Trimming in Flower - A little help from those who have trimmed/pruned please!

[Giantsfan24]

I have read here both schools of thought:

1) Don't trim fan leaves as they act as a) "solar panels" for the plants and the plants need them and b) the provide nitrogen to the plants as the nutrients provided are not nitrogen heavy..

and

2) Remove the fan leaves as the nutrients it's being fed have enough nitrogen to sustain plant function and bud development. Additionally, by removing them, you're providing more light to buds underneath and that enhances bud development.

I understand both thoughts and I'd like to hear from growers who have actually trimmed and not trimmed and what their results were.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide..

 

[Giantsfan24]

Bumpity bump bump!

 

[SwissCheese79]

Giants fan.... That's too bad.....lol
Anyway I have been told that your girls will benefit from minor fan leave trimming throughout their whole life cycle. My source is a very experienced grower and I have seen and enjoyed his excellent results. It's important to not over do it. I have been trimming about 10 fan leaves a week for each of my pants and has been working out good. I am in my 4th week of flower and the buds are starting to look fantastic.
I trim to make room, allow more air flow, and allow more light to the lower buds.

Good luck and let me know if this info helped.

 

[HeadMed]

I am of the bend em and keep em rule. After years of doing this i found that a little light trimming in the first few weeks of flower diddnt really hurt, but diddnt improve yield. Heavy trimming or trimming too late in the bloom cycle shocks the plant and lowers yield. THose big ol fan leaves that take up sooo much space are big solar panels that collect energy for the whole plant. E=mc2! I wait until they show damage (yellow off) before i remove them. Now i just bend them behind or under the bud site they were blocking.

 

[Wild Heart]

I do light trimming once a week my white rhino is at 5 weeks of flower and the buds are getting huge.

 

[Hash Hound]

Hey GF,

I have also read to leave them alone and if you check out my current grow Hash Hounds Nirvana Super Skunk & Papaya in Soil you will see it is still allowing lower and inner buds to do just fine.
I have removed very few leaves that are 50% or more dead when I inspect the plants on a weekly basis.
If you can imagine looking at your plants from above. If all you see is green and no space between plants or branches, you are using optimum light.
As you can see in this pic from my last grow, most large fan leaves fell off on their own, but I am sure the plant would have done even better if those gaps had leaves sucking up some light. Don't get me wrong, the plant did very well, but I still think it could have done better.

The grow I have going now is over crowded by accident, and all is alive and well. Even the lower branches and buds look very healthy. Slightly behind in maturity, but that can be taken care of by harvesting in stages to let the lower stuff finish off.

Prune to manipulate your plant to conform to your room or your desired outcome.