removing fan leaves?

my plants are about 3 or 4 weeks from harvest id guess. maybe a little more or less... its hard to say. should i take all the fan leaves off now or not till im totally done? do they serve any purpose right now or are they just wasting water and nutes?

thanks for the help... first grow and ive never done this before!

ive seen the "lollipop" plants before but dont know if this is a good idea or just to look cool. let me know what you think!

imo , never cut a fan leaf off. except if the foilage is so dence that mold is a concern

I remove any fan leaves that block a substantial amount of light from the buds. If they arent blocking anything and are healthy, I leave them. I do this throughout the entire flowering period, removing 1 or 2 leaves a day, as they die or as I feel they should come off. II usualy remove about 40% of the fan leaves (and thats taking into account for yellow ones that drop off the bottom, as well as ones i've nute burnt).

well not everyone agrees but, ime u should not cut the fan leaves just tuck them under and if the bud site is to short wate for it to grow tall then tuck the leaf

getting ligh to the budds isnt what make the budds big, it getting light to the plant that does, the fan leaves are there to turn light into energy for the plant. then the plant can use that energy on the budds, dont matter if the bud site getss a lil less light cuz the plant is getting it all

when u trim a leaf u force the plant to now "repair" by usening more energy to make more leaf mass tp make up for what u cut, wich takes away from the energy it uses on buds

so the plant gets less light energy AND has to spend the energy it does get to make more leafs to try to get more light energy

that said im shur u wont notice a difference if u cut 1 or 2 leaves, i always think in terms of min-maxing

No trimming, tuck or leave alone until they fall off on their own. In the last stages of the plants life it sucks all the nutrients from the fan leaves to go straight to bud production, that's why they naturally start to turn yellow and die and fall off.

If you take the leaves off it's like taking food away from the plant.

Hahaha that's funny.

great info... thanks everyone. i need to stop taking the leaves off then!

thanks again

nice plants

i have read if the leaf is over 50% damaged to cut it off.. otherwise you leave them there. if they are blocking the light, tuck the leaf under one of the nearest bud sites so it isn't blocking the light

I've heard it all.... The video clip above is VERY correct, but notice each leaf pointed to is attached to a flowering node.

I start to remove leaves sparingly about two weeks after I top the plant. This allows the two side branches to cola and come up for light. It also allows the plant to breathe under the canopy. I continue to selectively remove any leaf that I feel will benefit growth below. By the end of the 3rd week into flower, no leaves should be removed. All selective pruning should have already been completed, as I started it at about week 2-3 of veg.

Rather than listen to me, or others that will tell you removing a leaf will kill a plant, try it for yourself and see the results. cut off any small growth below the canopy and any branches in the center of plant that restrict air flow. Then the next time you prune, selectively clean up any areas that are prohibiting the side shoots from getting light. I get four colas per plant with no additional training methods used. If I do not prune back heavily shaded areas, I only get two main colas.

Every plant in nature benefits from pruning. It promotes new growth, gives pests fewer places to hide and allows the plants leaves to breathe better. Don't take my word or any one elses, just try it out on a single plant in your next grow and see the difference.