Thanks! Most are so big, they cover alot of space. I just wanted the lower buds to get as much sunlight as possible. They are only three weeks into flowering. I didnt wanna take a chance at shocking the plant.
I personaly trim them. and my girls are 9 feet tall and im getting over a Lb per. I have a method. When the child growt is bbig enough i cut the parent/ fan or water leaves. i agree with them blocking too much sun. how ever i dont trim the fans from the very top of the colas just the ones lower on the branches. you need as much sun as you can get on the lower branches. I look at it like this, If im trimming a fan from the lower part of branch, since we all know that top colas produce the best, id rather cut a fan from a lower part of a branch that is blocking a potential top cola. thats my advice. trim those bitches, it will promote more vigorous growth also.
In my greenhouse, I sometimes trim them only just a tad to reduce mold issues..as I don't always have good winds/ventilation (no electric in my GH). But those big fan leaves are powerhouses for photosynthesis and other good stuff.
When growing outdoors conserving space is not a issue. Instead of trimming, you may want to try tying some branches down (supercropping) and spread them out. This way you won't have to trim anything off and it will increase your yield as well. It really lets the entire plant breathe nice too and gets plenty of sunshine. Wherever I have extra space I prefer to separate the branches and avoid trimming all together. And you will get a shitload of nice big main cola buds.
I think super-cropping is less stressful on the plants than topping or FIM'ing them. It also is a nice stealth tactic as they no longer look like MJ christmas trees.
Thanks! Most are so big, they cover alot of space. I just wanted the lower buds to get as much sunlight as possible. They are only three weeks into flowering. I didnt wanna take a chance at shocking the plant.
When I think leaves I think "solar panels" the energy from the light is the power of photosynthesis. The more leaves collecting all this power the better. Just my 2 ¢ Happy gardening..........
Here is my 2 cents, They are about 9 feet tall and tied down and would proably be 10 or more if they werent tied down, and it looks like im going to have to tie them down again to keep buds from smashing the top. You dont want big leafs making an impenitrable canopy that keeps the sun from getting through to the lower branches. plus if you pick the fan leaves it promotes more vigerous growth oon the node you picked it from. But the parent leaf is important untill the node becomes large enough to collect its own light. look at this pic and tell me if my method isnt working.
Thank you Kolah. Its been lots of tests an trials, Info from any differant sources, and agian tests and trials. also gained alot of good info from great farmers here. and smokedatshyt, Kolah is right you should definatly be super croping! it increases the yeilds and prevents shade from being as big of an issue. When i supper crop i still apply my trimming method though. its a gaurenteed double whamie.