looking for clear answers: are shaded fan leaves less efficient?

anhedonia

Well-Known Member
Is it worth cutting off leaves that are shaded and get no light or very minimal light? Somoneasked me this and I can only say that cutting off leaves that are healthy and green, no matter how many there are is bad practice, but I couldnt really say anything about supposed leaves that are getting no light and could be "inefficient".
 

LoudBlunts

Well-Known Member
depends on style

im sog and i will strip, pluck and remove any big ass fan that i dont like, nor need :hump::hump::twisted::twisted:
 

kremnon

Well-Known Member
regardless a leaf is better than no leaf. even if it's shaded its still working to supply energy to that node. which means a bigger bud at that site
 

BCtrippin

Well-Known Member
Really depends if your flowering, or in veg. And if in flowering, how far into flowering. And like LB said. It also depends on the style of grow.

For me, when mother plants are in veg, any shoot over 6" will have the fan leaf removed from the main stalk. Thats only for mothers tho when Im trying to force them to start growing shoots off shoots instead of shoots off the main stalk.

I think a good rule of thumb is that if they are flowering, and the leaf is green, perky, and healthy, then Leave it alone. If its yellowing and gonna die (which will happen if it doesnt get light for long periods) then go ahead and cut it off.

You will probably get 100 different answers and 200 different opinions on this subject though. Best thing to do is to really get to know your strain, and there's no substitute for Time when getting to know your ladies.


:peace:
 

Lowkster

Well-Known Member
Keep all your fan leaves on your plant. If they are causing you problems, tie them to the main stalk.
 

LoudBlunts

Well-Known Member
Really depends if your flowering, or in veg. And if in flowering, how far into flowering. And like LB said. It also depends on the style of grow.

For me, when mother plants are in veg, any shoot over 6" will have the fan leaf removed from the main stalk. Thats only for mothers tho when Im trying to force them to start growing shoots off shoots instead of shoots off the main stalk.

I think a good rule of thumb is that if they are flowering, and the leaf is green, perky, and healthy, then Leave it alone. If its yellowing and gonna die (which will happen if it doesnt get light for long periods) then go ahead and cut it off.

You will probably get 100 different answers and 200 different opinions on this subject though. Best thing to do is to really get to know your strain, and there's no substitute for Time when getting to know your ladies.


:peace:


exactly

i pull fans off in flower only because i grow single colas (3-4week max)

another reason is...i like to eat my popcorn, not smoke it.

that being said...anything low lying will produce popcorn as canopy will get dense and light will not penetrate below causing popcorn buds

and the other times i remove fans leaves is just because some strains just have way too large of fans, like cot damn. had a fan leaf bout the size of my head, yo. This is no bueno for my sog style when i pack so many plants in one spot
 

South Texas

Well-Known Member
You won't get a clear answer on this topic. Search all the Fan Leaves Post & Threads, & You too, will be completely confussed. I've been taking light constructing fan leaves since 1980, only about 1/4TH per week, if you have good healthy plants. My light puts out 72,000 to 100,000 lumens, and my soil, plant & root system is healthy. With all the above, you can grow them sideways, upside down, impose educaded stress, a lot of things while other cry about having sick plants. So before you take advice about what you can & cannot do, first, figure out if they are raising a healthy plant first. To find out who is growing a healthy plant, ask them what they have done to build up the Plant's Immunity System?. Parents of Parent-Impossed sickly Children will say that little Bertha can't run five miles,,, & she never will, or make a 6 lb yield. Don't get caught into the limitation trap, defeatist attitude. Mother Nature has grasshoppes taking off light blocking fan leaves, is She COOL or what?
 

anhedonia

Well-Known Member
depends on style

im sog and i will strip, pluck and remove any big ass fan that i dont like, nor need :hump::hump::twisted::twisted:
Big outdoor monsters 10'tall and 10"wide. Ive never seen a plant that size in person but around may 15th a grower wants to put 12 of these things in my huge sunlit backyard. What would you say to somone who spends alot of time in his orchard tearing leaves off his gigantic plants? Im guessing since he's leaving everything in my care and paying for everything he's going to want me to pick leaves off the plant. Like if I dont do it when he comes out to inspect I would imagine him to be really pissed as he tears leaves off by the garbagebag full.
But yeah my neighbor (guy who introduced me to said grower) was saying that fanleaves that dont recieve light because its being blocked should be cut off. And were not just talking the bottom 3rd of the plant or sog style. Like thinning out a plants leaves because it "looks to bushy and light only directly hits a certain number of leaves making them inefficient". Imagine a book or a weed mag article called "cut your leaves off to grow more bud." I dont know. So no definitive answer besides knowing the plants really well? And of course redirecting growth and sog and all that, not really what Im referring to here. I acctually would have searched for this topic beforehand but my search doesnt work.
 

BCtrippin

Well-Known Member
Big outdoor monsters 10'tall and 10"wide. Ive never seen a plant that size in person but around may 15th a grower wants to put 12 of these things in my huge sunlit backyard. What would you say to somone who spends alot of time in his orchard tearing leaves off his gigantic plants? Im guessing since he's leaving everything in my care and paying for everything he's going to want me to pick leaves off the plant. Like if I dont do it when he comes out to inspect I would imagine him to be really pissed as he tears leaves off by the garbagebag full.
So why dont you just ask the guy to be very specific on what he wants you to do when they are in your care.....?



:peace:
 
As I understand it, most of the production of glucose in photosynthesis occurs in the fan leaves, with their big surface area for catching light and absorbing CO2 makes them the powerhouses of the cannabis plant. They supply energy to the growing buds and to the roots. Buds and Roots are "energy sinks", i.e. roots produce no energy and flowering plants consume more energy than they generate through photosynthesis.

I leave it to the plant to decide that it doesn't need particular fan leaves. The one's at the very bottom of the plant, way below the canopy getting no light, more often than not just wither and die.

It would make no sense at all in terms of evolution, for the cannabis plant to put so much energy into producing redundant fan leaves.

I always get decent yields so I'd need to see some very compelling evidence before I changed my practice.
 

anhedonia

Well-Known Member
yes, this is what I tell him but he always says a shaded leaf is ineficient. I guess I dont follow his rationale.
 

South Texas

Well-Known Member
How's this argument. Everybody seems to be a spokesman for "The Natural Way". I'm on board from A to L. I step off at the stop-"Logic". That leads down a (logicial) different track, altogether. But it's all logic. Growing the "Natural" way is NOT using chemically infested, void of living microbial life water. Letting the plant do it's own thing naturally is NOT being grown under artificial lights. IE: low quality & totally inept to be a half-asses care giver/Parent for a weed Plant. We can discuss Photo & absorbtion of piss-poor light all day, but until any Plant has what it really has THRIVED upon for 1,000's of years, if you, personally, are not giving the Plants what they need to actually flourish, like all the trace minerals, bacteria, fungi, wind excercising, ( which naturally rips & tears plant cells that grow back stronger), nitrogen, pure natural sunlight, etc., then you really don't have a dog in this hunt. Also, the sunlight here is twice the intensity as in some "growing" areas, which doubles the photo in comparison. In the world of logic, I can take half the fan leaves, & still be the same. For artificial lighting 3/4TH's the leaves. Piss-poor lighting, 7/8th's and still equal the same effect. However, if I have the perfect, Natural climate, taking 1/4TH the fan leaves is a walk in the Park, for a Plant that has a perfect balanced soil, with natural root stimulaters & natural juices that regenerates plant cells, which is not for sale on the market... yet.
Another Elephant stomping around in this room is the conception that all the leaves are for one purpose, doing a Photo Shoot for the Plant. That's a simple claim to a very complex world. In Nature, after the seed has fell, the rains will take it until it clings to a little branch blocking it's path, some dead leaves, whatever. Without man's "help", that's where it stakes it's claim to do the 2 things it wants to do. But like the Fig Tree & Magnoia Tree. They have very shallow feeder roots, & cannot depend upon the rain not washing away a (compost) sunlight barrier, that will fry them in adverse weather. So they grow big fan leaves to become that barrier, for survial's sake. Translucient sun light can damage the feeder roots, also. So they build a waxy coating to reflect the light even more. When the Lower fan leaves die off, it is because the upper ones has taken over the duty, and ... younger growth is always better to adapt than old fucks. Give blood, the new blood is brand new, healthy. Take fan leaves, the replacement is at it's best .
The last Elephant that needs to be shot is the misconception that WE want the same thing as the Plant wants. BS. Humans, Animals & Plant life has 3 main priorties. #1.) To survive. #2) Freedom... room to lay down roots, grow to the Sun. #3.) Reproduce. One Bud, Pollenated, will produce approx. 25 seeds. Without molestantion from man & animals, the Lady has done well. She has done what needs to be done to do the 3 things, as Chickens in the BC era. 2 eggs per year, that's it. But as time evolved, snakes learned to devore them, as humans So, to compensate, more eggs. Same as Bud. One Lady can produce, now, 2,000 seeds. Why? Because her reproduction parts are denied the reproduction goal, so she compensates. We, just want the Bud, so it's not like we have the same natural goals as a plant. Point. Let's not pretend to live in a Natural Fantisy world.
Due to all the above, I can take a 1/2 lb expexpectany Plant, & manipulate Her to produce 2 to 6 lbs. Rule One. Keep Her healthy. Rule Two. Not only realize Her limits, but realize Her Potential. Without actually knowing Her potential to begin with..... step down. Class,.. Dismissed.
 

South Texas

Well-Known Member
How's this argument. Everybody seems to be a spokesman for "The Natural Way". I'm on board from A to L. I step off at the stop-"Logic". That leads down a (logicial) different track, altogether. But it's all logic. Growing the "Natural" way is NOT using chemically infested, void of living microbial life water. Letting the plant do it's own thing naturally is NOT being grown under artificial lights. IE: low quality & totally inept to be a half-asses care giver/Parent for a weed Plant. We can discuss Photo & absorbtion of piss-poor light all day, but until any Plant has what it really has THRIVED upon for 1,000's of years, if you, personally, are not giving the Plants what they need to actually flourish, like all the trace minerals, bacteria, fungi, wind excercising, ( which naturally rips & tears plant cells that grow back stronger), nitrogen, pure natural sunlight, etc., then you really don't have a dog in this hunt. Also, the sunlight here is twice the intensity as in some "growing" areas, which doubles the photo in comparison. In the world of logic, I can take half the fan leaves, & still be the same. For artificial lighting 3/4TH's the leaves. Piss-poor lighting, 7/8th's and still equal the same effect. However, if I have the perfect, Natural climate, taking 1/4TH the fan leaves is a walk in the Park, for a Plant that has a perfect balanced soil, with natural root stimulaters & natural juices that regenerates plant cells, which is not for sale on the market... yet.
Another Elephant stomping around in this room is the conception that all the leaves are for one purpose, doing a Photo Shoot for the Plant. That's a simple claim to a very complex world. In Nature, after the seed has fell, the rains will take it until it clings to a little branch blocking it's path, some dead leaves, whatever. Without man's "help", that's where it stakes it's claim to do the 2 things it wants to do. But like the Fig Tree & Magnoia Tree. They have very shallow feeder roots, & cannot depend upon the rain not washing away a (compost) sunlight barrier, that will fry them in adverse weather. So they grow big fan leaves to become that barrier, for survial's sake. Translucient sun light can damage the feeder roots, also. So they build a waxy coating to reflect the light even more. When the Lower fan leaves die off, it is because the upper ones has taken over the duty, and ... younger growth is always better to adapt than old fucks. Give blood, the new blood is brand new, healthy. Take fan leaves, the replacement is at it's best .
The last Elephant that needs to be shot is the misconception that WE want the same thing as the Plant wants. BS. Humans, Animals & Plant life has 3 main priorties. #1.) To survive. #2) Freedom... room to lay down roots, grow to the Sun. #3.) Reproduce. One Bud, Pollenated, will produce approx. 25 seeds. Without molestantion from man & animals, the Lady has done well. She has done what needs to be done to do the 3 things, as Chickens in the BC era. 2 eggs per year, that's it. But as time evolved, snakes learned to devore them, as humans So, to compensate, more eggs. Same as Bud. One Lady can produce, now, 2,000 seeds. Why? Because her reproduction parts are denied the reproduction goal, so she compensates. We, just want the Bud, so it's not like we have the same natural goals as a plant. Point. Let's not pretend to live in a Natural Fantisy world.
Due to all the above, I can take a 1/2 lb expexpectany Plant, & manipulate Her to produce 2 to 6 lbs. Rule One. Keep Her healthy. Rule Two. Not only realize Her limits, but realize Her Potential. Without actually knowing Her potential to begin with..... step down. Class,.. Dismissed.
 

BCtrippin

Well-Known Member
Also, the sunlight here is twice the intensity as in some "growing" areas, which doubles the photo in comparison. In the world of logic, I can take half the fan leaves, & still be the same. For artificial lighting 3/4TH's the leaves. Piss-poor lighting, 7/8th's and still equal the same effect. However, if I have the perfect, Natural climate, taking 1/4TH the fan leaves is a walk in the Park, for a Plant that has a perfect balanced soil, with natural root stimulaters & natural juices that regenerates plant cells, which is not for sale on the market... yet.

......Thats not how fan leafs, or any leafs work....You cant just remove half the fan leafs and add twice the light. The leafs wont absorb more light then they are capable of, and different fan leafs feed different parts of the plant so. No, I would say thats horrible advice to say you can remove 1/2 or 1/4 or 7/8 based on lighting.


:peace:
 

South Texas

Well-Known Member
You are correct. What I am saying is that people remove fan leaves with BS light & unhealthy Plants, & compare it to healthy Plants with adequate light. Then they make judement as to what not to do. My 3/4th's take off is an example of people doing BS things to a Plant, when it sick to begin with, and they give Judgement. That's bad advice. Read again.
 
Top