To Trim or not to Trim?

[Seamaiden]

I absolutely agree with that, to a degree. Apparently, Camellias don't respond well to trimming at certain times. I know there are other plants that you must take similar care with.

My current batch is at week 1, already setting bud sites (this is good for pistil-whipping, but if I do it now I'll have to come back again in a week) and stretching. Lots of filling in happening right now. In another week, legs are shaved and canopy is thinned, bud sites are chosen and the rest are eliminated.

 

[tortuga1503]

Grenbone. Thanks You. As far as when. Well I`m 20 days in bloom and they are doing what you said now. Big bud sites and 2 different strains producing huge leafs. I take the plant off the table and set it on the ground. Than look down at it and cut off leaves that are blocking good bud sites. Thats what I`ve been doing. CAUTIOUSLY.

 

[mdTHC420]

I absolutely agree with that, to a degree. Apparently, Camellias don't respond well to trimming at certain times. I know there are other plants that you must take similar care with.

i thin a lot less when its in flower, like u said, thin, trim, undergrowth, then pretty much let it go removing a few leafs once in a while. in veg it seems to help a bunch tho.

 

[mrdizzle]

ive tested back and forth plucking and not plucking. not plucking will hurt your yeilds and the end quality of the bud that is covered by unneeded fan leaves. at the same time plucking at the wrong time will also hurt your yeild but at least everything will have crystals and not be lime green and larfy

I like to start plucking in veg, not every leaf but enough to open the plant up. this will cause your plants inner branches and future budsite to develop. I then like to do light plucks once a week until day 21 then I stop. nothing to crazy but you open up the plants to allow more light to get inside the plant.

people who pluck no leafs end up with a lot of larf whether or not they like to admit it or not

 

[666elsie]

I fully agree with you Mr D,I do notice the difference,on healty plants.

 

[mdTHC420]

ive tested back and forth plucking and not plucking. not plucking will hurt your yeilds and the end quality of the bud that is covered by unneeded fan leaves. at the same time plucking at the wrong time will also hurt your yeild but at least everything will have crystals and not be lime green and larfy

I like to start plucking in veg, not every leaf but enough to open the plant up. this will cause your plants inner branches and future budsite to develop. I then like to do light plucks once a week until day 21 then I stop. nothing to crazy but you open up the plants to allow more light to get inside the plant.

people who pluck no leafs end up with a lot of larf whether or not they like to admit it or not

could not have said it better myself. larf sucks and is completely avoidable

 

[grenbone]

ive tested back and forth plucking and not plucking. not plucking will hurt your yeilds and the end quality of the bud that is covered by unneeded fan leaves. at the same time plucking at the wrong time will also hurt your yeild but at least everything will have crystals and not be lime green and larfy

I like to start plucking in veg, not every leaf but enough to open the plant up. this will cause your plants inner branches and future budsite to develop. I then like to do light plucks once a week until day 21 then I stop. nothing to crazy but you open up the plants to allow more light to get inside the plant.

people who pluck no leafs end up with a lot of larf whether or not they like to admit it or not

Right on, MrD. I totally agree, except that I usually only remove hurting leaves (dying, spotted, etc) during veg. I usually let as manny leaves and giant fan leaves grow as possible during veg as to create a huge cover and canopy (especially if I'm doing scrog). I do remove big fan leaves here and there while training the plants during veg, but most removal takes place 2-4 weeks into flowering as time dictates. Imo, those who do zero plucking because they think it is a bad thing are dead wrong with their assessments regarding this topic. Outdoor grows are, of course, a different story when it comes to pruning/trimming leaves.

 

[tortuga1503]

Ya GB I will be employing your methods forsure! I have a question someone might be so kind enough to answer. When the leaf stem turns purple should I pluck or no pluck

 

[grenbone]

Ya GB I will be employing your methods forsure! I have a question someone might be so kind enough to answer. When the leaf stem turns purple should I pluck or no pluck

Weather the leaf stem turns purple or not has nothing to do with when to pluck.

 

[tortuga1503]

Ya I think I understand the timing and plucking the right leaves at the right time. I did all the plucking I`m gonna do last night,until I get ready to harvest were 21 days in bloom. I didn`t ask the question right my bad. I meant to ask if the stems turn purple are they still doing the plant any good. Another grower told me that when the stem on the leaf starts to turn purple its losing its ability to do its work as efficient as when it was green. The darker the stem the less its doing. Is there any truth to that iyo. Thanks

 

[grenbone]

Ya I think I understand the timing and plucking the right leaves at the right time. I did all the plucking I`m gonna do last night,until I get ready to harvest were 21 days in bloom. I didn`t ask the question right my bad. I meant to ask if the stems turn purple are they still doing the plant any good. Another grower told me that when the stem on the leaf starts to turn purple its losing its ability to do its work as efficient as when it was green. The darker the stem the less its doing. Is there any truth to that iyo. Thanks

I wouldn't take what that person said to heart. Different strains turn different colors at different times. its all variable and probably due to genetics.. same thing applies to the stalk. I wouldn't worry about it at all unless they look sick. Good luck tortuga!

 

[tortuga1503]

thanks gb

 

[OZUT]

I think you do more harm than good by removing fan leaves and here's why I think so...

- Healthy fan leaves are not suckers. They don't steal energy from the bud. They give it and it's not the same as stripping the bottom 1/3 of the plant and it's definitely not the same as topping or lsting. When you top the plant, you're redirecting hormones and "energy" to the shoots below the topped or pinched location. If you strip the bottom 1/3 of the plant, the hormones and "energy" that would go to the bottom shoots, will now be redirected to upper growth. Removing fan leaves doesn't redirect anything because there's nothing to redirect. All that happens, is you handicap it because you have removed the source of food and "energy"

- The salts you feed the plant are processed by the leaf not the bud. The bud can't photosynthesize and the light that's showering the flower, really isn't doing anything. The reason that it continues to grow, is because the small leaves are doing what the fan leaf would have done. Not as efficiently but still.

- The CO2 that you pump into your room can only be used by your leaves. The leaves are what breath in the CO2 and exhale oxygen. The flowers can't do this. By removing leaves and pumping CO2, you're basically defeating the purpose of adding CO2.

- More than 80% of the light that shines on a leaf, passes through it. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean the next leaf down isn't getting light. This again is why you remove the bottom 1/3rd of the plant because it's so far down that in a top lighting set up it's not worth growing out.

- If the reason for removing leaves is that the grow area is so stuffed that there is no air movement and that the light isn't even making it half way through the plant, then you might consider doing less plants.

This isn't an argument against anyone's position it's just my thoughts on the subject.

 

[mdTHC420]

appreciate your pov. i see it more as this:
it seems as if it still takes a fair amount of energy to grow the leaf all huge. there must be some point of deminishing returns on the size and energy it take to support the leaf and just pruning so it enhances new growth. i think that a bunch or small leafs part of the fresh growth is better than huge fan leafs with less new growth. it seems as if the plant will recoup any extra leafs it needs to make up for those lost within a few days if you over do it. not saying its good to over prune, but regular smart pruning will help overall.

 

[grenbone]

You got it mdTHC420. It's a tried a true method that works 100% if done correctly. Just look at the best grow journals on here. Imo the fattest buds done in the grow journals at this forum went through a pruning process at some point. To me it is obvious from the pictures, but you can always PM the poster of an awesome grow thread and ask them yourself.

 

[Blaze]

OZUT pretty much nailed it. There is a difference between thinning and removing leaves. Thinning is used when growing a great number of plants, especially in the production of fruit trees and grape vines. I thin my plants regularly, and it does indeed help produce bigger, fatter buds.

However, removing fan leaves is not thinning. This sort of technique is as far as I know is not used in any other form of agriculture. It is not recommended by any pruning books or experts either. That should tell you something.

 

[mdTHC420]

Imo the fattest buds done in the grow journals at this forum went through a pruning process at some point.

not 100% on this but it makes sense. the branches grow out while the flowers grow down the stalk. if you leave the fan leaf there and dont remove it there will he a huge piece of lumber where the bud would have otherwise filled in when u trim. makes sense that that would yeild better nugs.

 

[SRHninja]

I got 17 little ones in 24 right now the ones that i trimmed leafs from exposing budding sites are branching and developing quicker than the others that were left alone...

their only 6inches tall..... idk i been watching just did it last week

 

[mdTHC420]

Blaze, so how do you thin without removing fan leafs? do you only cut the branches and leave all the leafs there with nothing over it? just trying to figure out how u do it without removing fan leafs.

 

[Blaze]

Some leaves get removed, but most of those outer fan leaves stay in tact. I remove anything that will not ever get any direct sunlight or form into a nice bud. Essentially I mostly just remove the smaller wispy branches on the inside core of the plant that never produce anything very worthwhile.

I guess another way to put it would be that yes, I do sometimes remove leaves, but never JUST a leaf itself, and rarely a larger fan leaf, UNLESS it is brown and dying. I only remove leafs in conjunction with removing a branch and/or bud sites.

It's hard to describe exactly because it varies from strain to strain and plant to plant and grow to grow. Some of my plants I think very, very little. Some I think hard. It all depends on how that particular strain or phenotype grows like.