Bud growth: Direct Sunlight on Leaves or Buds?

D

DemontauruS

Active Member
I am in my 5th or 6th week of flower, and my growspace is full.
My lighting is blanketing the top with healthy light - but this is my question:
I have another layer of lower level buds that are not getting direct light, but their leaves are.

Regarding bud growth - is it best to get direct sunlight to the leaves, primarily? Or should I trim them a bit and try to get direct light to the lower level buds.
(in other words, is it important to get direct sunlight onto the buds themselves, or their connecting leaf sites)
I know a lot of people trim lower branches.
I like to get as much production and growth out of all my bud sites.

Advice?
 
AimAim

AimAim

Well-Known Member
Just blast them with as much light as possible. If a leaf becomes "inefficient" and does not contribute to the overall health and growth of the plant, the plant will abandon it, suck all the nutes out and toss it aside.
 
kinddiesel

kinddiesel

Well-Known Member
yeah out doors. you should be ok to trim off a few not all of the fan leaves that are shad the direct bud. the fan leaves are like a solar panel that soak up the light to power the plant. I do over head lighting . and I know your issue. the lower buds are always a lot smaller then the top. I never trim mine. until they are very mature 7 or more weeks into flower. to get the quality up higher. direct sun light onto the buds. but for yield its a hard question. experts say not to trim . but I cant see any reason not to if your not cutting every single one off , only way to know is to do one and not the other . wish I could of been more help .
 
kinddiesel

kinddiesel

Well-Known Member
im going to go to town tomorrow on a plant every fan leaf is getting trimmed off . I can afford to lose a plant . I let it go and ill fill you all in the difference . ill have it under the same light food .
 
BeastGrow

BeastGrow

Well-Known Member
The leaves will get you more energy than the buds will. The buds aren't as adapted for collecting light as fan leaves are.
 
Sand4x105

Sand4x105

Well-Known Member
bigboybuds said:
This is a long debated topic. One I have always been on the fence about. I read this article a few days ago, and I think I am going to try it with my current run.. Just stared wk 4, with a nice full canopy. Going to wait till the end of the week, and go crazy.

http://www.hightimes.com/read/30-more-yield-indoor-pot-grow-advice
Click to expand...
Quoted from the listed article:

"Not all strains will respond favorably to this method,"

So, when you pull your leaves off, and "Go Crazy"....
Good Fucken luck....

Plant grows leaves to make big buds....
You pull leaves off, so what happens to bud ?
Use your logic meter... the hype... is not the way to go....
Leave all green on your plant...

Good Luck in your Un Logical grow....
At least if, and when your yield is lower than expected, you'll have a direct reason why!
 
bigboybuds

bigboybuds

Well-Known Member
Sand4x105 said:
Quoted from the listed article:

"Not all strains will respond favorably to this method,"

So, when you pull your leaves off, and "Go Crazy"....
Good Fucken luck....

Plant grows leaves to make big buds....
You pull leaves off, so what happens to bud ?
Use your logic meter... the hype... is not the way to go....
Leave all green on your plant...

Good Luck in your Un Logical grow....
At least if, and when your yield is lower than expected, you'll have a direct reason why!
Click to expand...

I was reading the comments, but most are probably from people who have never actually tried. My current grow is mostly Kush's, so I figure It's worth a try now. Whats the worst that can happen? Nannars? Maybe. Plant stunting? Dying even? Meh.. Will only know if you try, and I would love any amount of "Extra Harvest" Even if the crop is ruined because of it, it's only 1 one run right?
 
smokey the cat

smokey the cat

Well-Known Member
Go for it mate. We gotta maximize our light and airflow cause we're growing in a little tent under artificial light.

Some people shit the bed about defoliation - "it's not naturallll", but I say fuck it :fire:- it's a common cultivation technique used for all sorts of reasons, and is about as tough on the plant as topping, fimming, LST or scrogging.
At the very least get rid of the few big shade leaves that hide buds - this to me seems like a no brainer when using artificial light.

I like to remove annoying leaves that shade buds. I remove anything low and small - including most of the popcorn and the crappy lower shoots that come up late from the base of the stem. I also cut a bunch leaves to ensure good airflow. I like to trim earlier rather then later - I feel guilty about removing too much full grown plant matter. I'd rather get it earlier before the plant wastes too much energy building it up.

I've probably had a few times when I've defoliated a bit too hard or often - the most recent one was a particularly underwhelming smoke that exhibited a lot of nute deficiency over the grow. It's hardly a catastrophe if you overdo it on one or two plants in the experimental corner of the grow tent .
 
GroErr

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Agreed, there's a lot of folks here trashing this (removing shade leaves) who have never tried it. Outdoor I always did it towards the last 2-3 weeks and never had any issues, producing 4-6 dried oz/plant. Doing it now indoor with no issues other than getting more light to the buds. By the time you get to the last 2-3 weeks the plant doesn't need the shade leaves. Mind you I never trim the small leaves close to the bud areas but large shade leaves that are on their way out anyhow are just taking up light that the buds can use. Fuck'em I say, give those buds some more light...
 
Dr. Skunk Bud

Dr. Skunk Bud

Active Member
I think it is best to only trim off half of the leaf at a time. This takes more time but on some leaves you can use a bread tie and just tie it out of the way you get more light to the buds without stressing the plant. My reasoning is that any shock you introduce to your plant will hurt your end yield especially during flowering. If you lose a few days growth because the plant is recovering maybe more depending on strain that is losing positive growth in limited time frame thus hurting your overall yield. Just my two cents
 
MasterOfTheJuice

MasterOfTheJuice

Active Member
bigboybuds said:
This is a long debated topic. One I have always been on the fence about. I read this article a few days ago, and I think I am going to try it with my current run.. Just stared wk 4, with a nice full canopy. Going to wait till the end of the week, and go crazy.

http://www.hightimes.com/read/30-more-yield-indoor-pot-grow-advice
Click to expand...
nice article... got me convinced.
i'm 4 weeks into flowering, and i wasnt sure if i should go ahead and go against all the veteran growers' advice.... but i think it's time to strip those girls.
 
P

plaguedog

Active Member
GroErr said:
I guess I should read a book, rather than rely on what's worked for 30 years or so, will get on that…
Click to expand...
Yeah you've been growing for thirty years and you strip off what the plant uses the most to produce? Uhh, ok.

This debate is a dead horse, I won't waste my time anymore. Strip your fucking plants all you want. Could care less.

I have tried both, and taking fan leaves off a flowering plant doesn't increase your yield in any way shape or form.

As for the article... 30% more yield...yeah riiiight. Notice it says not all strains are a good candidate, do pluck them all at once (yet the author says they left "some"), buds swell up almost over night....LOL...etc etc. Wow really helpful, and detailed. What a farce.

"In nature, by the fourth week of bloom, cannabis plants are not likely to have a full rack of fan leaves intact.",Wow really? could have fooled me. I'm starting to think this author has never even seen a plant grow outside....

All one has to do is gogle a few pictures and laugh out loud at this silly misinformed statement....:

https://www.google.com/search?q=outdoor+cannabis+grow+pictures&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=oGm0Uoq4EumkyQHgzYCwBQ&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1517&bih=713&dpr=0.9
 
ProdigalSun

ProdigalSun

Well-Known Member
smokey the cat said:
Go for it mate. We gotta maximize our light and airflow cause we're growing in a little tent under artificial light.

Some people shit the bed about defoliation - "it's not naturallll", but I say fuck it :fire:- it's a common cultivation technique used for all sorts of reasons, and is about as tough on the plant as topping, fimming, LST or scrogging.
At the very least get rid of the few big shade leaves that hide buds - this to me seems like a no brainer when using artificial light.

I like to remove annoying leaves that shade buds. I remove anything low and small - including most of the popcorn and the crappy lower shoots that come up late from the base of the stem. I also cut a bunch leaves to ensure good airflow. I like to trim earlier rather then later - I feel guilty about removing too much full grown plant matter. I'd rather get it earlier before the plant wastes too much energy building it up.

I've probably had a few times when I've defoliated a bit too hard or often - the most recent one was a particularly underwhelming smoke that exhibited a lot of nute deficiency over the grow. It's hardly a catastrophe if you overdo it on one or two plants in the experimental corner of the grow tent .
Click to expand...
hahahahahaha
 
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