If you have a plant's that are quite bushy and it's in it's flowering stage can you cut off the bigger leaves that are blocking light to provide light to the new shoots of the lower canopy? Will it stress or damage the plant? I heard it increases yield's but I don't know if it's true.. any suggestions would be great!
GC seems to be very anti-trimming. The "big leaves" or sun leaves are basically just big solar receptors for your plant. You definitely do not want to remove entire leaves at a time, but cutting the fingers in 1/2 so they are 1/2 as long is one option. Personally, I would leave it the way it is, or if you feel that it is absolutely necessary just cut each finger of the leaves in 1/2 width wise.
Hi. Dont you dare go and cut your leaves in half. WTF...!!! For one, it will still leave you with the same amount of shade. For two, you are mutilating your plant. For three, you are leaving the plant prone to disease and infection at a very important time of its life. For four, the plant is gonna waste its energy on damage control. I could keep on goin If I really wanted to. Id hate to see buddys plants, with that kinda advice. Lets try not to steer fellow brothers of the weed in a wrong direction - EH ? Cheers.
I prefer just tucking them out of the way. There is less shock involved that way. Just curious, have you looked into LST or ScrOG?
Straight up, you are wrong there. While I agree with you on every other point you brought up, and notice I said NOT to do this, unless he feels that he absolutely NEEDS to do something. You will get MUCH more light penetration (its like cutting off half of an umbrella, do you get the same protection from rain? No? Weird huh?) Let me restate what I said before. DON'T TRIM. Am I steering this person wrong by saying this freakbro? Sorry for getting a little defensive there, but I feel like you were accusing me of intentionally fucking with someone on the city, which I would never do, and never accuse someone of doing unless I could prove it. And finally, the cutting the leaves in half is actually a practice that many growers participate in. It allows for much better light penetration while keeping a good amount of the leaf there to continue absorbing light. But so there is no confusion, let me restate that I would not do this.
I know about the giant leaves and how they are the main providers for growth. But how about tying the mid size growth to the branches? Will it eventually die out since it's now not getting light? Im really confused LOL I know what you mean, I hate to see a plant get hurt like that Seeing them grow from babies makes you proud of what it has turned out to be! I wont be trimming anything any time soon I've done that and I end up with very droopy lower leaves that die out because now they arent getting any light.. It's complicated! LST what is that? and Ive never heard of ScrOG
i would just leave em if you got a powerful enough light eventually the shoots from the lower canopy will reach to the top thats what ive notice in my grows ive had a side branch from the lower branch reach all the way to the top to join my cola
Trimming is a bit of a controversial issue among growers, some say doing so channels the plant's energies to new growth and bud production. The larger camp, where I firmly stand, is to not trim -- as others have said, the leaves are your plant's "solar panels" for gathering energy and also they are the main storehouses for the plant's nutrients. Trimming not only deprives the plant of the energy those leaves would have collected but also requires that some of the available energy goes to healing rather than growth. During flowering you will want to stop feeding a couple of weeks before harvest, so as not to have a harsh nute taste in your smoke. During that time the plant will need to rely on drawing down its storehouse of nutes, but if you got rid of the storehouse then the plant will suffer. Much better to tuck or tie the offending leaves out of the way. If you absolutely cannot get a leaf to stop blocking light to a budsite then consider snipping just the one blade, not the whole fan. LST and scrog are methods of keeping a plant low. Scrog requires weaving the plant growth through a screen laid horizontally above the plant, too late for that if you're already into flowering. LST is a technique to achieve a similar result by tying the plant's stem and branches down, you don't need that now but the idea of tying the growth to where you want it can help you here. As for parts of the plant that are shaded, they still are getting some light so leave them be. If undergrowth starts to die you can trim it then.
@ cripes 0103: Its all good man. I hope. I really didnt mean to be harsh like that. Apologies. I kinda freak out when I hear of guyz cuttin up their plants. I had many bad experiences doin that back when i was a noob, 30 years ago. I still have nightmares about it...LOL. @ppyro: Sorry if I messed up the flow of your thread. My bad.
Yeah I noticed that they strech out like crazy and get very long, but my main concern was the lower canopy above the main colas, I wanted them to get more light cause they seem like they are dying out It's all good man it's all goood!! Thank's toastybiz! All that information is much appreciated
@Freak - No worries man, I know you weren't trying to be a dick, I just got a little excited, haha. And, just like you, I do not trim my plants at all. The closest I get to trimming is picking off dead leaves