Fan leave trimming

[Gardinhackle]

I'm into week three now of flowering and I have been trimming out the odd leave that is blocking a bud from light exposure. Is this ok to do this and at what point should I stop if at all! I'm not going crazy with trimming, just pulling the odd leave here and there daily that covers a bud from good light.

Outdoor grow, photo period plants

Thanks in advance
Hackle!

 

[Stormblessed]

That’s definitely ok to do and I honestly never stop doing it, u will notice later in flower that u won’t need to do it as often

 

[Gardinhackle]

That's good to hear as I find I can't leave them alone LOL...I'm not overdoing it though, but if I find a bud covered with a good size leaf I will take it off. Since this is my first grow I'm learning as I go!

 

[bobrown14]

Fan leaves are extremely important to plant growth and health.

Flowers dont perform much photosynthesis certainly not nearly as much as fan leaves.

THC and trichomes dont need direct sunlight but fan leaves do.

3 terms to check out:

Senescence
Translocation
Abscission

Fan leaves perform many functions. One of them is to store energy for the plants so when they need energy to build flowers the plant gets that energy from the fan leaves coming down the stretch in flower.
You remove them then the plant has to get that energy somewhere else. Its far more efficient to get that energy from the fan leaf that is closest to the flower. Notice all flower stems begin at the junction of the stem and the leaf petiole (leaf stem).

There's a good reason for that geography.

Also fan leaves are moving many plant growth regulators (hormones) around the plant that originate in the fan leaves and provide growth instruction to the plant and the apical meristems (flower stalks).

Fan leaves promote proper micro-climate for the plants at the leaf surface promoting better growth and transpiration which is very important tot the plant. Transpiration is how the plant gets water and nutrients out of the soil. The leaves do that work.

There are more reasons not to cut off fan leaves fer sure. None relating to THC/trichome production.

Your THC content is more closely tied to your genetics not to environmental conditions.

 

[Gardinhackle]

Thanks for the detailed explanation Bobrown14!

I will leave them alone going further. And for what it's worth, I am not sure I am calling them by their correct name as they aren't really the large lower leaves but rather the medium to small leaves within the bud group up the colas if that makes any difference...