I would like to know what week (be it Veg or flower) people typically remove the huge fan leaves?
Originally published at: https://homegrowndiary.com/diary/157-alien-og-fem/week/1
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You’ll probably get a bunch of different answers to this, but … I don’t remove them until I need to. Unless and until they Yellow or shrivel, or are so much In The Way that the bud sites cannot develop.
I figure the plant needs them. Yes I know: Some people Defoliate their plants pretty much 90% or more. I don’t.
Now let’s see what someone else says…
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But by way of an Answer to your question: I’d say when you’re done Vegging them, or early in Flower mode. IF you’re going to defoliate…
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Wow those ARE humongous. Your plants are still pretty young, though. I wouldn’t remove much at this time, for fear of stunting them. I’m going to defer to a more experienced grower, for a clear answer to this.
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I agree with @Bulbous52
The fan leafs are there in nature for a reason.
They’re like big solar panels for the plant. Especially during the vegetative stage.
I too only remove them when they begin to wither or are really in the way of light penetrating to the bud sites.
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I also believe to not defoliate until just pre flower and to allow light to penetrate to lower nodes. Many times I kill off the nodes that are below node 3 so as long as I have a SOLAR canopy…I leave them unless they are or become an issue. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…Autoflowers…they stress easily and I do not personally train them much at all so these I defoliate even less.
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Even though these massive leaves are covering the bud sites? Should I try to LST the water leaves down beneath the bud sites? They’re massive…
we TUCK when we do not want to defoliate. Sometimes I bend, sometimes I use pipe cleaners to manipulate the fans when they are in the way
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I personally leave most of my fan leaves and just tuck or weave until they yellow and start to die during flower.
The only defoliation I really do is just before I flip to flower and I trim off everything under the third node on each branch and thin out the foliage inside a bit to allow for air flow during flower so I can prevent mold and mildew in the buds.
After that I let them grow wild pretty much and just tuck and lst only removing the dead or unhealthy ones until it is time to harvest.
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Thanks for the advice. I will leave them until I switch to flower. Keep an eye on the weeks to come. I am hoping to push veg for a few more weeks, but they’re growing fast!
Yes i leave mine too i tuck under only remove if need be beautiful plants
Trust the advice here…made the newbie mistake of removing a lot of the fan leaves throughout the veg stage, because I “saw it on a video”. My plants ended up with really small bud growth and I had a disappointing yield. The very next growth I followed the advice here, removing them only if they are covering up good bud sites…and I got MUCH better results.
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Put my scrogg net on I’ve never used before seem to be okay.i always used string to tie my limbs where i wanted
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You never cut off leaves you pinch them off or use a set of pruneing shears, you prune for 2 reasons to improve airflow and light penetration on to your branches.
that is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen.
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