LST and the Big Fan Leaves

[Bleek187]

all i know is... if i dont cut off my fan leaves ... the undergrowth will start to die... if i do cut off the fan leaves... the undergrowth takes off and gives me bigger better clones... so whatever... maby if i had 209323 more lights on the plants i wouldnt need to do this but you cant tell me im wrong... i do it and it works perfectly for me.. dif strokes for dif folks i guess

 

[JBonez]

Gentleman.

 

[NorCalHal]

Bleek, it's not that you are just wrong, you just look at it differently. I am sure it works for you, but there are better ways of training a mother.
As far as pulling fan leaves off of FLOWERING plants, that is not wise AT ALL.
Cutting out the undergrowth is by far the better way to go, if you want a good yeild that is.

If you cut out the undergrowth, and left the fan leaves alone, you will get more clones faster. The plant will get bigger, thus giving u more shoots to cut in less time.

 

[PercyCultivator]

i might as well get my little piece in about this subject!
i DO cut fan leaves off and IN MY OPINION (you may have your own) its GREATTTTT!
I do it strategically... once i have around 3 - 4 pairs of leaves i will begin to remove one or two of the LOWER fan leaves to expose the immature bud sites, and in conjunction with squeezing the stem within about 2 -3 days the gap where the fan leaf was has been filled by the lower budsites that have grown up into its space. PLEASE NOTE I ONLY EVER CUT FAN LEAVES THAT COME OFF THE MAIN STEM, NEVER ANY OTHERS!!!
Anyways, by the time the bud sites have grown some more fan leaves should have emerged at the top of the plant meaning i can cut of another fan leave off 1 - 2 nodes above where i last removed leaves.... this then allows the budsites that were exposed previously to develop further and the ones that were being shaded by higher fan leaves to be exposed and grow big!!

All in all in results in all the lower branches that would be underdeveloped to end up being all most as tall as the plant itself. I almost end up with a table of budsites.

Basically i believe you can cut fan leaves as long as you dont go crazy!
Oh and in a 1.2 x 1.2 x 2.0m space i managed to get 6 oz + of two separate plants under a 600w light (12 oz minimum in total off TWO plants!!) so to me cutting off fan leaves isnt an issue.

Hope my info has been helpfull

p.s. I NEVER CUT ANY LEAVES OFF IN FLOWER, I ONLY DO ALL MY FAN LEAF CUTTING IN VEG STAGE!!

 

[PercyCultivator]

Hick is correct man. Fan leaves are the "solar" panels that provide the needed energy to promote health bud growth.

If you feel that the leaves are blocking the lower part of the plant, then cut off the lower branches that are getting no light. It is FAR better to trim up the lower part on the plant then to pull leaves trying to get light to lower branches that will produce inferior buds.

Trust us, you will be happier!

i have to disagree in my opinion!!
by removing the fan leaves carefully and strategically ive had the LOWEST of branches that come out of the plant stem strech up to be as tall as the whole plant itself and by keeping it level with the top of the plant by bending the top over i have ended up getting highly developed colas as a result. The more sites that get light the more bud youll get, so cutting of the lower branches just means you loose out on bud!

 

[Hick]

:confused2:...

 

[godspeedsuckah]

I have cut myself shaving before and it kinda stung.

 

[NorCalHal]

i have to disagree in my opinion!!
by removing the fan leaves carefully and strategically ive had the LOWEST of branches that come out of the plant stem strech up to be as tall as the whole plant itself and by keeping it level with the top of the plant by bending the top over i have ended up getting highly developed colas as a result. The more sites that get light the more bud youll get, so cutting of the lower branches just means you loose out on bud!

You hit a good point. Some lower branches are viable,as long as the tops can reach the upper canopy. In this case, I would just "strip" that low branch of the lower nodes and leave the top.

But really, you shouldn't cut good fan leaves out to "promote" this. If the lower brach is going to produce good bud, it will reach the canopy. But you still want to strip that branch of lower growth.

Folks, don't take this as just "chopping" off all nranches 8" up the stem. What we are talking about is stripping the "undergrowth", which means leaving tops of branches, but stripping the shaded areas. You have to understand that the light getting to a bud site is not what is creating the bud. It is the light being gathered by the fan leaves that create the energy and "food" for the bud site.

You are correct by saying that leaving all this will get you more "bud". But, if you clean up all that lower undergrowth, you will get less bud, but your buds will be bigger, thus giving you more weight.

 

[godspeedsuckah]

I do the same thing as you NorCal, I do not do a true lollipopping (spelling) of my plants, but I do remove some of the lower branches for good airflow under the plants. I have never seen, with my own experiences, any buds on the lower branches that I would miss by doing this.

 

[Tater]

I like how the experts in this thread spout opinions while those of us which have done the required reading assigned by the teacher get to quote facts. I challenge anyone to go read a botany book either on MJ or a plant of similar structure and then come back here and tell me that cutting fan leaves off is a good idea. If you can then one of two things happened. You didn't understand what you were reading or you are to stubborn to admit that you were wrong. Fan leaves and strong root systems are what create big buds, and big pumpkins, and apples or roses. Without these two things there would be no food for the plant to use to make these wonderful thing. By cutting the fan leaves off you force the plant to focus on regrowing growth that it has already once produced, and while doing that it will not develop new root structure (if it does it will be at a much much slower rate) until it has replaced the damage you have inflicted on it. Now if you hadn't of stripped those fan leaves off it could have concentrated on NEW growth and NEW root growth. I'm pretty sure I explained this once already but maybe I wasn't clear the first time.

 

[Hick]

..AND employing .."in conjunction with squeezing the stem"... Supercropping, as Percy says above, will encourage those lower branches to 'catch up' to the canopy..
But I agree whole heartedly, that removing fan leaves should seldom, if "ever" be recommended. nor is it 'beneficial'..

 

[omnigr33n]

I don't understand why people just can't use pipe cleaner to just train and move them out of the way. Its not hard and is way less stressful for the plant.

 

[FizGig]

Hick is correct man. Fan leaves are the "solar" panels that provide the needed energy to promote health bud growth.

If you feel that the leaves are blocking the lower part of the plant, then cut off the lower branches that are getting no light. It is FAR better to trim up the lower part on the plant then to pull leaves trying to get light to lower branches that will produce inferior buds.

Trust us, you will be happier!

True that. - I normally remove the lower 1/3 leaves, just for this reason...
I also believe, a "strategic" removal of a leaf or 2, that will allow more light to filter to the overall canopy, can be beneficial in the long-run.

And IMO, I learned this from a "pro" that's been growing some supreme weed (inside & outdoors) for years..."To each their own."

 

[Flyinghigh]

Just go and Buy some CFL's and hang them around the bottom of ur grow, that if your not getting penatration from light up above.. I do that when in Flowering and maybe during Veggie and that depends on how many plants I got going on in the room.

Myself I wouldn't cut any fan leafs off till they turn yellow at the end of grow..