So I’ve been growing about 2 years now, and have accumulated a LOT of fan leaves and other leaf clipping (not sugar leaves). Does anyone have any ideas on what to do with this stuff, other than throwing it away?
My two cents: I’ve let the leaves dry out, then I throw them on a camp fire in the fall. It’s a GREAT feeling to throw handfulls of weed into a fire!
You can decarb them and make teas, edibles, tinctures, butter, etc. They don’t have as many cannabinoids as sweet leaf or flower but it will give you a buzz…
Another thing they’re good for is mulch and compost.
I’ll have to try that. Was always under the impression that they were essentially useless. Thanks for tip - gonna try to get something out of these leaves…
@Bill I is that to make cannibutter & oils. Google search how to make, lots of recipes out there.
I’ve been looking thru the forum and find differing opinions on what leaves to cut off during growth and when to cut them. I usually cut off large fan leaves as the plant grows to get better airflow and to get light to the lower branches. Also shifts energy from leaves to flower? I’m trying to get the best yields possible, but don’t know what the best trim timing is.
@Bill it all depends on the strain and environment. That’s why there are so many different opinions and styles. Everyone is growing different strains in different environments. The best way to know how to trim is to look at the heat and humidity in your environment and the needs of the strain you are growing.
Never thought of it in those terms - always looked at it as a standardized thing that needs done.
Very interesting how much I thought I knew but realized now I know very little! The information in these groups is tremendous. Taking it all in and trying to apply it to my methods is making my head spin, so I’m going to try various things since I have multiple plants growing.
What strains are you growing and what are your environmental factors? I might be able to help.
At the moment, only a couple of new plants that I can work with - all others are within days/weeks of harvest. One plant is a white widow fem and the other is a purple kush x white russian. I have plenty of seeds, but trying to go slow in terms of number of plants.
I topped them yesterday and clipped off lower fan leaves today. Here are pics (sorry for the lighting…:
White Widow fem:
What’s your average temperature and RH? White widow is a pretty hardy strain and so is white russian from its white widow genetics.
Both like warm environment with rh around 60% during veg and around 40% during flower. They can survive cold too and will turn a little purple but it slows their growth a bit.
They both can grow dense conical nugs so I’d only trim just enough to keep good airflow around the main colas. If using scrog trim up everything under the net before you flip to flower.
Everything looks pretty good so far though. I’d keep up what you’re doing. You left just enough fan leaves to contribute to healthy growth but trimmed enough away for good airflow. Looks almost exactly like how I would do it.
Temps range between 68-82 (lights off/lights on) and humidity is 38-55% depending on whether lights are on or not. I keep a small fan running constantly and an exhaust fan thru a filter also runs constantly. I keep containers of water around to keep humidity up.
Water daily with plain water (purified water in gallon jugs), 1-2 times weekly add nutrients (FloraNova).
That’s pretty much it. Everything is on timers and automated, including the watering.
Great! Thank you for the vote of confidence!
I’ll create a new thread/topic to keep this going. I’d like to post progress on this so my next grows go smoothly with increased yields.
I compost most fan leaves limbs and roots etc from the plant. Put back into the earth!
@Bill those look fantastic. And I agree completely about the head spinning about of information. Something I always try to remember is, it’s just a weed, dont make it too complicated. But I still try and make it complicated…
It’s been a week - time for new pics!
White Widow fem:
PKWR fem:
Both:
Question: should some of those monster leaves near the top be trimmed off to allow the lower nods to get more light? I’m usually heavy on trimming, but I’ve noticed many pics on this forum with LOTS of foliage as the plants are flowering.
I get rid of the old ones on main plant and keep the one around the buds to tell me what they need and pretect the buds
Exactly, just trim the bottom leaves. You also do need some fan leaves to help produce sugar so removing all is not a good idea. On auto’s I don’t remove anything
@Bill check out or Type in Search: How Do You Indulge? and Happy Hoildays How do you indulge?
Sep 2 - We spend months cultivating and babying our beloved plants. After all the time growing, drying and curing, our long waited for bud is finally ready to be enjoyed. What’s your favorite way to indulge in some fine homegrown? Pipe? Bong? Bubbler? Or maybe a good old fashioned hand rolled joint. What
@Khatru @Kronic Well Dang 
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