This is not a good position to take when growing indoors. You are correct, they definitely help in the growth of the plant but that is not the only thing you need to concern yourself with. Indoor environments are quite different than they are used too, you have to remember who their last gardener was...mother nature. Temp. changes, humidity swings, hot spots, and the speed things happen all come into play that are totally foreign to the plants. Removing leaves to relieve over crowdedness, or air flow and circulation is a must is most indoor grows. Removing lower shoots and leaves is a technique used to train your girls and should not be mistaken for these environment controls you must implement to keep them happy in a foreign system. JAS
my plants tend to get large so i can afford to chop bits off them, i wouldn't encourage folk that have small plants
to start chopping too many bits off them, but still i do not see much point in keeping weak or stringy growth
plants that grow large enough with multiple branches should be thinned out so only the most lush growth remains
no yield is lost since the space will fill with lush growth only , and an overall better consistency of colas can be achieved
air flow around the canopy is a top priority some foliage and lower growth may need to be removed to ensure air flows freely around all foliage
bud sites that do not receive direct light can often discolour to light green even yellow if they are shaded long enough and will not reach thier full potential while "in the shade"
removing leaves to get light inside is not the best option imo, it is better to bend the branches out , although that is not always possible if space is tight
tucking the leaves under the canopy can work for a while, but they will fight there way back upward
i find indica dominant strains do not respond well to removal of too many large fan leaves
and can grow back distorted, with disrupted bud development in colas, more leafy colas
sativa dominant hybrids i have never seen this problem with, many of these skunk type plants can virtually be stripped bare
and go on to produce huge fat colas
the idea is to be able to fit as much cola in a given space as possible, this will not be possible if
weak growth and leaves are taking up too much of the grow space
peace
