should i chop off some fan leaves?

reese123

Member
this is my pride and joy right here, 42 days into veg. first grow, so we're going very simple and basic and trying to learn as we go. my question right now is... should we trim off some fan leaves to let more light at the other parts of the plant?

suggestions are appreciated!!! thanks!
 

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drive

Active Member
absolutally not! Your plant when ready willsend out the stems further to allow the flowers to get light
 

xmax

Well-Known Member
Nope, it looks well on it's way. As far as cutting off leaves, less is more, unless they are overcrowded and bunched too close together and big. They're food for the flowers as well.
 

cocakola

Active Member
Nope not yet but you can bend the main cola to let more light reach the lower sites. Or you can position the plant differently to recieve more light their are a few options other than trimming her just yet. Good Luck..
 

mtgeezer

Well-Known Member
Not on fan leaves. Where the fan leaves attach to the main stem is where the new branches sprout from. Leave the fan leaves alone unless they begin to die back or show signs of disease or infestation. The fan leaves are major food producing and breathing mechanisms. That would be like you plugging up your nose and sewing your mouth shut except for a small hole to put a straw in. Not good.
 

reese123

Member
thanks everyone! i didn't want to cut any leaves off, i was just scared that because this plant is so bushy, i wondered if it would prevent enough light from getting to the bottom leaves... thanks again though!!
 

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
thanks everyone! i didn't want to cut any leaves off, i was just scared that because this plant is so bushy, i wondered if it would prevent enough light from getting to the bottom leaves... thanks again though!!
light fades very quickly over distances.. check out the inverse law..
so in fact, the leaves on the top of the plant receive much more light then at the bottom of a plant, especially true when a plant reaches several feet in height..
therefore, the leaves at the top of the plant are creating more of the foods and sugars used to grow the plant.. so chopping off the leaves towards the top of the plant, will only allow weaker light to reach the bottom of the plant..
not a very good compromise imo.. :)
 

jpockets420

Well-Known Member
bend the leaves out of the way of the tops they are covering. Cutting fan leaves or any healthy leaves for that manner takes away some of the power source of your plant. Think about how much light each fan leaf gathers during the day...the branch on that node grows great, cut the fan leave and the branch grows slower, the stem is skinnier. Let her grow, try not to trim the healthy ones off and you will see that your buds will be much bigger and more dense if they have their power source still attached to the plant. Just my 2 cents.
 

yesum

Well-Known Member
I would. I take off fans blocking bud sites. Also if it is so bushy to cause mold issues.

I use side light now so I take less off but the idea that lower buds can not be like upper ones is wrong. If they get the light they will grow. The fans are not that useful for nutrients as the soil I use is nutrient dense. The leaves on the buds are plenty of 'solar panel' power for me. The fans do not make the buds grow, they just help. The buds require direct intense light to get any quality in my experience. I do not get great buds from shaded buds and a bunch of fan leaves powering them. Simply never happened.

When you take fans the leaves on the buds grow more, so a bit of stunting due to that but I only take a few and not all at once, so that is minimal.
 

wristychronicles

Well-Known Member
A fan leaf will yellow and fall off on its own when the plant PULLS the stored energy from said leaf later in flowering. If the fan leaf was taken while it was green, then like a camel losing a hump, the storage will be taken from the plant (thus not being there when the plant goes looking for it..). In addition, most greenhouse vinyl is thicken than a fan leaf, and plants of course still obtain the required light from that situation. just my 2 cents on the topic. I try to never cut leaves.
 

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
I would. I take off fans blocking bud sites. Also if it is so bushy to cause mold issues.

I use side light now so I take less off but the idea that lower buds can not be like upper ones is wrong. If they get the light they will grow. The fans are not that useful for nutrients as the soil I use is nutrient dense. The leaves on the buds are plenty of 'solar panel' power for me. The fans do not make the buds grow, they just help. The buds require direct intense light to get any quality in my experience. I do not get great buds from shaded buds and a bunch of fan leaves powering them. Simply never happened.

When you take fans the leaves on the buds grow more, so a bit of stunting due to that but I only take a few and not all at once, so that is minimal.
man o man, where did you get this info from?? of course leaves are important.. i don't care what soil you use, leaves are still what takes the nutes and light in the form of photosynthesis and turns them into other foods the plant can use, like sugars and carbohydrates.. jesu..

and of course the leaves make the buds grow, what else do you think makes buds grow?? again, the leaves are what's creating the foods a plant uses to grow things like buds..
if you strictly worry about things like only growing leaves and concentrating on a nice lush green canopy, you'll have buds of plenty..

and sugar leaves don't do much photosynthesizing at all due to their size.. compare a big fan leave to a sugar leaf, and imagine how much more sugar and other foods can be made in a larger leave due to size... it's like saying a small 2 acre farm is gong to produce as much as i 1000 acre farm.. it's just not going to happen..
and lastly, removing leaves will never make buds grow bigger, never.. it is like saying i run faster without my legs.. just aint happening.. leaves grow buds, not the other way around.. :)
 

silasraven

Well-Known Member
follow the croud no way. if your really able to throw a light straight up and down beside the plant on both sides
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
hey guys, look at this nice cat i raised
chop off its legs?
Of Course!It would never get smooshed in the street.:o Was I wrong to do this with my cats? They DO stay where I put them though.:evil:

Just yanking yer crank MB.:o

For the OP, chop away as you will, experience is the best teacher. You're going to do it anyway since you asked and then you will know in the future.

Mistakes are just as important as successes.

Wet
 

yesum

Well-Known Member
I did not say I felt I did it better than you or anyone else. I said I felt I did it better for myself by taking some leaves than by leaving them.

I would guess it is a draw on yield the way I do it. I prefer to have lower and otherwise shaded buds better developed by trimming when necessary. This time around I have only taken fans that were getting burned by the side lights as I have very limited room in the tent.

Side lighting can pretty much make trimming the shade leaves a non issue.
 
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