Fan leaves growing on Colas, remove or preserve?

[TomH]

I notice a few rather sizable fan leaves growing out of the top colas on my plants.
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One is middle of week 7, the other in week 6.
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logic tells me to leave them in place, good for pulling in light, good for keeping in moisture when drying, but it might be throwing some shade on the lower colas.
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Is it recommended to remove the large fans or leave them in place?

 

[ArtfulCodger]

I notice a few rather sizable fan leaves growing out of the top colas on my plants.
.
One is middle of week 7, the other in week 6.
.
logic tells me to leave them in place, good for pulling in light, good for keeping in moisture when drying, but it might be throwing some shade on the lower colas.
.
Is it recommended to remove the large fans or leave them in place?

You'll probably get a range of responses. I remove any fan that's shading a bud or bud site. I leave the rest, for the reasons you mentioned.

 

[Eledin]

Since they are almost finished I wouldnt even bother removing them unless the shadow they cast affects several buds leaves not just one. Your logic is right, defoliating more than the bottom part of the plant is just gonna hurt your final harvest since the plant has less solar panels to work with, but if its creating shade on the leaves of a decent bud or more I would trimm it a bit or if that is not enough remove it entirely.

 

[Madmax]

I keep my top 3 and take the rest.unless the top leaves are really close I will take the odd one..most of the time they are open enough to leave..won’t really make all that much difference at week 7 &8 checkout Some of your buds under shade you will notice some are frosty af..

 

[Eledin]

I keep my top 3 and take the rest.unless the top leaves are really close I will take the odd one..most of the time they are open enough to leave..won’t really make all that much difference at week 7 &8 checkout Some of your buds under shade you will notice some are frosty af..

I agree, most of the times enough light is coming in anyway. More than shadowing buds you should care about shadowing other leaves. Buds exposed to light do nothing but lose terpenes, but they regenerate during the dark period. As long as that stem is getting plenty of light I dont mind a bif of shadow.

 

[Mothman]

Since they are almost finished I wouldnt even bother removing them unless the shadow they cast affects several buds leaves not just one. Your logic is right, defoliating more than the bottom part of the plant is just gonna hurt your final harvest since the plant has less solar panels to work with, but if its creating shade on the leaves of a decent bud or more I would trimm it a bit or if that is not enough remove it entirely.

I’m with @Eledin. And even if blocking more than one bud, I think long and hard before clipping. If I’m not sure on the trade off, I wait a day. Or two.