Pruning Fan Leaves??

J

justpretending

Member
Hello All,

Im new here and on my first grow and have a question about pruning. I have a couple of friends who are showing me the ropes and they each have VERY different techniques for pruning.

Method 1: Pull off a LOT of the large fan leaves during veg. and early flower to allow light to penetrate the canopy. I have several plants in flower like this and they seem to be doing well, but at some point they stopped producing fan leaves and dont have many. I know some people use the fan leaves as a sign of maturation (when they turn yellow and drop) and it seems to me that the plant may use them to collect light.

Method 2: Dont touch them. Ever. Until harvest. This produces a much denser canopy and looks great (I have a few in veg like this right now) but there is no way any light is getting past the top of the canopy.

I know there are as many different ways of growing this plant as there are growers. I am just wondering what some other people do and why.

If it would help, there are some pictures of a mature "pruned" plant in my other post in the general forum titled "Identification Help??"

Thanks for the help. Have a great night.
 
herbose

herbose

Well-Known Member
I choose door number 2. What's the point of getting light down inside the plant if you pull off the solar panels that turn light into biomass (buds in this case). I never could understand that. All the leaves contribute to the wellbeing of the plant.
Leaves turn yellow because growers stop feeding with nitrogen. A healthy, well fed plant will have beautiful green fan leaves right up to harvest.

Read this whole thread:

https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/158144-never-ending-abuse-phosphorous-bloom.html
 
djlifeline

djlifeline

Well-Known Member
DO NOT PRUNE EVER
NOT IN VEG
NOT IN FLOWER
JUST NO.

The fan leaves provide the energy for making/growing the bud so why stop it doing that? By all means if your not a grower who likes to keep his plants green during harvest with nitrogen and lets them yellow off like myself (may change my mind another time) then feel free to prune off the dead/severly dieing leaves but the plant can do this naturally so no need perticularly.

Just my 2 cents.
 
B

bigwheel

Well-Known Member
Don't mess with the fan leaves unless while in bloom you have one or several which is blocking out the light to a bud underneath. If so just cut off part of the offending leaf. Up to but not exceeding about half its length. Dont ever cut a full leaf off the bush. Now I have no problem with fimming and topping while in veg but would not go around cutting the fan leaves. That be sorta like ripping off your Satellite Dish and then expect to be able to watch Sponge Bob on TV.

BW
 
herbose

herbose

Well-Known Member
bigwheel said:
Don't mess with the fan leaves unless while in bloom you have one or several which is blocking out the light to a bud underneath. If so just cut off part of the offending leaf. Up to but not exceeding about half its length. Dont ever cut a full leaf off the bush. Now I have no problem with fimming and topping while in veg but would not go around cutting the fan leaves. That be sorta like ripping off your Satellite Dish and then expect to be able to watch Sponge Bob on TV.

BW
Click to expand...
I agree with everything you said except this part and here's why. Although the bud leaves and buds themselves have chlorophyll, the fan leaves have far more surface area for photosynthesis and the good stuff from them go to the same place as the good stuff from bud and bud leaf photosynthesis.
 
jawbrodt

jawbrodt

Well-Known Member
I only cut off leaves that are almost dead, and the lowest branches that aren't going to produce anything. Very rarely, I'll cut off a fan leaf, but it's not necessary so there's no real reason for me doing it.(except being stoned.LOL) I'll vote for option #2. :)
 
nelsonjacob

nelsonjacob

Active Member
i agree with all this, dont ever take off the sun/fan leaves, i wait until mine pretty much fall of the plant, i have noticed that taking off these ,eaves can slow down the growth of the plant, i did it on accendent one time, and didnt like the way the plant turned out at all, it acted as if i took its main energy source away
 
J

justpretending

Member
ok, seems pretty unanimous. dont touch'em. i think i will go with that plan from here on out. is there anything i can do for the plants that have already been molested? Im thinking just let the veg plant veg for a bit longer and grow more, but the ones that are in flower already? they arent growing any new fans at this point :(

Thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.

Peace.
 
jawbrodt

jawbrodt

Well-Known Member
^Sorry, but they won't sprout any new fan leaves while in bloom, so all you can really do is take care of them and let them finish. They should do okay as long as you didn't cut too many off. And yes, I'd veg the other one a little longer until it looks nice and strong again. It shouldn't take too long to recover and fill out, 2 weeks at most. :)
 
riddleme

riddleme

Well-Known Member
Plant in the 3rd pic is in trouble, very unhappy!

Good to see so many that are saying keep the fan leaves, seems like things are finally turnin in the right direction :bigjoint:
 
J

justpretending

Member
same plant in all three pics. it has always had a droopy sort of attitude. tending to curl and cup. i thought it was a too much water issue, but its clones do the same thing in aero. i think its the strain maybe. not sure though as it is from bag seed. there are more pics and clone pics here - https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/316394-identification-help.html. I wanted to see what folks thought it may be. Im guessing indica dominant. but like the forum says, im a newb.

anyway, other than the leaves wanting to droop, curl or cup it has been a very healthy and happy plant from what i can tell.
 
jawbrodt

jawbrodt

Well-Known Member
^Those leaves are curled like that because they got a little too much nitrogen. That strain probably needs less than the other plants, and that's likely why the others are fine. Remember that with the clones, and adjust your feeding accordingly. :wink:
 
J

justpretending

Member
Thanks for the tip.

That is interesting. I have (especially after reading the link that herbose posted earlier) been putting a lot of effort into making sure there is no nitrogen deficiency. I guess maybe a little over compensated in this case.

Should I flush it? Or just cut back on the nutes? or increase P and K? or let it ride?
 
jawbrodt

jawbrodt

Well-Known Member
^It looks like it got hit pretty hard, so it would probably be happy if you gave it a flushing. I'd then let it dry out, then go to the bloom nutes for the next watering/feeding. :)
 
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