Need some opinions on trimming off the lower fan leaves!! Keep them and let them die off naturally? Or cur them off to promote more growth in the nodes? I've trimmed a couple off already, don't know if I should take these in the picture off though. There's allot of growth in there!!!
Hi, Been doing this for a long long time. Do yourself a favor and 1-2 weeks before harvest, give the plant a total haircut. This means cutting off all fan leaves. A fan is only needed to get a stalk going from main stem. Once stalk is growing about 2-3 inches long-cut it off. Cut off almost all of leaves but cut in half with scissors leaving half or 1/3 of the leaf on the stem. This stimulates the plant to produce major amounts of resin or trichomes. Another trick is to jab a stick into roots about 1 week before harvest. Also a shock factor. Keep lightly watered with Beastie bloom and a very small bit of molasses. MIT dude with 40 years exp. Also make custom led lights. Lighting is so important to control the plant and it's growth. Trick-Lots of blue keeps plants short and bushy. Add blue during last two weeks. Will show pictures of my grows shortly. Soil only. FFOF, and other additives. Water never drains out bottoms. 5 gal buckets with 1/2" holes around outside. Proven method for killer buds and most plants are < 2-3' tall-all buds and hardly any leaves at the end of grow.
Don't be afraid to try new things. You might learn something. Fan leaves are not needed after veg-period. The small leaves take care of most of the work while the buds themselves have very large surface area for long wavelength ir light (red) penetrates deep into the buds while blue just penetrates very shallow. Leaves get eaten and destroyed all the time in the wild. Plants respond to damage, you just need to know when and how you can do it. I just cut more than half of all my leaves off yesterday and have about a week or two left. Most leaves are cut in half-not fully off. They are still producing but are in shock. This causes the plant to focus energy on the buds. We are growing buds-not big leaves. All my buds are frosty white with (12) 5 gal buckets in 5x5 area. About 1200 true led watts. 2 lasko fans (walmart 20 each) and a fan control (home depot) to control. Never a temperature problem, low humidity and low electric. Rain water only from house downspouts.
Fan leaves only help to get branches started, after that they become a drain on the plant. Once the shoot is a couple inches long, you can cut off the fan leaf. The shoot is now a branch and will get its juice from the main stalk or bigger branch. Try cutting off a couple and see what happens. Good way to learn and observe. The fans also block a lot of light to the lower areas also. More reasons to see them go... They are not needed after say the 1st week of 12/12 which is when you should be bending branches 90 degrees so the shoots go up to the lights and form nice big buds...LST training =very important for yields.