So I lollipopped my ladies last night and I took off all growth on the bottom third of each plant except for fan leaves. I’ve read in a few places that fan leaves will provide sugars to developing buds. Obviously they also help to feed the plant by absorbing sunlight. What about everybody else? I know a lot of people like to get rid of fan leaves. Why? When? And how many? I’m interested lol.
I always leaf them alone unless they are directly blocking light to a lower bud.
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I kinda went on instinct with my pruning last night. Pruning is a bit scary for a nube lol. Took a couple fan leaves just to have access to some areas to prune but I mostly left them alone. They seem like the worker bees of the plant and it seems wrong to chop ‘em
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I strip EVERYTHING from under the scrog net and strip about 75% of fan leafs a week into flower then the same again each fortnight. Plants love it and it helps with air circulation (prevents bud rot, mold and pm)
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Soulds good to me! My rule of thumb is pluck everything under the first 5 finger leaf set. Top 3 nodes after 5 finger (more If taking clones). Weekish after flower trim bottom 1/3.
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you guys don’t think those fan leaves will provide anything beneficial to the buds? That’s just what i keep reading. When a fan leaf is in the way I’ll tuck it or pluck it, but if it’s not it seems like it’ll help the plant more than harm it so my instinct has been to leave them. I might change my stance on that closer to the end, def don’t want bud rot.
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I’m UK and humidity can be a major pain in the ass for us. I do it mainly to allow more airflow. If I had more control over the humidity I’d likely not be as aggressive with the pruning
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Ah I see. And where I’m at my tent is always between 40-50% humidity and I don’t seem to have a problem with that at all. Pruning is new to me, going off of instinct more than any one school of thought. Love having your guys’ opinions for sure!
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Fan leaves act as a warning system. A lot of deficiencies will begin in older growth first. That in itself is worth keeping it imo. If they don’t get enough light they’ll fall off themself. Yet if its that crowded can be hard cleaning after the fact. Best reason for a scrog grower to pull them imo.
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I struggle to get mine under 70% at times. I’ve a small dehumidifier that I could put in the tent but I doubt it would help very much. I’ve resorted to closing all the windows in the room it’s situated and it helps a lot but obviously that can limit the c02 the plants get.
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Not using the scrog method but I was thinking about it. I guess the environment, growing styles and many other factors come into play when it comes to pruning
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Wow! I’ve never even seen my humidity gage go past 60! I thought maybe having such low humidity would be a problem but it seems ok. Sounds like you have a never ending battle on your hands! You know they have these bags that you put into closets and stuff that trap humidity from the surroundings. U literally end up with a bag of water. Maybe you can get some of those to help supplement the dehumidifier
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I’m dealing with some big ass fan leaves on a 100% indica. Contemplating pulling them since all th axial branching is covered.
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I’m not really concerned about the high humidity but more the other problems it can create. Defoaliating regular helps keep them problems at bay. As long as Air can move around the plants without restriction it lowers the chance of mold and other problems. I’m on top of it and winning at the moment so… if need be ill put a layer of cat litter under the saucers and buckets to help pull moisture out of the area.
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Leaves act as either a source or a sink. When it is getting full sun and photosynthesis is high, it is an energy source. When it gets older and less light, it becomes an energy sink. The plant will move mobile nutrients from the sink when it needs it. We have all seen it where older leaves turn yellow and fall off. So, in my opinion, the plant will keep any leaves it needs. I dont pull any healthy leaves.
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Before I started up again this year, over a decade ago, I grew with no concern for anything at all lol. I did not prune any growth, just topped at fifth and maybe tied branches down to Bush the plant out. Results were OK i thought.
Now i am getting more into it, and want to not only get some buds, but also have them nicer looking and more manageable. For this reason I see that people strip lower growth and fan leaves.
From my research, I am convinced that stripping lower fans does not improve yields, but does reduce the likelihood of pests and rot if you are in an environment that is susceptible to those issues. It also makes getting to the plants, and through the plants, easier for watering an maintenance.
On my last run I stripped the tiny bud sites off lower branches, trying to promote more growth up top, but left the majority of the fan leaves.
My $.02
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I tend to agree with that
I pulled a few to gain access to all the smaller stuff but left most of them. After pulling out all the small shit it seems like there’s plenty of air flow for my girls… I guess it just depends on strains, environments and growing methods
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I never thought of using kitty litter! Sounds like u have a grip on it. Also seems like pruning is extremely subjective and each grower has to use his/her instincts
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Sounds like u and I have the same approach. And yes, after getting rid of all of the other veg besides fan leaves it def made watering a lot easier lol.
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