why he thought it was a good idea to pull healthy leafs during flower was a genuine one .....read the thread and if your a sucker plucker yourself have fun with that ....

Indacouch said:

Read the thread I'm not guna repeat stuff that's already been posted several times in favor of and against his question .......never got the oppurtunity to explain to him why not to as it was done for me ...my question of asking him why he thought it was a good idea to pull healthy leafs during flower was a genuine one .....read the thread and if your a sucker plucker yourself have fun with that ....

Click to expand...

I'm not, and your right it was answered. Just seems like it was a simple question albeit it is asked a lot, and yup out come the attitudes.

Budley Doright said:

I'm not, and your right it was answered. Just seems like it was a simple question albeit it is asked a lot, and yup out come the attitudes.

Click to expand...

So now you see why I didn't wana elaborate on it anymore ....besides the fact it was answered by both sides it also turned into a total shit show .....and there's certain people who I believe disagree with certain things just to cause trouble or get attention and honestly I believe they don't even grow ...either way they have no valid argument for why there for or against the topic

Indacouch said:

So now you see why I didn't wana elaborate on it anymore ....besides the fact it was answered by both sides it also turned into a total shit show .....and there's certain people who I believe disagree with certain things just to cause trouble or get attention and honestly I believe they don't even grow ...either way they have no valid argument for why there for or against the topic

Click to expand...

Your right lol. I try not to even get involved in these topics other than to say try it and see how it turns out, never helped me lol.