To Trim or Not to Trim?

[knourgro]

very useful, +rep

 

[findme]

OK, then why trim or tuck away leaves if the buds don't need light?

anyone got an answer for this?

 

[blacksun]

Everyone I've seen who has done an actual side-by-side, not just "it seemed it worked better this go around!", usually notice one thing:

Stress slows growth.

The plant you butcher is just going to grow more slowly compared to the plant you don't. Initially from the shock of being cut on. Then again from not having it's solar panels.

ALSO, if you are using feminized seeds and you butcher it while it's in flower, the stress can cause the plant(s) to hermie.

 

[findme]

Everyone I've seen who has done an actual side-by-side, not just "it seemed it worked better this go around!", usually notice one thing:

Stress slows growth.

The plant you butcher is just going to grow more slowly compared to the plant you don't. Initially from the shock of being cut on. Then again from not having it's solar panels.

ALSO, if you are using feminized seeds and you butcher it while it's in flower, the stress can cause the plant(s) to hermie.

which always made sense to me because when you cut anything off of a plant it slows growth because the plant was using that part you cut off to create energy... which is why people who defoliate for "higher yields" say wait 1-2 weeks after defoliating to allow the plant to recover while never realizing that if they didn't defoliate in the first place, the plant would be much bigger if you would have just left it alone and allowed it to grow for those 1-2 weeks that they were using to "recover".

 

[er0senin]

correct me if im wrong but isnt only 15% of the light that hits the leav absorbed and the rest falls strait thru it? dont trim leaves here and there lol, insted read up on how to correctly trim a plant . with correct trimming more and better growth can be obtained. cannabis is not so different from other plants in that aspect. i.e how you would trim a rosebush to get preattyer and bigger flowers.

 

[racerboy71]

correct me if im wrong but isnt only 15% of the light that hits the leav absorbed and the rest falls strait thru it? dont trim leaves here and there lol, insted read up on how to correctly trim a plant . with correct trimming more and better growth can be obtained. cannabis is not so different from other plants in that aspect. i.e how you would trim a rosebush to get preattyer and bigger flowers.

rosebuds are not an annual plant like cannabis is.. you don't trim back a rose bush and that same year you get bigger roses.. you trim back a rose bush and maybe the next year it will give you bigger flowers..

 

[er0senin]

rosebuds are not an annual plant like cannabis is.. you don't trim back a rose bush and that same year you get bigger roses.. you trim back a rose bush and maybe the next year it will give you bigger flowers..

this is true but i belive i could still state my point. let me clearafy what i mean : trimming can be a great thing if you actually know what you are doing

 

[blacksun]

which always made sense to me because when you cut anything off of a plant it slows growth because the plant was using that part you cut off to create energy... which is why people who defoliate for "higher yields" say wait 1-2 weeks after defoliating to allow the plant to recover while never realizing that if they didn't defoliate in the first place, the plant would be much bigger if you would have just left it alone and allowed it to grow for those 1-2 weeks that they were using to "recover".

Yes! That is exactly what I have observed the times that I have done it personally. It could be very possible that it was just the strains that I did, and perhaps there are some strains out there that actually benefit from it, but I have yet to see them.

 

[Trousers]

Everyone I've seen who has done an actual side-by-side, not just "it seemed it worked better this go around!", usually notice one thing:

Stress slows growth.

The plant you butcher is just going to grow more slowly compared to the plant you don't. Initially from the shock of being cut on. Then again from not having it's solar panels.

ALSO, if you are using feminized seeds and you butcher it while it's in flower, the stress can cause the plant(s) to hermie.

No.

If a seed is fem and it was made from plants that are likely to produce male flowers due to stress, then that fem seed will have the same likelihood to show male flowers.
If plants are really stressed by picking leaves, how is it that defoliation works so well?

 

[Trousers]

which always made sense to me because when you cut anything off of a plant it slows growth because the plant was using that part you cut off to create energy... which is why people who defoliate for "higher yields" say wait 1-2 weeks after defoliating to allow the plant to recover while never realizing that if they didn't defoliate in the first place, the plant would be much bigger if you would have just left it alone and allowed it to grow for those 1-2 weeks that they were using to "recover".

I have messed with defoliation and it didn't take a couple weeks for the plant to recover. I was plucking leaves pretty much daily.
I was taught to stop picking leaves for the first couple weeks of flower. That is not a recovery period, it is just regular flowering period.
The plants did not take any longer.

 

[mike.hotel]

Great thread. I am curious, does the same thought process carry over to the hydroponics side? In an aero/hydro setup the roots are receiving constant nutrients and CO2, so it seems you could trim more leaves. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[kinamongpawns]

seen this thing on youtube where this guy did something he called bonsai trimming all the big fan leaf fingers except the center one or two. i tried it and did not see any real changes. i have been growing the same plant now for about 7 harvests