My first indoor grow, should I cut fan leaves?

spindles said:

Made some interesting reading this thread. I personally trim "some" fan leaves later in the flowering cycle and, like the OP, first did this with 2 identical plants to test. The plant which was left alone did slightly less well than the plant which was trimmed, the strength, taste and size of buds was identical on both plants.

It doesnt hurt to be too analytical for sure, at least in my opinion (someone who has been growing since the start of the year and has now pulled 5 out of flower so far, with a perpetual cycle running). I have been a complete geek and it has worked out well for me.

My only negative comment would be that from the pics your plants are lacking energy, looking a little stringy; Personally I would get more light in there (maybe a couple more 2700k CFLS) but it could be a genetic factor for all I know.

Good luck with your grow, I'm always interested in the results using LED and will keep an eye on this.

@SLB, nice attitude

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That is very interesting info... when you say the trimmed plant did better, do you mean yield wise? were the top buds different in size at all?

And yes, I am also not sure about the genetics, those are just bag seed.

spindles said:

@SLB, nice attitude

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Thank you...It's hard to stay as polite as possible when you're addressing people like that...

SLB

stoneyluv said:

That is very interesting info... when you say the trimmed plant did better, do you mean yield wise? were the top buds different in size at all?

And yes, I am also not sure about the genetics, those are just bag seed.

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Trimming leaves at the end of the flowering cycle shouldn't really have much effect, especially if the leaves are starting to yellow and die off already...

SLB

SmokesLikeBob said:

Trimming leaves at the end of the flowering cycle shouldn't really have much effect, especially if the leaves are starting to yellow and die off already...

SLB

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should I expect the leaves to die late into flowering?

If youre doing a proper flush then I think some leaves will begin turning yellow.

stoneyluv said:

should I expect the leaves to die late into flowering?

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as far as my knowledge ones you flush the plant aint got no food left to eat so its normal for them to start dying

What is a proper flush? Is this still done when using soil?

stoneyluv said:

What is a proper flush? Is this still done when using soil?

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Yea, a proper flush is when you know when-abouts your going to harvest, and it's time to start weening your plants off their nutes. "Flushing" refers to the usage of clean water, and only water, to "clean" the plant, for the remainder of it's bud life.. So if you have 2-3 weeks left of growth, then you can safely start flushing your plants.
(OR SO I READ anyway!)

sicks string samurai said:

Yea, a proper flush is when you know when-abouts your going to harvest, and it's time to start weening your plants off their nutes. "Flushing" refers to the usage of clean water, and only water, to "clean" the plant, for the remainder of it's bud life.. So if you have 2-3 weeks left of growth, then you can safely start flushing your plants.
(OR SO I READ anyway!)

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yeah thats about right, peace out

I usually start flushing at the 6 week flower mark, (Bare in mind, I only grow indica dominant strains) and about 3-4 days before harvest, I give it nothing! Absolutely nothing! Not even fresh water! So that I won't lose as much weight during my drying and curing process...

SLB

well it has been 5 weeks now since I started flowering. the first week all four were only under 4 CFL bulbs total. then the second week the were put under the LED light. Then I began to screw up all kinds of things by cutting some fan leaves off. BAD move..... the buds are just now starting to swell. they do seem to be getting bigger by the day but never again will I cut leaves! I'm still proud of them for my very first grow. I figure they will need another 4 weeks or so... I'm sure they will tell me when they are ready.... can't wait for the room... need to get the blues started!!! here are some picks of my 4 laidies

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They look a tad behind for 5 weeks, like you said...but they look good nonetheless!

SLB

Like McDonalds...I'm loving it!

So you decided to cut them eh? I have been tossing the idea of cutting some HUGE fan leaves off but I just cant bring myself to do it. Did you cut during flowering?

assasinofyouth420 said:

So you decided to cut them eh? I have been tossing the idea of cutting some HUGE fan leaves off but I just cant bring myself to do it. Did you cut during flowering?

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yes I cut them. I wish i wouldn't have. I compared it to a plant i didn't cut and the buds are much bigger on that one. I would never suggest cutting them, I will never do it again. and i also cut them at the wrong time, I cut them the day i introduced 12/12. that was even a worse idea because it stressed the plants out way to much. they have enough stress to deal with just with the 12/12 change let alone getting cut up. The only reason I tried it was i thought the light on the buds made the buds get bigger.... this is not true. the light on the leaves makes bigger buds.

don't cut em man! only if they yellow up and die, then it okay to cut them.

it was my first grow and i had to try it for myself... it is only bagseed so i wasn't to worried.... but now that I am growing blueberry,AK47,wonderwoman, and bubblelicious there will be no more experimenting for me... i think i got it down though.

I will post some photos tomorrow(my girls are in the dark now) of the bagseed buds so you can see the difference between cutting them and not. I planned to chop them on the 16th but i think i may have to wait a week or two longer.

Hell yeah. Your last set of pics looked pretty good.

How about tossing us another pic update stoney!

SLB

here are some shots i just took of my girls... keep in mind I have done everything possibly wrong. I have over stressed them,over watered,under watered, cropped them, cut the fan leaves, and gave them some nute burn all at some point in thier lives. I was using an MG nute full strength for a few weeks in flowering, then I got fox farms big bloom, I figured since it was taking the full dose of MG I could use a full dose of FFBB, nope.... burned em!! flushed them out and I will continue to use just water until harvest. sept.16th will be 8 weeks but week 1 was only under four 23 watt CFL's for 6 plants. week two i got the LED and have been running that with the four CFL's , but i think they are at least aweek behind. trics are still clear.. these are multiple shots of the four plants i have in flower

Hell yeah. Looks like it is going to be a good smoke.

They've made a big change since the last update! Starting to fill out!!!

SLB