Removing Fan Leaves During Flower? Are you serious?

Okay fellow Michigan growers I got one for ya!

My cousin just moved back from Cali. He's a little bit older than I, and claims he has been growing for about 30 years.

He was interested in using me as his caregiver so I took him out to show him the set-up. I had a few plants that were about 4 days from chop.

This is where the debate starts: He told me I should trim off any leaves that did not have trichs (basically all fan leaves). He had some reasoning that it would allow the buds to get the energy that was now being used by the fan leaves. Look, Im not a botanist or anything, but this sounds like bullshit to me. As far as I know, the fan leaves are the solar panel for the plant, why the fuck would you take them away?

Now what scares me even more is that i talked with another local grower, expecting him to side with me, and he enlightened me that he takes all fan leaves off as soon as he starts flowering! WTF!!!

Anyways, Id like to get some more growers opinions. Am I wrong for thinking them to be completely nuts?

Your not crazy I could see trimming 4 days from harvest just to make trimming easier later. I think guy number two is off his rocker.

thats some of the worst advice ive seen. never ever listen to them again. the leaves make energy for the plant not the other way around. those guys are just taking away all the energy those leaves have stored which they will use when they swell up and add most of their mass during the last week or 2 and also for the reason you said, the fan leaves are the solar panels used to make energy for the plant. please tell them to read a basic guide on how plants work.

I just took a bunch of fan leaves off tonight! I love it... Solar panels are going down! Thc and bud hardness going up!! I hate solar panels anyways... they are not all that efficient

ismokealotofpot said:

Your not crazy I could see trimming 4 days from harvest just to make trimming easier later. I think guy number two is off his rocker.

Click to expand...

Thats about what I was thinking. I could see 4 days, buds are pretty much done growing but still producing resin.

In all seriousness though, alot of people mistakenly (IMO) believe that the fan leaves are unecessary baggage that are taking energy away from bud production. Which I think is completely backwards. The way I understand it is that bud production comes from energy supplied by the fan leaves.

The fan leaves also take stress so the buds dont have to.

Besides if you chop off all the fan leaves, there is only one place left for the mites to hang out---on your buds!

darkdestruction420 said:

thats some of the worst advice ive seen. never ever listen to them again. the leaves make energy for the plant not the other way around. those guys are just taking away all the energy those leaves have stored which they will use when they swell up and add most of their mass during the last week or 2 and also for the reason you said, the fan leaves are the solar panels used to make energy for the plant. please tell them to read a basic guide on how plants work.

Click to expand...

Believe you me, I never, never took their advice. But I am sure we will find here, as I have talking to local growers, is that their are alot of people who will not agree with us. Peace.

donutpunched said:

I just took a bunch of fan leaves off tonight! I love it... Solar panels are going down! Thc and bud hardness going up!! I hate solar panels anyways... they are not all that efficient

Click to expand...

Very true that man hasn't figured out how to make an efficient solar panel yet, but natures had that one dialed in for a long time.

Just curious, at which point do you chop the fan leaves? I mean solar panels!

donutpunched said:

I just took a bunch of fan leaves off tonight! I love it... Solar panels are going down! Thc and bud hardness going up!! I hate solar panels anyways... they are not all that efficient

Click to expand...

Im not talking about trimming the bottom third or just trimming the plant a little. I mean removing every freaking fan leaf. Is this what you do?

well longroot. from what I have understood from my readings and experience is that the fan leaves are your "solar panels" and they have stored up the nitrogen you have been giving those babies in veg. once in flower those leaves provide nutrients to the buds and most importantly remove the plants waste!!! Now if those "solar panel/toilets" are removed then your buds will have to try to remove waste. I don't know about those other guys, but I don't want to smoke some plant shit!! lol. I leave them on until they turn yellow and are falling off!!!

Another way to look at it is trimming off leafs will suffocate the plant. How well do you breath with a hand over your mouth? I think you know more about growing than your friend does.

LOL I was a drill instructor in the USAF, and we used to ask "what would you do if a trainee starts turning blue? Well, you let go of his throat!! Sorry just came to mind when I read that last thread.

Plants will naturally shed any leaves which are deemed unnecessary. If they're still green, they're still useful. Think of fan leaves as the "Solar Panels" of the plant. The energy that these leaves harness, powers the plant. Plus, you wouldn't want to stress the plant at this delicate stage. If you've got mite problems, however, this may be necessary to avoid infestations.

removing fan leaves with significantly decrease the yield of your plants if your constantly removing leaves that are green and healthy. remove any fan leave that is 50% or more dead and that won't affect your plant and it will also cause less pests/ diseases. when i am about 4 -5 days from harvest 95 % of my fan leaves are beyond 50% dead because all the nutrients have been flushed at this point i PICK OFF THE FAN LEAVES that dont have trichs on it it will NOT affect your plant and it will allow the bottom buds to fully ripen like the top buds and also makes your trimming alot easier

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

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

Click to expand...

So you are contradicting everyone else and saying pluck most of them @ 12/12?
I have always heard it exactly like kindfarm said. I cannot see plucking off most of the fan leaves and getting a bigger yield. That is some shit that I don't even want to try, just to prove a point. I agree with everyone else. They will let you know when they are done doing their job.

as i said, try it in a controlled experiment, i have a couple times ...

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

Click to expand...

i have tried it and it just decreases the yield if you have fan leaves that are covering potential khola sites the best thing to do is push the fan left to the side so its not covering the khola site. the fan leaves are how the plants absorb light so if you take them all off the light will NOT be absorbed as well which in return WILL DECREASE the yield... now if your talking about "lollipopping" the bottom of the plant at the start of flower then yes that would be correct in increasing yield for most strains but i don't argue with people on here so you can have your opinion and i'll have mine.. happy new years people

The best shit the cannabis plant has to offer is in the older growth (larger fan leaves) by removing them you are robbing yourself of the extra umpf as they ripen. The plants goes after these beautiful resources towards the end of it's life which it why the leaves start to yellow and die off.

I do trim an occasional fan leaf if it's blocking to much light from lower growth but have learned that the less I remove the better for the over all health and potency of the plant. By LSTing my branches to open up the plant, the need to remove them is greatly reduced.

roosba said:

well longroot. from what I have understood from my readings and experience is that the fan leaves are your "solar panels" and they have stored up the nitrogen you have been giving those babies in veg. once in flower those leaves provide nutrients to the buds and most importantly remove the plants waste!!! Now if those "solar panel/toilets" are removed then your buds will have to try to remove waste. I don't know about those other guys, but I don't want to smoke some plant shit!! lol. I leave them on until they turn yellow and are falling off!!!

Click to expand...

I think you are right on the money bro!

No I dont remove every fan leaf... I remove large leaves that keep light from getting under the canopy.. One room is 10 by 10 4k overhead 2k each side in cool tubes.... The canopy gets so thick that is is dark under the buckets.... So I remove some large fan leaves so light can penetrate but I have never stripped the plants of fan leaves....