Are fan leaves responsible for overall plant

or just their own corresponding nodes bud?

Like if I have a cola with all dead leaves at the top but several large healthy fans lower down, will those fans help that main cola fatten up at the top or do they just sort of power the buds closest to them?

My observations in my limited exxperience is as the plant finishes up the fan leaf goe yellow and that corresponding bud fattens up.. so thats what has made me think about it...

Your fan leaves act like solar panels. Dead leaves can be removed as they no longer serve a purpose, but the ones that are still alive will help your plant continue to bud/flower.

Edit: It's not really a way to tell that your plant is almost finished by the leaves turning yellow. If you give your plant plenty of nitrogen throughout and even a higher% during flower your leaves will stay alive and green.

Every leaf on the plant is important and serves a purpose. I never cut anything off my plant, if its dead and the plant no longer has use for it it will let it go. God made it that way. God is the master grower, I take lessons from him. Good Luck.

This is basically what you are looking for. Notice the leaves still green and healthy. She has 2 more weeks of flower before being done. If you keep your leaves healthy you will be rewarded with bigger buds at harvest.

Fan leaves are the main factories for the plant. They make and store energy for the plants and metabolize sugar and certain nutrients. I tell everyone that asks the question to not touch the leaves unless the leaf is dead or near dead. That's the plant telling you that this particular leaf is not necessary anymore. Until then, I don't touch them.

yes yes ,I know this. But i have a plant with a problem, i dunno if it's burn or a micro nutrient deficiency. shes still getting N at week 6ish flowering and her lower fans are all still green and healthy but all those little leaves at the top and a lot of the upper fan leaves all are dying , the tips and outer leaf goes yellow, then crispy.. then i yank it off (the crispy part)and in a ffew days its progressed further... in a few more days i'm gonna have to just yank them off completely so i dont have them dying and receeding into the bud..

so i will have a situation of 0 leaves on the top with nice laves at the bottom..

shes an 8 week strain, so i only have 12 days or so left..

smokejoint said:

yes yes ,I know this. But i have a plant with a problem, i dunno if it's burn or a micro nutrient deficiency. shes still getting N at week 6ish flowering and her lower fans are all still green and healthy but all those little leaves at the top and a lot of the upper fan leaves all are dying , the tips and outer leaf goes yellow, then crispy.. then i yank it off (the crispy part)and in a ffew days its progressed further... in a few more days i'm gonna have to just yank them off completely so i dont have them dying and receeding into the bud..

so i will have a situation of 0 leaves on the top with nice laves at the bottom..

shes an 8 week strain, so i only have 12 days or so left..

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Don't stress it then. You got plenty of leaf matter left and she is almost finished. 12 days isn't that long and 2 days short of my coming harvest.

smokejoint said:

or just their own corresponding nodes bud?

Like if I have a cola with all dead leaves at the top but several large healthy fans lower down, will those fans help that main cola fatten up at the top or do they just sort of power the buds closest to them?

My observations in my limited exxperience is as the plant finishes up the fan leaf goe yellow and that corresponding bud fattens up.. so thats what has made me think about it...

Click to expand...

Yes. All the resources are shared with in the plant.
some parts of the plant like the Cola get more resources, all of the Buds on the ends of the branches get more resources too.
as you get closer to the shoot buds get smaller, as you go down the plant buds also get smaller.
This is because the plant wind pollinates. The larger buds are the buds most exposed to the wind. They have the best chance of pollination.

smokejoint said:

yes yes ,I know this. But i have a plant with a problem, i dunno if it's burn or a micro nutrient deficiency. shes still getting N at week 6ish flowering and her lower fans are all still green and healthy but all those little leaves at the top and a lot of the upper fan leaves all are dying , the tips and outer leaf goes yellow, then crispy.. then i yank it off (the crispy part)and in a ffew days its progressed further... in a few more days i'm gonna have to just yank them off completely so i dont have them dying and receeding into the bud..

so i will have a situation of 0 leaves on the top with nice laves at the bottom..

shes an 8 week strain, so i only have 12 days or so left..

Click to expand...

Yellow and crispy at the top usually means heat burn. Some cases it has to do with the transport system of the plant, starting at the roots, that's not able to process nutes up the stem and into the smaller leaves. If it's not either of these then I'd say your plant just can't metabolize photosynthesis because so many leaves have been taken off. Once it starts, it's hard to counter act. I'd say use foliar sprays but since you're so close to finishing, I wouldn't do that. Leave all the leaves you can on this plant, excluding the dead ones. The plant is in shock and it's impossible to correct at this point.

SirGreenThumb said:

Don't stress it then. You got plenty of leaf matter left and she is almost finished. 12 days isn't that long and 2 days short of my coming harvest.

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Yeh i'm tryng not to stress it.. but its annoying having an ugly plant She looked so pretty just a few weeks ago..

topfuel29 said:

Yes. All the resources are shared with in the plant.
some parts of the plant like the Cola get more resources, all of the Buds on the ends of the branches get more resources too.
as you get closer to the shoot buds get smaller, as you go down the plant buds also get smaller.
This is because the plant wind pollinates. The larger buds are the buds most exposed to the wind. They have the best chance of pollination.

Click to expand...

so the leaves lower down will still help.. thanks.

willytoetoe said:

Yellow and crispy at the top usually means heat burn. Some cases it has to do with the transport system of the plant, starting at the roots, that's not able to process nutes up the stem and into the smaller leaves. If it's not either of these then I'd say your plant just can't metabolize photosynthesis because so many leaves have been taken off. Once it starts, it's hard to counter act. I'd say use foliar sprays but since you're so close to finishing, I wouldn't do that. Leave all the leaves you can on this plant, excluding the dead ones. The plant is in shock and it's impossible to correct at this point.

Click to expand...

I've been told heat stress by others, but i don't know how .. she is only under 250 watts at about 8 inches away.. i can hold my hand under fine.. and some of the leaves dying with these symptoms are a good 12 - 14 inches away fro the 250.. no heat.

I havent actually taken any full leaves off.. just parts of each leaf.. if part of a leaf is dead i give it a hair cut.. but now its at the stage alot of the leaves have had so many haircuts they are nearly down to the stem..

So i'm thinking its some sort of nutrient disorder.. really cant see how it could be heat though not saying its impossible.. i have no idea..

I *may* have been overzealus with epsom salt..

is it possible a magnesium overdose is locking something out? would these symptoms suggest it?


here, i found a pic online that looks identicle to my problem, labled heat stress,

BUT this is happening to leaves like 14 inches away from a 250..

smokejoint said:

shes an 8 week strain, so i only have 12 days or so left..

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Don't worry man, she's at the end of her life. You'll finish no problem, so close like your saying.
I wouldn't worry about to much at this point.

topfuel29 said:

Don't worry man, she's at the end of her life. You'll finish no problem, so close like your saying.
I wouldn't worry about to much at this point.

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I second that

cool thanks !