Flowering.... trimming fan leaves off....leaving fan leaves on

[gonanchoa]

I dont defoliate plants! I only take off fan leaves the last 2 weeks (during flush) of flowering.
if you take off fan leaves during vegetative grow, the branch that comes from that fan leave will grow less.. thats my experience!!

 

[EclipseFour20]

I dont defoliate plants! I only take off fan leaves the last 2 weeks (during flush) of flowering.
if you take off fan leaves during vegetative grow, the branch that comes from that fan leave will grow less.. thats my experience!!

Like most things in our world: Not all strains are equal--and not all growers are equal. My experiences are different that yours.

I guestimate the increase in bud sites is about 30% (instead of 3-6 buds per branch...I get 4-9 buds per branch) and the extra light penetration during veg and early flower sure help bulk up the buds during their growing stage.

Those that have the right genetics and have mastered their own defoilating technique...probably continue to do it for the same reasons that I do--I like bountiful harvests.

Not saying anyone is wrong--just saying there are different paths to the same destination....and that some of us know how to get there faster--without a great co$t.

Cheers!

 

[BlueberryLovr]

I dont defoliate plants! I only take off fan leaves the last 2 weeks (during flush) of flowering.
if you take off fan leaves during vegetative grow, the branch that comes from that fan leave will grow less.. thats my experience!!

Leaf plucking during veg is to set up the plant's structure for highly compact bud sites all over the plant. The brief stunting is well worth the price once you see the plant explode in flower.

 

[al70]

i think it depends on the strain, i'm growimg 5 crit.nmass, i plucked them from 2 weeks, i've got pics in new growers section, if you're growing in a small place defolation is a necessity along with lst, take all the fans off, crit. mass loves rough treatment, different strokes for different strains, goodluck.

 

[Floridian]

If they are dead,fuck it.If they are not,tuck it.

 

[DrFever]

Leaf plucking during veg is to set up the plant's structure for highly compact bud sites all over the plant. The brief stunting is well worth the price once you see the plant explode in flower.

Im sorry but if that was the case then over evolution plants would naturally lose its leafs during VEG and also in Flower which is not the case now is it???? Remember a plant is really there to produce as much seed as it possibly can to carry on its off spring
You mention high;y compact bud sites lets imagine you have a 3 foot plant your light is @ is around 4.5 to 5 feet you skin all them leafs of the plant your going to have a tight bud with light litterally 3.5 to 5 feet away from lower bud sites lol

 

[noyd666]

you should cover up that exposed banana there doc, might go brown lol.

 

[al70]

Im sorry but if that was the case then over evolution plants would naturally lose its leafs during VEG and also in Flower which is not the case now is it???? Remember a plant is really there to produce as much seed as it possibly can to carry on its off spring
You mention high;y compact bud sites lets imagine you have a 3 foot plant your light is @ is around 4.5 to 5 feet you skin all them leafs of the plant your going to have a tight bud with light litterally 3.5 to 5 feet away from lower bud sites lol

And what if they do lose leaves naturally during veg or anytime, how do they react ?

 

[Like a Glove]

twisted og before the trim

View Image


..................the trim

View Image

First of all: Sorry for replying to a fairly old post but i just landed on this topic and...

I try to keep my mouth shut bout everything that involves defoil because i just haven't figured it out yet. That is why i am here right now. But. I can not help myself when i see a plant that is most certainly not ready for a forced and brutal intercourse with her master and this example most certainly gets on my nerves.

This does not mean that i don't respect what you're doing. I just want to say that you'd get better results with a healthy plant without any "trimming" than what you're showing us right here.

I'm also not saying that you haven't got the skills or anything like that. Hell - you most certainly have more experience and skills than i and as stated before i respect you and what you're doing but take any rookie or any jedi master green thumb grower and they tell you the same RoT: Healthy plants first - everything else after.

Focus mate. Don't get offended by this.

 

[LiquidWarlock]

Im sorry but if that was the case then over evolution plants would naturally lose its leafs during VEG and also in Flower which is not the case now is it???? Remember a plant is really there to produce as much seed as it possibly can to carry on its off spring
You mention high;y compact bud sites lets imagine you have a 3 foot plant your light is @ is around 4.5 to 5 feet you skin all them leafs of the plant your going to have a tight bud with light litterally 3.5 to 5 feet away from lower bud sites lol

noone ever said cannabis was finished with its evolutionary pattern.
maybe we just got there first?

 

[Like a Glove]

now, some of you guys may be using scissors to cut your shit off.
think twice.
if you had your arm cleanly sliced off by a sword, well, not only is your arm laying on the ground all useless, but you'd have gaping holes in viens and arteries aka blood loss galore, and thered be a huge amount of exposed tissue for bacteria and other shit that wasnt the sword to kill you

now, if your arm was crushed/pinched/pressed off, like between two doors, thered be a lot less open wound leaking all over the place, and thered be a lot less exposed tissue for bacteria to party on. and, your arm would still be severed. win win. lol

Not picking a fight here...but...
Humans do not tend to grow more arms during their cycle of life. Also as far as i know human limbs do not wilt and drop off if more important parts of the body needs energy.

Actually...Come to think of it. Maybe there is something in the theory after all because most of us would eat their limbs to preserve their existence. Still we'd rather eat the limbs of someone else before our own to survive.

In other words: This is just mindless drivel but a fact remains. Plants are something more than us as a form of life. Cut off a limb from a plant and it grows two to cover it. Plant the limb that was cut off and it grows on by itself. Now after this is there one individual or several individuals?

Are you sure that it isn't the plants who are experimenting on us and laughing their asses thinking that all that brain capacity actually makes us dumb as f**k?



Now i'm not being serious. Hope you know this and there is no message within this message. I'm just seeking for deeper knowledge about the matter and hoping for a better analog. Hope you didn't mind the quote Greyskull?

 

[Crooked8]

I usually pinch my leaves off between my nail. However i have used scissors and i saw no difference whatsoever. Either way the outer vascular material hardens off very quickly and the plant focuses on the new growth. I dont think a plants fanleaf removal is all similar to removing a limb of a person.

 

[northerngrafta]

I thought there was a side by side for this isnt there????

 

[EclipseFour20]

LOL...it seems the debate is divided into two camps: Those that "theorize" vs those that "do it".

IMHO, the best "side by side experiment"--was the one I did myself. I saw with my own eyes...using my environment....using my strains, the consequences of various "defoliation" and "training" techniques". The "technique" that generated the most bud sites and greatest "market weight" is what I implemented (of course, different techniques for different strains).

So...in my growing world, to "not defoliate" would be the equivalent of taking a "pay cut"--and that makes no sen$e! And, its OK if "defoliation" techniques are not for you--seldom does "everything" work for "everyone"!

Cheers!

 

[papaduc]

Im sorry but if that was the case then over evolution plants would naturally lose its leafs during VEG and also in Flower which is not the case now is it????

Have plants evolved to supercrop themselves?
Or grow out sideways, scrog style?

The reasoning you use doesn't take into account the fact you also manipulate the plant's natural growth to make it more productive. You don't seem to be aware of that.

You use a scrog net. Therefore, if you applied your own logic to your own methods, you wouldn't be growing the way you do.

But you apply it just to this one thing, regardless of how your own grow style contradicts what you're saying.

There are loads of means by which humans manipulate things to make them stronger, more productive etc etc etc... we are part of evolution and we manipulate the world around us.

Whether or not you think defoliation works, leaving the plant to grow exactly as it would in the wild isn't something practiced by anyone in this thread, including yourself.

 

[chileno1978]

LOL...it seems the debate is divided into two camps: Those that "theorize" vs those that "do it".

IMO Defo works if you want better production, period!
10+ years growing test all the techniques and now I only do supercropping and defo, with that I get the best crop. (no more scrog, lst, apical cuts, etc.)

 

[trichrider]

to interject my thoughts.

when the fans begin yellowing, i pluck them.
ime this forces translocation from the smaller leaves and uses up excess nitrogen thereby negating need for flushing, creating a smoother mellower smoke. (turns to gold!)

i'll take the girl with the skinny legs...

 

[Crooked8]

If you train, do lst and defoliate with a screen or even two you end up doing the most work. When has hard work not paid off for real? Its the same here imo. Defoliating takes time and consistency. If you take the time it is rewarded. Been growing 9 years, an unmolested plant has always had more larf and less density than a plant with lsr done weeks 1-3 and defoliating weeks 5-8. I get pure ogs to almost 2 per 1k and i know ppl who are stoked about a pound.

 

[Like a Glove]

If you train, do lst and defoliate with a screen or even two you end up doing the most work. When has hard work not paid off for real? Its the same here imo. Defoliating takes time and consistency. If you take the time it is rewarded. Been growing 9 years, an unmolested plant has always had more larf and less density than a plant with lsr done weeks 1-3 and defoliating weeks 5-8. I get pure ogs to almost 2 per 1k and i know ppl who are stoked about a pound.

This post is a cornerstone of the whole debate. We've all read hundreds of posts like this but so far not a single side by side has been demonstrated properly. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying: "Bullshit!" and i most certainly feel that you know what you're talking about but still.

Could someone please give us a proper mf side by side ffs so we can all learn something?

 

[hobb3s93]

This post is a cornerstone of the whole debate. We've all read hundreds of posts like this but so far not a single side by side has been demonstrated properly. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying: "Bullshit!" and i most certainly feel that you know what you're talking about but still.

Could someone please give us a proper mf side by side ffs so we can all learn something?

dude just get out there and try it for ur self. if theres one thing this website has taught me: its people have success with every kind of method imaginable on here. so just following some advice based on their success might not work for you.

i agree with crooked8 and have always found that cutting leaves out that are covering budsites will lead to those budsites having more light/more bud. not to mention getting lower larf and stuff removed helps deter pests and molds because by getting some air flow down there.

but i also agree with grey skull about introduction of pests to the wound that why i cut my fan leaves half way on the stem or stomata and leave the other half to wilt on the plant. it makes for a bunch of small stem like pieces on the ground but doesnt leave and open wound. i also would wrap foil tape around supercropping wounds if i went to hard.

im not trying to be a dick or start an argument, i just dont think having to show a side by side is the only way to prove ur point. who knows how many unknown factors are present in somthing like that.
theres plenty of proof for either side in these guys threads.