Removing Fan Leaves During Flower? Are you serious?

There are plenty of journals available that show heavy defoliation increases yields. Most are SOG grows.

Saying that defoliating during flower will decrease yields is flat out wrong info. It may or may not depending on many factors.

Marley15 said:

There are plenty of journals available that show heavy defoliation increases yields. Most are SOG grows.

Saying that defoliating during flower will decrease yields is flat out wrong info.

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Saying it will increase yields or do anything beneficial is even more Wrong. <3


Unless you are Certain the strain will react in a positive way, (which would mean someone would have had to already grown it several times testing things out.) Never advise someone to attempt this w/ hopes to improve something.

Usually it is not gurus who are asking these questions, so yes while some weird technique may work for some Guru in his journal.. does not make it wise to go share that info with noobs giving them false hope towards results.

Flush not flush, defoliate or not defoliate, h2o or bene's..

These threads are funny... everyone chimes in trolling each others reasoning and methods, yet some of us have figured out a long time ago...

you ready for this...

"Do what works for YOU!"

I mean try it, does it work? No? Yes? I mean simple common sense would tell you that you want to grow the best medicine that you can and this is done by what works for YOU!


I love just chiming in now, and laughing at all these guys just arguing for threads on end, just to repeat the cycle in a few weeks when another newbie doesn't search for an answer and posts this same question. I am stoned and I still see the sad cycle so many here are caught in, just be patient you will finally stop and laugh at these misguided fools too.

BigBuddahCheese said:

Flush not flush, defoliate or not defoliate, h2o or bene's..

These threads are funny... everyone chimes in trolling each others reasoning and methods, yet some of us have figured out a long time ago...

you ready for this...

"Do what works for YOU!"

I mean try it, does it work? No? Yes? I mean simple common sense would tell you that you want to grow the best medicine that you can and this is done by what works for YOU!


I love just chiming in now, and laughing at all these guys just arguing for threads on end, just to repeat the cycle in a few weeks when another newbie doesn't search for an answer and posts this same question. I am stoned and I still see the sad cycle so many here are caught in, just be patient you will finally stop and laugh at these misguided fools too.

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...so you are in the cycle? out of the cycle? You troll for trolls a lot.
Many do what works for them, but then we work on getting better and learning better techniques. Some people like to learn from others, and some think they have all the answers the minute they finally harvest something.
You post in the middle of a thread calling everyone that posts a misguided fool, looks like you are stuck in your very own cycle.

BigBuddahCheese said:

Flush not flush, defoliate or not defoliate, h2o or bene's..
"Do what works for YOU!"

I am stoned and I still see the sad cycle so many here are caught in, just be patient you will finally stop and laugh at these misguided fools too.

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I usually try things out for myself and takes learned info with a grain of salt. Other growers tell me I am foolish to grow in soil. But it works for me. I use HPS for flowering but supplement it with fluorescent for a true daylight effect (bright sun overhead, blue sky all around). People disagree with that. It's my grow, and I have great success. I share my own learned experience. Maybe I can help someone else with my info. Am i right? Maybe, maybe not. It works for me.

What really pisses me off is all of these people who talk like an expert because they "heard it somewhere". Especially people who never grew anything in their life. I would hope that people would use RIU as a tool as I do. I do what I believe is beneficial for MY grow, in MY grow rooms. It may not work for someone else. There is no real "one right way" to do things, just lots of alternatives.

So, BigBuddahCheese I agree with you. I do what works best for me. I share my results in hopes of someone else learning from my success and my mistakes.

MrSlick said:

I usually try things out for myself and takes learned info with a grain of salt. Other growers tell me I am foolish to grow in soil. But it works for me. I use HPS for flowering but supplement it with fluorescent for a true daylight effect (bright sun overhead, blue sky all around). People disagree with that. It's my grow, and I have great success. I share my own learned experience. Maybe I can help someone else with my info. Am i right? Maybe, maybe not. It works for me.

What really pisses me off is all of these people who talk like an expert because they "heard it somewhere". Especially people who never grew anything in their life. I would hope that people would use RIU as a tool as I do. I do what I believe is beneficial for MY grow, in MY grow rooms. It may not work for someone else. There is no real "one right way" to do things, just lots of alternatives.

So, BigBuddahCheese I agree with you. I do what works best for me. I share my results in hopes of someone else learning from my success and my mistakes.

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Everyone should do what works for them. Unfortunately many see these journals, believe the nutrient company hype.. when really the plants just need few basic things to be happy and healthy. Keep it simple try and experiment and keep notes.

I see "gladstoned" the troll chimed in as I have him ignored I can't see what he has to say but I am sure it something sarcastic and condescending (not sure he has over a GED so words like 'condescending' you people here might have to help him with. Anyway, he should concentrate all his hate into doing something positive in his life, yet he likes to "try" to make everyone as miserable as him. Sad. I one hopes he finds jesus.

BigBuddahCheese said:

Everyone should do what works for them. Unfortunately many see these journals, believe the nutrient company hype.. when really the plants just need few basic things to be happy and healthy. Keep it simple try and experiment and keep notes.

I see "gladstoned" the troll chimed in as I have him ignored I can't see what he has to say but I am sure it something sarcastic and condescending (not sure he has over a GED so words like 'condescending' you people here might have to help him with. Anyway, he should concentrate all his hate into doing something positive in his life, yet he likes to "try" to make everyone as miserable as him. Sad. I one hopes he finds jesus.

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You should read that one. It was pretty accurate. I try to help everyone I can. I am college educated and I have a masters from the school of hard knocks also. I have found Jesus and I appreciate your concern for my salvation. That is about the only thing more important than teaching someone to grow. I just wanted to point out that this is a grow forum and many of us are here to learn to be better growers. You refer to us as misguided fools for discussing different techniques, that is clearly trolling and spreading hate.

gladstoned said:

You should read that one. It was pretty accurate. I try to help everyone I can. I am college educated and I have a masters from the school of hard knocks also. I have found Jesus and I appreciate your concern for my salvation. That is about the only thing more important than teaching someone to grow. I just wanted to point out that this is a grow forum and many of us are here to learn to be better growers. You refer to us as misguided fools for discussing different techniques, that is clearly trolling and spreading hate.

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The only misguided fools, are those with closed minds. Does removing fan leaves help? Maybe. Depends on the strain and conditions. I remove lower fan leaves pretty aggressively. They generally feed the root growth (closest sink) and the roots are done growing late in flower. Will it help with your strain..don't know..experiment. Do one plant, leave the rest alone.

Soil or hydro? Someone said they are told they are foolish for growing in soil. Well, I'd agree..if your intent is to maximize growth rate and yield. If your intent is to grow the best quality organic cannabis that you can....soil is the way to go..no question in my mind. Soil gives better taste, and equal or superior cannabinoid production, without any trace chemical in the smoke. Don't believe me? Think way back to the early cannabis cups. Soil grown was the only thing that ever won. They had to create a hydro division so the poor hydro growers could win something. And why is it that you have to "flush" hydro? oh, that's right, to minimize the nasty chemical taste, and try and remove the unnatural chemicals from the bud. Yea, that's medical grade natural healing. In my opinion soil always has been and always will be where the truly best cannabis is grown.

My point here is that regardless of whether you agree or dis agree with someone, the idea is to exchange info and learn..not to try and be the "master grower". The other point is that every strain is different. They all have there own "sweet spot" as far as conditions, feeding, even light schedules and day/night temps. The only way to grow truly exceptional cannabis, is to stick to one strain, experiment, and keep improving. Don't think that's right? look at the lab reports on the "Michigan genetics thread"...check out all the Jack Hereer results. They range from 15% to 22% in thc content. What do you think causes that huge difference? The hand of the grower, my friend. It has nothing to do with luck. It has to do with experimentation, paying attention, taking notes, and diligence. There is no easy way to to become a good grower. It takes time, equipment, and lots of effort. And a willingness to listen to ideas, experiment and find what works.

i have trimmed my larger fan leaves off throughout flowering. i dont do it all at once. as this would shock the plant... and if the plant is unstable and prone to "hermying" (or howeva the fuck you would say that) theres a chance it would go hermie on ya. so i remove 1 here and there. usually starting form the bottom up. if they look nice and healthy. ill leave them on. alot of people will trim them so that light can reach the smaller buds that get shaded from the light due to the larger fan leaves. another method to use if you dont want to cut the leaves off. get twisty ties. or string... and pull the larger fan leaves right to the stem. and tie them to ur stalk. this way.. the small bud will receive some much needed light... and the nutrients stored in the larger fan leaves will still be able to be distributed to the plant.

one thing i would recommend doing is lollipoping your plant. stripping the smaller budsites and leaves off of ur plant as soon as u put the plant in 12-12. this will make trimming easier. (since u wont have to trim those small/useless buds that dry to like .0000009 grams dry. lol) and will give u a harvest full of nice sized buds. and in my opinion.. will actually increase ur yield. since the plant will not waste its time and energy producing those small buds.. and focus all its energy on making the already large buds ever larger and denser.

hopefully sum of this info will help sum1 out. like i said. ive trimmed off leaves... and left the leaves and it never hurt my plants. but its YOUR plant and YOUR grow so grow it however you want to and dont let any1 else tell you how to grow your own plants.

RawBudzski said:

No offence but this too is my pet-peeve. I hate 80% of care givers methods with a passion. The part where someone who is still learning to grow, is growing for other people. Boggles my mind.

Anywho, yes.. do not cut the leaves please.

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I grow good quality nugs but I am also always learning. Always keep learning is the second rule in my grow room right behind never tell anyone.

I hope this thread doesnt get too negative. A good grower should always be learning and Ive learned a lot from RIU members the past few years. However nothing beats personal experience when it come to growing and that's what seperates a newbie from an experienced grower. I have, through trial and error, found a system which works good for me. When I learn of someone doing something differently, I come here and bounce it off you all. Doesnt mean I will take the advice but I will listen to every comment and weigh it against my own knowledge and personal experience.

I wont chop off every fan leaf at beginning of flower-that is just ridiculous.

I will however experiment removing (or just moving) some more fan leaves towards the end of flower to allow some of the lower buds to ripen.

No one has convinced me that hacking the fan leaves at the beginning of flower increases yield.

I am glad that most of you are here and thanks for debating the shit out of this topic. Lets start a new thread on ways we've found to increase yield. That should be a good one.

Great idea. Nothing wrong with trying new things and learning. It's how we all get better.

I am no profesional by any means so what i did i have 3 main plants in flowering i removed the fan leaves from one and completely cut one in half and cloned it and left the other one alone besides trimming lower branches and so far the one with the least amount of trimming is producing the most buds and has a beautiful main cola but i am only in week 5 of 12/12 so we will see what happens when i harvest.

I leave most of my leaves there, but as I go along if I don't like the look of one I will just pull it off...haven't ever worried about it...I have some strains that can lose 30 or 40 leaves and you never even know they were gone, and then I have others that just aren't so leafy...and can't and don't need to get trimmed back...

longroot said:

Sorry it just cracks me up when someone has nothing to offer the conversation. Go away troll.

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Oh I am sorry who the fuck made you the forum nazi.

louisc said:

u get a better yield,approx 20-25%
if u trim most the fans at 12/12 time,
(assuming a vigorous plant)
try it yourself, u may be surprised

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wow....in the thirty or so years ive been growing ive never heard this from any good growers...please,enlighten me...???

gladstoned said:

Great idea. Nothing wrong with trying new things and learning. It's how we all get better.

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cutting off all the fan leaves is not a "new thing"...ive seen perfectly fine crops ruined by noobs with an inherant need to interact with thier plants...often resulting in loss of the fan leaves..any one whome claims to get bigger buds by removing the fan leaves has not had the grow time in to no the difference.

richinweed said:

cutting off all the fan leaves is not a "new thing"...ive seen perfectly fine crops ruined by noobs with an inherant need to interact with thier plants...often resulting in loss of the fan leaves..any one whome claims to get bigger buds by removing the fan leaves has not had the grow time in to no the difference.

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Sorry you mis understood me. If I haven't tried cutting off all the fan leaves, then during one crop I suddenly do, that is me trying something new.

bendoverbilly said:

Sorry it just cracks me up when someone says they are a caregiver.

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I took the time to read this entire thread, I only remove leaves that are yellowing/dying as they serve no purpose other than to hold surface moisture and invite mold. At the beginning of flower I aggressively trim "sucker branches" as they will sap energy from the main colas that will eventually develop.

I quoted this post because I happen to agree with longroot.... bendoverbilly ... what was the point of your post? What does the term "caregiver" have to do with the topic at hand? Or are you just trying to increase your post count? Some of us are here to help educate AND learn from other members.... what are you here for?


alp

I have heard so many folks claim that they trim off fan leaves to allow more light to get to the lower buds. I have to ask... do the "buds" actually benefit from exposure to light? I've always heard that light breaks down thc... so what benefit is there to buds seeing more light? To me ... it's the leaves that need and can use light... not buds..

Anyone care to chime in on this thought?


alp