i have a top little grow going on.i'm into 4th week of 12/12 and the budz are looking good.i took my friend round today to show him and he was saying that when he gets to this stage he strips of all the fan leaves,leaving the plants looking bare and that sends the plants into some sort of shock and he's yeild just goes through the roof.......has anybody got any thoughs on this
should i strip my leaves?
- Thread starter kez
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i have a top little grow going on.i'm into 4th week of 12/12 and the budz are looking good.i took my friend round today to show him and he was saying that when he gets to this stage he strips of all the fan leaves,leaving the plants looking bare and that sends the plants into some sort of shock and he's yeild just goes through the roof.......has anybody got any thoughs on this
Dude for the love of God don't strip all your fan leaves off. The plant uses the leaves to MAKE BUDS, if there are no leaves there then it will have a harder time doing that job. You could take off some of the lower leaves that are shading budsites but that's about all I'd do, and certainly would never take all the leaves off that is not a good idea
durka_durka420
Member
DO NOT STRIP YOUR LEAFS OFF your friend is a moron and so am i because last grow i was constantly plucking fan leafs off all it lead to was a very small harvest if the plant dont need the leafs the plant makes those leafs turn yellow and die off....if the leafs are blocking budsites just tuck them away from the unexposed budsite.....just leave the plant alone...and yes plucking fanleafs does stress the plant which will equal lower yield and possibility of hermie...i bet if he would leave the leafs on his yeild would be even more......just take it from me...dont do it let em grow
GoldenSilence
Member
In side by side clones, those that i have left unmolested, and with all original vegetation always yielded noticeably better than those i "pruned"
ymmv
ymmv
est1977
Active member
Don't do it leaves are the plants little solar panels
Defoliation is a valid technique that may or may not increase yield. If you're interested, see the defoliation thread (stickied under the hydro forum.)
I would NOT strip my fan leaves off in week 4. In my experience, a plant that has never been defoliated will be stunted for 1-2 weeks meaning NO bud growth for 1-2 weeks and a finish with a likely lower than average yield.
That being said, I also would not take my advice to the T and instead experiment on my own. Try it on a few plants, especially if you've SEEN your friend do it with impressive results. Maybe all of us here will learn something new.
I would NOT strip my fan leaves off in week 4. In my experience, a plant that has never been defoliated will be stunted for 1-2 weeks meaning NO bud growth for 1-2 weeks and a finish with a likely lower than average yield.
That being said, I also would not take my advice to the T and instead experiment on my own. Try it on a few plants, especially if you've SEEN your friend do it with impressive results. Maybe all of us here will learn something new.
Grendelkhan
Member
I would agree with everyone that you shouldn't remove all your fan leaves at week 4. However depending on the strain, a Bubba Kush for instance, you can remove some of the huge fan leaves in order to get the lower flowers to finish up nicely. I think !!! has it right in that you should try an experiment. I find that if you can put your hands into your lower growth and not see any lighting on your hands, then you need to do a little trimming to get that light down there. As a side benefit when you clean up fans leaves in also promotes good air movement in the lower areas of the plants. Which is a good thing.
A bud site that doesn't see light won't develop properly.
If a leaf is in the way of a potential bud, I'll simply remove it.
You'd be surprised on how little leaf you need to support colas.
We're focusing on growing bud, not leaf.
Depending on the density of your planting, it makes perfect sense to remove a lot of foliage if it exposes more bud sites to light, which can be a very successful strategy depending on your setup.
If a leaf is in the way of a potential bud, I'll simply remove it.
You'd be surprised on how little leaf you need to support colas.
We're focusing on growing bud, not leaf.
Depending on the density of your planting, it makes perfect sense to remove a lot of foliage if it exposes more bud sites to light, which can be a very successful strategy depending on your setup.
I dont take allot of leaves off but I do a bit of pruning. I also use twine to open the canaopy a bit to let more light into the lower bud sites.
Marquis de Sod
Member
i thought this would be 50/50, hmmm. i cant say either way but.... have this thought.
if you DF to get light to lower bud sites, wouldn't it just be better to REMOVE those lower bud sites, so more juice goes to the top? local store guy says he strips all his plants' growth up one third at start of bloom, another third in two weeks. i know, different thread.
if you DF to get light to lower bud sites, wouldn't it just be better to REMOVE those lower bud sites, so more juice goes to the top? local store guy says he strips all his plants' growth up one third at start of bloom, another third in two weeks. i know, different thread.
LeenieBean
Member
here's a question for you... ideally I wouldn't strip leaves off my flowering plants, but I have 7 sensi star clones in a SOG that are now 4 weeks in. They lost most of their leaves due to calcium deficiency.... very bad deficiency. They still have 4 or 5 fan leaves each but are mostly dried up. We knocked the bottom ones off, only the ones that would come off by light pressure, not pulled off. They now have calcium and are on the rebound that way, but is this grow kaput? The buds look surprisingly fantastic considering what they've been through, do the little leaves have enough in them to support the buds growing for the last 4 weeks?
I DF about halfway through veg and again just before flipping.
The first DF is pretty severe, I remove every fully formed leaf. Usually about the same time I spread the limbs and tie them. That causes the plant to generate dozens of new limbs and bud sites.
The second DF isn't usually as severe as the first and I only clip off the bigger fan leaves.
4 weeks in? I've never heard of anybody doing it. I see no logical reason that doing it would benefit the plant or yield.
The first DF is pretty severe, I remove every fully formed leaf. Usually about the same time I spread the limbs and tie them. That causes the plant to generate dozens of new limbs and bud sites.
The second DF isn't usually as severe as the first and I only clip off the bigger fan leaves.
4 weeks in? I've never heard of anybody doing it. I see no logical reason that doing it would benefit the plant or yield.
