# trimming leafs for bloom



## cutthoatish420 (Aug 17, 2011)

How much ofvtue leaves am i supposed to trim during bloom


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## dman1234 (Aug 17, 2011)

cutthoatish420 said:
			
		

> How much ofvtue leaves am i supposed to trim during bloom


 
In Bloom? None, not a single leaf, nada, zero.   :bolt:


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## 4u2sm0ke (Aug 17, 2011)

dman1234 said:
			
		

> In Bloom? None, not a single leaf, nada, zero.


 
:aok:

take care and be safe


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## Locked (Aug 17, 2011)

Oh geez.......not this debate yet again.     I am keeping my mouth shut...


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## cutthoatish420 (Aug 17, 2011)

?????? What about right before bloom


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## Locked (Aug 17, 2011)

cutthoatish420 said:
			
		

> ?????? What about right before bloom



Most people subscribe to the belief that you shldnt remove fan leaves at all....some believe it helps get light to places that are being blocked by fan leaves.

I can tell you that most here believe the first.....the leaves are the solar panels and removing them only hurts your yield in the end.

I myself will remove the bottom 1/4 of the plant and that is pretty much it. Removing the sucker branches or popcorn bud branches as they are sometime called helps with airflow down low and in my opinion helps concentrate the plants energy on the remaining 3/4 of branches.  I do that a week before the flip.  Jmo


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 17, 2011)

None.  Why would you believe that you should trim leaves before bloom?  The fan leaves are the solar panels that take light, nutrients, and co2 and turn it into THC.


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## Killuminati420 (Aug 18, 2011)

lol defoliating is what most growers do. idk where you're from but in northern california and oregon all experienced growers defoliate. otherwise you end up with light airy nothing buds on the inside. you dont need the yellow leaves, if your plant stresses from you pruning it thats just sad.


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## Hick (Aug 18, 2011)

Removing the fan leaves from a plant, is comparable to pulling all of someones teeth, then giving them steak.  It isn't beneficial. The 'buds/pistlls do not and can not utilize light, only the green portions "Photosynthesize" (hXXp://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html) and the large fan leaves provide for the most of it.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 18, 2011)

LOL--I always kind of thought of it like cutting off your legs so you weighed less so you could run the marathon better.

Psst--I never cut fan leaves off and I never end up with light airy buds.  IMO, you are far more likely to get light airy buds if you cut the fan leaves off.  Many will, however, trim off entire branches from the bottom part of the plant to encourage more growth at the top.  I personally do not know any experienced growers who strip the leaves off their plants.  Plants will drop yellowing leaves when they have pulled all the nutrients from them.


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## nvthis (Aug 18, 2011)

Hick said:
			
		

> The 'buds/pistlls do not and can not utilize light, only the green portions "Photosynthesize" (hXXp://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html) and the large fan leaves provide for the most of it.


 
So buds do not have chlorophyll, Hick?


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## OGKushman (Aug 18, 2011)

Simple Question to ask yourself.

If you remove the biggest lushest leaves from the top, are you positive the light is shining down the new hole directly on the ...um....? Lower, smaller, less productive parts of the plant...like the stems. 


Dont cut a leaf ever. Not unless it dies.


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## FUM (Aug 18, 2011)

I'm going along with Hamster Lewis on this one. Growing in green house (GH) I have trouble with PM. I also take out the bottom 1/4 of the plant (popcorn's buds) to allow more air flow through the plant(s) and (hopefully) imitating PM. If I don't I'll have PM all over the whole GH/patch. I'm all with keeping all the shade leafs that your able to,as long as the PM stays in check. I've got at least one fan or more per plant in our GH. Jmo. Green blessings to you all.


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## OGKushman (Aug 18, 2011)

removing lower branches is a method called lollipopping this can be beneficial, but removing upper leaves is never wanted.


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## Maarick (Aug 18, 2011)

Hick said:
			
		

> Removing the fan leaves from a plant, is comparable to pulling all of someones teeth, then giving them steak.  It isn't beneficial. The 'buds/pistlls do not and can not utilize light, only the green portions "Photosynthesize" (hXXp://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html) and the large fan leaves provide for the most of it.



so which is it? they dont utilize or they do?
tht link doesnt prove anything either
someones misinformed lol


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## tcbud (Aug 18, 2011)

I take some of the lower small branches off myself (the very small offshoots from major branches), from some plants and not others.  Doesn't seem to be much difference that I can see, except loosing those few popcorn buds that I dont want anyway (by the time your down to trimming popcorn on Outdoor, your wanting to use it for hash or not even bother with it)  I NEVER take a leaf off my girls unless it is yellow and drying up.  Hence I have yellow leaves on my plants.  The first season I grew, I was stricken terrified that my plants were dying when they yellowed.  They weren't they were doing exactly as they should.

Good Luck to you, my advise is leave the leaf always.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Aug 18, 2011)

Im :stoned:


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## dman1234 (Aug 18, 2011)

Maarick said:
			
		

> someones misinformed lol


 
My money says its you.

Trimming lower growth late in veg or early in flower is not the same thing as removing healthy fan leaves because your confussed as to how the plant uses the light it is provided.


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## Hick (Aug 18, 2011)

nvthis said:
			
		

> So buds do not have chlorophyll, Hick?



the "green" parts of plants contain chlorophyll, "pistill" aren't green. .. 
AND...... the small portions of leaf in the buds has very little surface area to provide for photosynthesis, and should be protected by trichomes, as well. 
 THE lions share of photosynthesis occurs in the big fan leaves.

  Looks like over 100 years of combined experience saying "no".. don't cut em off.... :confused2:


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 18, 2011)

Maarick said:
			
		

> so which is it? they dont utilize or they do?
> tht link doesnt prove anything either
> someones misinformed lol



LOL--are you saying that Hick is wrong? 

I was going to inform you of your misinformation, but I see that Hick has already addressed it.  Only green parts of a plant photosynthesis and pistils are not green.

I often take off small lower branches, too.  This is entirely different than removing fan leaves.


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## nvthis (Aug 18, 2011)

Hick said:
			
		

> THE lions share of photosynthesis occurs in the big fan leaves.


 
Interesting, I cannot argue there. However, if this were true in it's entirety, then buds would develope in a very balanced and symmetrical order, and we know they do not. If light comes in more on one side of a cola then the other, the cola will be much larger on that side of the stem, no matter how large or gregarious the fan leaves might be. Further more pistils are fractional and hardly worth notice, while the chlorophyll rich calyx is what make up almost all of the bud, at least the part that counts (arguabley along with leaf matter. Some plants quite a bit more than others, obviously, not disregarding trich coverage). I think that stating _"_buds[calyx]/pistil_ do not and can not utilize light"_ is stepping out of science a bit.

I am not suggesting that defoliation is profitable as I do not practice it in flower. Only suggesting that this topic always seems to be mired down in a hundred years of opinion. It amazes me the torture we can put these plants through and, yet, this _particular_ topic is sincerely taboo... For me, the jury is still out...

It's good chattin' with you again Hick.. Feel like we haven't been in the same thread in forever..


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## luluxiu (Aug 18, 2011)

I will remove the bottom 1 / 4 of the plant, which is almost the same. Remove sucker branches or popcorn bud branches, as they are called to help with the air of a down low, in my opinion, help to focus the rest of the branches 3 / 4 of the plant energy.


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## Hick (Aug 19, 2011)

nvthis said:
			
		

> Interesting, I cannot argue there. However, if this were true in it's entirety, then buds would develope in a very balanced and symmetrical order, and we know they do not. If light comes in more on one side of a cola then the other, the cola will be much larger on that side of the stem, no matter how large or gregarious the fan leaves might be. Further more pistils are fractional and hardly worth notice, while the chlorophyll rich calyx is what make up almost all of the bud, at least the part that counts (arguabley along with leaf matter. Some plants quite a bit more than others, obviously, not disregarding trich coverage). I think that stating _"_buds[calyx]/pistil_ do not and can not utilize light"_ is stepping out of science a bit.
> 
> I am not suggesting that defoliation is profitable as I do not practice it in flower. Only suggesting that this topic always seems to be mired down in a hundred years of opinion. It amazes me the torture we can put these plants through and, yet, this _particular_ topic is sincerely taboo... For me, the jury is still out...
> 
> It's good chattin' with you again Hick.. Feel like we haven't been in the same thread in forever..



well nv, I suppose technically you're right , if ut's green, it can/does photosynthesize. But to what extent?..  Personally, I dont believe I have ever witnessed a bud tht didn''t develop 'symmetrically' around the stem. As long as there isn't something physically blocking it's growth. Like the meristem.  
  When I first started growing, my mentor preached "pluck, pluck, pluck..."  I would sometimes spend an hour in a guerrilla patch, pinching off healthy fat fan leaves. AND...of I fo say so myself, they did quite well. But, they do "MUCH" better since I stopped "pulling their teeth" . 
  They will take, survive extensive abuse, I just don't believe any abuse "benefits" the plants.. 
  I guess I have to go again, with Clarke...


> There is really no confirmed method of forcing increased THC  production.* Many techniques have developed through misinterpretations of  ancient tradition*. In Colombia, farmers girdle the stalk of the main  stem, which cuts off the flow of water and nutrients between the roots  and the shoots. This technique may not raise the final THC level, but it  does cause rapid maturation and yellow gold coloration in the floral  cluster (Partridge 1973). Impaling with nails, pine splinters, balls of  opium, and stones are clandestine folk methods of promoting flowering,  taste and THC production. However none of these have any valid  documentation from the original culture or *scientific basis*. Symbiotic  relationships between herbs in companion plantings are known to  influence the production of essential oils. Experiments might be carried  out with different herbs, such as stinging nettles, as companion plants  for Cannabis, in an effort to stimulate resin production. In the  future, agricultural techniques may be discovered which specifically  promote THC biosynthesis.
> *In general, it is considered most important that the plant be healthy  for it to produce high THC levels. *The genotype of the plant, a result  of seed selection, is the primary factor which determines the THC  levels. After that,* the provision of adequate organic nutrients, water,  sunlight, fresh air, growing space, and time for maturation seems to be  the key to producing high-THC Cannabis in all circumstances. Stress  resulting from inadequacies in the environment limits the true  expression of phenotype and cannabinoid potential.* Cannabis finds a  normal adaptive defense in the production of THC laden resins, and it  seems *logical that a healthy plant is best able to raise this defense.*  Forcing plants to produce is a perverse ideal and alien to the  principles of organic agriculture. Plants are not machines that can be  worked faster and harder to produce more. *The life processes of the  plant rely on delicate natural balances aimed at the ultimate survival  of the plant until it reproduces. The most a Cannabis cultivator or  researcher can expect to do is provide all the requisites for healthy  growth and guide the plant until it matures.*


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## 4u2sm0ke (Aug 19, 2011)

Good Read everyone


:48:


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## nvthis (Aug 19, 2011)

Hick said:
			
		

> When I first started growing, my mentor preached "pluck, pluck, pluck..."


 
We all knew you was the main mother plucker  



			
				Hick said:
			
		

> But to what extent?.. Personally, I dont believe I have ever witnessed a bud tht didn''t develop 'symmetrically' around the stem.


 
This has been a point of focus for me for a bit. Yes, to what extent? And I might add here I was speaking strictly from an indoor POV.. I have never intentionally photographed this, but will see what I have.


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## BarkBuster20 (Aug 20, 2011)

just had to take off 5-6 top fan leaves off my 6 1/2 foot PK, something (mountain beaver) got into the roots, top started to wilt, rest of plant is healthy. I guess that is one example of when you need to take fan leaves off, better removed than to cause mold.


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## tcbud (Aug 20, 2011)

BarkBuster20 said:
			
		

> just had to take off 5-6 top fan leaves off my 6 1/2 foot PK, something (mountain beaver) got into the roots, top started to wilt, rest of plant is healthy. I guess that is one example of when you need to take fan leaves off, better removed than to cause mold.



MOUNTAIN BEAVER?  oh my.  Really? Mountain Beaver?  Up in your plant?  Dang.

I think they also call taking the lower growth "Chicken Legging" the plant.


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