Stripping fan leaves or not.

Hello all you growers out there.

Id like your advice if you dont mind and have the time to help a Newbie.
I must of read about 15-20 different sites and all have different opinions on "do you strip fan lights" , well lots of folks say dont strip anything off your plants, while others have said strip the big leaves so the light reaches the bottom of the room so the lower buds get what they need.
Well im just starting week 3 in veg, growing medium is 60/40 coco and using 3 lights @ 400 watt at the moment, using shogun nutrients, i think that sums up everything i can tell you, well ive seen the big leaves appear during the 2nd week.
I know they are only babies yet so im not thinking of doing anything yet but would any of you more advanced folks have an opinion on this please?
I dont know if id be doing the right thing or wrong, as by what ive read both sides of the story make sense.
DO the fan leaves need to go or stay?
I very much appreciate your help and would like to say thank you in advance if i get any replies.
Oh on one of the pics the plant looks really light at the top, but it was the flash of my camera as just as i was going to take the pics the lights went out.

If its your first grow, just let them do their thing.
If height is an issue, topping and lst would be a good place to start.
All the leafstripping, lolipopping, etc are just extra stuff.

Seeing how it grows unmolested gives a good baseline for future grows

15-20 sites, now with this thread 16-21.

Actually I would guess a few threads here already. I would leave them on, if needed tuck them under or away to allow the light to get through. For a first grow don't get fancy, you will probably stress it enough yet.

I leave all of mine on and they seem to muddle through.

I usually strip fan leaves quite heavily in the aeroponics/hydro setup. It grows so fast that i can strip dozens of fan leaves and you wouldn’t even be able to tell in a matter of days later.

In soil/soilless, I try not to take as many fan leaves, but I do still lightly strip. If I can fold/tuck the leaf out of the way, I do that first. Or sometimes I’ll just remove part of the fan leaf, so it’s not shading out a growing site.

But I always try my best to make sure that every bud site is getting good light, whether by training or pruning, stripping, etc.

Boatguy said:

If its your first grow, just let them do their thing.
If height is an issue, topping and lst would be a good place to start.
All the leafstripping, lolipopping, etc are just extra stuff.

Seeing how it grows unmolested gives a good baseline for future grows

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Thank you very much Boatguy. It is my first grow and this is why im unsure what to do. Height is not really a problem, so i will probably just do this one and see how it goes, and hopefully if i do another build on all the extra knowledge i have learned. Great advice by the way mate

printer said:

15-20 sites, now with this thread 16-21.

Actually I would guess a few threads here already. I would leave them on, if needed tuck them under or away to allow the light to get through. For a first grow don't get fancy, you will probably stress it enough yet.

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Thank you very much printer. Thats 2 posts ive read and both say the same. I guess i was getting ahead of myself thinking out stripping the leaves etc. Its hard enough taking everything in as it is, without adding extra, very good advice, thanks mate

TeddyNugget said:

I usually strip fan leaves quite heavily in the aeroponics/hydro setup. It grows so fast that i can strip dozens of fan leaves and you wouldn’t even be able to tell in a matter of days later.

In soil/soilless, I try not to take as many fan leaves, but I do still lightly strip. If I can fold/tuck the leaf out of the way, I do that first. Or sometimes I’ll just remove part of the fan leaf, so it’s not shading out a growing site.

But I always try my best to make sure that every bud site is getting good light, whether by training or pruning, stripping, etc.

Click to expand...

Thank you TeddyNuggett, a really good informative post. I think this being my first time i will try and tuck them out of the way and hope enough light gets through. A friend of mine who gave me these as cuttings said they grow big leaves and it seemed as soon as hed stripped they were back. I havent really learned to much about training, pruning, etc, im getting used to making sure they are getting the right nutrients in the PH zone. EC=1.1-1.3 at the moment. Thank you so much for your help mate

curious2garden said:

View attachment 4475393
I leave all of mine on and they seem to muddle through.

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Looking a nice plant mate, some nice coloured leaves, if i may could i ask what strain it is? thats only im allowed to ask, dont want break any rules.

jonnylongton said:

Looking a nice plant mate, some nice coloured leaves, if i may could i ask what strain it is? thats only im allowed to ask, dont want break any rules.

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Thanks it's Bodhi Space Monkey

jonnylongton said:

Thank you TeddyNuggett, a really good informative post. I think this being my first time i will try and tuck them out of the way and hope enough light gets through. A friend of mine who gave me these as cuttings said they grow big leaves and it seemed as soon as hed stripped they were back. I havent really learned to much about training, pruning, etc, im getting used to making sure they are getting the right nutrients in the PH zone. EC=1.1-1.3 at the moment. Thank you so much for your help mate

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Hey, no problem.

Yeah, if this is your first time, don’t worry too much about anything too fancy. Get the basics down first. Experiment more once you got the basics down.

If you don’t feel comfortable stripping, don’t strip. It won’t make or break your grow by any means. And stripping a fan leaf or two won’t hurt either. Don’t strip them bare or anything, but if you decide to pluck off a single leaf it’s nothing to worry over or anything.
You can also just pluck off a single blade of the fan leaf too, if it’ll he’ll get better light to the bud site below (thats the goal when you strip).

Everything is looking good from what I can tell in your pics though. They look healthy and seem to be growing nicely. Keep doing what you’re doing!

Edit - bodhi is a great first choice. I’ve had lots of luck with his gear. Sunshine daydream is one of my personal favorites.

curious2garden said:

Thanks it's Bodhi Space Monkey

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Very nice mate. Mine is incredible bulk. The pics apparently dont do them justice so my very close friend said, as long as i get some pain relief off it i dont mind mate

TeddyNugget said:

Hey, no problem.

Yeah, if this is your first time, don’t worry too much about anything too fancy. Get the basics down first. Experiment more once you got the basics down.

If you don’t feel comfortable stripping, don’t strip. It won’t make or break your grow by any means. And stripping a fan leaf or two won’t hurt either. Don’t strip them bare or anything, but if you decide to pluck off a single leaf it’s nothing to worry over or anything.
You can also just pluck off a single blade of the fan leaf too, if it’ll he’ll get better light to the bud site below (thats the goal when you strip).

Everything is looking good from what I can tell in your pics though. They look healthy and seem to be growing nicely. Keep doing what you’re doing!

Edit - bodhi is a great first choice. I’ve had lots of luck with his gear. Sunshine daydream is one of my personal favorites.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much Teddy, i really appreciate your feedback and advice. Some of the fan leaves will be blocking light so i thought "well its best get rid of them so those underneath get light", but you see lots of posts from folk saying its wrong to strip leaves, if leaves were meant to be stripped they wouldnt grow there.
Thanks for the thumbs up Teddy on what they look like, in the light they do look a little better. I do know from what ive read not to strip them bare, take a few off each plant then leave them for a few days to let them recover, then if any more have grown then do the same, so the bud sites can get light mate.
Im going to look into bodhi mate, that looks nice and also Sunshine daydream sounds a nice smoke. My fav ive had off others is girl scout cookies, also like wedding cake. but im going bookmark those two youve mentioned and have a good look, specially if they are good for back pain and also stress and anxiety. Lost all the discs in my spine and also have spondolosis in my shouler and neck, and sciatica, as for the anxiety well i lost my nan, mum, dad , and brother all within a couple of years..

Just an update on what the plants look like when the lights are on. The other pic didnt tell as much as these, and this is why i was asking about removing the fan leaves. These are on the 2nd day of Week 2 in veg. Not a great deal of bud sites as yet, but which few have them are being covered by the leaves.
Still a short plant, which im happy about, also the leaf stems are looking thick already for its age, as is the main stem, well to me a Newb it does, but ive noticed a few leaves have the pointed up tips, and some on different plants have a turning down tip on some leaves. How can this happen if they are all fed the same and for the same time off a IWS system. Wow this is a lot harder than first thought trying to work out little problems.
Thanks guys for all who have answered and helped, it really is so much appreciated. I dont know about chilling out with a nice smoke at the end, i dont know if my nerves will last for that long lol.

printer said:

15-20 sites, now with this thread 16-21.

Actually I would guess a few threads here already. I would leave them on, if needed tuck them under or away to allow the light to get through. For a first grow don't get fancy, you will probably stress it enough yet.

Click to expand...

Thank you printer. I didnt really want to get to fancy mate, ive read lots about what you can do, and i havent the balls to try anything like that, i was just thinking of / if the get bigger and more bud sites on that some of those big leaves would stop the light getting through. I wasnt going to do it yet, maybe week 1 or 2 into flower

One thing I have been reading, mind you every other opinion is out there, is that any training, stressing, you want to do it at least a few days before flip. I get the, 'stress it so it boosts production' thing but doing it before flip makes sense to me. For what it is worth.

printer said:

One thing I have been reading, mind you every other opinion is out there, is that any training, stressing, you want to do it at least a few days before flip. I get the, 'stress it so it boosts production' thing but doing it before flip makes sense to me. For what it is worth.

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I will stick to that then printer, im new and you know a lot more than i do, i just thought the more leaves in veg would make for bigger buds in flower, plus i thought stripping them at only 4 weeks old may of been to soon. Thank you for the thumbs up mate and i will take your points on board, and do it that way.

jonnylongton said:

I will stick to that then printer, im new and you know a lot more than i do, i just thought the more leaves in veg would make for bigger buds in flower, plus i thought stripping them at only 4 weeks old may of been to soon. Thank you for the thumbs up mate and i will take your points on board, and do it that way.

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Your original plan is better. I always stop pruning a week or two before the flip. Repot then too.
Stress at the flip, usually stunts growth. Did it intentionally for years when i didnt have the headroom and wanted to eliminate the preflower/early flower stretch.
More leaves in veg speeds growth.

Boatguy said:

Your original plan is better. I always stop pruning a week or two before the flip. Repot then too.
Stress at the flip, usually stunts growth. Did it intentionally for years when i didnt have the headroom and wanted to eliminate the preflower/early flower stretch.
More leaves in veg speeds growth.

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thanks mate, your last sentence was all i was wondering. So instead of doing them next week (week 4 veg and then flip) i will do it end of week 1 in flower. Having said that they dont grow very tall by all acounts mate

printer said:

One thing I have been reading, mind you every other opinion is out there, is that any training, stressing, you want to do it at least a few days before flip. I get the, 'stress it so it boosts production' thing but doing it before flip makes sense to me. For what it is worth.

Click to expand...

Nice one for that printer, ive also read that snapping the stems but be careful not to break the outer skin and that sends more nutrients to the injured stem and with more nutrients going there it makes it grow bigger buds !!! seems hard to believe but i have seen a pic on a site with the stem with a big notch in it where it was snapped and the bud what was on it was impressive. It may be called some kind of training but with being new i forgot what they called the exact procedure mate.