The trivial trim question..

[Zealious]

Q: IF I trim the large fan leaves to increase light penetration to the buds, and lower leaves to put more energy into bud production.. will i see larger and tighter buds?

My thoughts. It is a plant that turns light into energy via photosynthesis... so the leaves are the main photo synthesis factories... right? triming them would have ill effects.

Do buds them selves absorb light and produce the energy... I really dont think so...

as far as the lower leaves.. I think triming them does make the plant put more energy elsewhere .. like the buds... instead of fan leaves that arent getting enought light anyway.. not to mention it helps with pests... and increases air flow which increases energy production in the form of co2...

what do you guys think?

Maybe triming exceptionaly large fan leaves that are shading .. is a good idea to get light to more fan leaves and make photosynthesis more efficent... but then again leaves are like solar pannels the more suface area getting more light the more energy you get...

hmmmm.

 

[darksith]

do not trim your fan leaves until you are within 2 weeks of finishing. They are the solar panels of your plant and produce the most energy via photosynthesis. You should be trimming your lower branches and leaves that will just end up giving you scraps, and yes this will allow more energy to go into your top buds...maybe not a ton, but more. Its better to bend and train your branches to open up your plants rather than cut fan leaves.

 

[Zealious]

thanks dark good info.

 

[Tony Aroma]

The dark lord is correct: Plants need leaves to live and grow. That's where they get the energy to produce the food they need. Every leaf that's removed is that much less energy/food for the plant. Even lower leaves that aren't getting much light are still getting some, so why remove them? Sure, you want your buds to receive plenty of light. But it's not like the energy produced by the fan leaves isn't also used by the buds. If it's green, it's contributing to the growth of the plant.

So rather than remove leaves, you want to do just the opposite. Expose as many leaves to the light as possible. That means training, bending, tucking, whatever it takes to get the most light to the most leaves.

The only thing you might want to trim are lower branches that receive little light and will only produce small popcorn buds. Even so, I generally don't, as they really don't use up too much of the plant's resources.

 

[simon]

Q: IF I trim the large fan leaves to increase light penetration to the buds, and lower leaves to put more energy into bud production.. will i see larger and tighter buds?

My thoughts. It is a plant that turns light into energy via photosynthesis... so the leaves are the main photo synthesis factories... right? triming them would have ill effects.

Do buds them selves absorb light and produce the energy... I really dont think so...

as far as the lower leaves.. I think triming them does make the plant put more energy elsewhere .. like the buds... instead of fan leaves that arent getting enought light anyway.. not to mention it helps with pests... and increases air flow which increases energy production in the form of co2...

what do you guys think?

Maybe triming exceptionaly large fan leaves that are shading .. is a good idea to get light to more fan leaves and make photosynthesis more efficent... but then again leaves are like solar pannels the more suface area getting more light the more energy you get...

hmmmm.

Back on OG, someone did an experimental grow with (IIRC) 2 SAGE clones. Both clones were vegged for the same period of time, in the same environment, trained identically, etc, etc. One plant was pruned of its fan leaves and the other was left intact. Both clones yielded within a few grams of each other.

Simon

 

[Shcrews]

I have a blueberry strain that responds SO WELL to pruning of the lower branches, it is just stupid to neglect it. the difference between pruned/unpruned in the first couple weeks of flowering was over a half-pound per plant outdoors.


If you're growing SOG indoors, like 4+ plants per square foot, pruning all but the top few fan leaves can help your yield if you are growing a bushy strain...

i think it depends on the strain more than anything.

 

[Sam the Caveman]

I have a blueberry strain that responds SO WELL to pruning of the lower branches, it is just stupid to neglect it. the difference between pruned/unpruned in the first couple weeks of flowering was over a half-pound per plant outdoors.


If you're growing SOG indoors, like 4+ plants per square foot, pruning all but the top few fan leaves can help your yield if you are growing a bushy strain...

i think it depends on the strain more than anything.

I agree with it being strain dependent.

The KC36 that I run is very leafy and if I don't trim the larger fan leaves off the top 2/3s of the plant the lower buds will not develolp, and it does increase yield with this strain.

I usually trim about 2 weeks into flower and split it up into 2 different trim sessions, so as not to stunt growth of the plant.

edit; actually It was growing in a 92 degree environment (unknowingly) under cfls and I think that is why it was so leafy, now under cmh at 78 degrees it is not near as leafy.

 

[Scrogerman]

Dont Remove Fans if you can help it!

Dont Remove Fans if you can help it!

I Grow in ScrOG conditions & usually have no choice but to remove a few of the upper Fans, i hate doing this as where i remove the Fans, that paticular Bud'site always suffers and never produces, leaving a sparse gap where Bud should be growing. My problem is in ScrOG conditions everything is pretty compact and my hand is forced to remove a few from the top because Fans shade out quite alot of other growth and Budsites just under the Leaves i remove, its a case of Damned if you do' Damned if you dont, A shaded Budsite produces very little too, so i Tuck the majority of problematic upper leaves and move them around, sometimes they are in the light and sometimes they are tucked out of the way. I have found this tecnique suits the needs of the plant better than any other way, be it removing leaves or leaving them to shade out middle growth which on its own can be a large part of the yield. In my experience its really bad rermoving fans from the upper growth & it should only be practiced if there you have no other choice, if you go removing leaves from the top before the last 2 wks of the bloom cycle then those Budsite are going to largly suffer & they will NOT produce. Tucking is the way to go, but remember you must move the tucked leaves around, sometimes in the light and sometimes tucked out of the way, rotation is the key!
G'Luck all......Peace & Respect..........Scroger!!

 

[Zealious]

thanks for your posts everyone. Im going to say the consensus is always trim ur lower branches that wont develop... but try to avoid triming fan leaves... I could see where its strain sepcific.. I had a very leafy kings kush that needed some middle trimming or else I would not have gotten any bud development...

What about yelowed leaves and necrotic sp leaves? Just get them out of the way.. they are blocking light if they are not fully green...? OR

leave them.. u need the sugars and energy that is stored in the leaf.?