Effects of cutting too many leaves?

It really depends on who you ask and what stage of growth your plant is in.

Most growers don't trim leaves during flower unless they are ready to come of the plant anyway.

During veg, some people trim and some people don't. Personally, I trim the HELL out of my plants during veg. I find that by using a trimming technique and heavy LST I can maximize my bud sites. However, I think I am in the minority. Most growers trim very minimally if at all.

My advice to you is to experiment with your plants and come up with a method that works best for you.

Good luck.

 

true to what reef is saying, most people dont trim. i tend to pinch off the tops of the veggie's to keep them short and bushy. actually i just mowed about 6-8" off the entire crop in the veg room for the next set of clones. MJ is a really strong plant, she won't be happy if you cut too much off, but given a balanced diet and good environment, she will recoup in a week or so.

 

I trim mine alot too....never had any issues

 

i only trim when it is absolutely needed i figure there is no reason to give unneeded stress

 

If it's green let it grow.

 

to much trimming will stress your plant out and effect the end results its stresses the plants if you do to much without letting it recover i trim rarely in veg id say once a month if that but only about 20% to 30% of the total leaves and i never trim in flowering unless its ready to come off not even for better lighting (thats just me) leaves are good they are what supply energy to the plant chop to much and your plant wont get enough energy to be healthy

 

It's a matter of what works best under YOUR conditions and also the strain. Some strains have lower leaf to bud ratios than others. I have found the need to trim a bit more when growing indoors simply due to lighting. This was never an issue when growing outside as the light source moves.
Anyway, just thought I'd jump in on a thread. This is my first post.
Good luck to you all.

MM

 

Agree.


I assume your question is regarding trimming leaves during vegetative growth, before allowing flowers to develop. If so, I believe that there are distinctions to be made concerning "trimming." Doing so to shape the plant (such as low stress training (LST), topping, fimming, etc) is one thing; trimming to remove green material is quite another.

How, and why, exactly, are you "cutting leaves?"

Assuming you aren't, and you just want to know the effects of excessive trimming, I'd argue that without enough leaf surface the plant simply will not be able to photosynthesize to its greatest extent. There's also the notion that the leaves are energy sources (sugar) for the plant and to remove them inhibits growth, both for flowering and in overall vigor. Nonetheless, I agree with Toasty's answer, that [in general] there's no reason to want to cut leaves unless there's a reason, because I think to do so inhibits the plants growth.

Aside from training (which is often brutal; they may indeed emerge stripped and bare), I leave every fan leaf on all my plants until they are just ready to fall off on their own. Then I help them.