Is trimming too much bad?

[purple_smoke]

Recently i have been trimming about every three days w/ the theory that for every leave i cut, two more grow back. Is this true and does less leaves mean more bud sites? Which are the fan leaves?Im very new to growing so any help is appreciated
thanks
BURN ONE!

 

[Paladin]

No ! Stop cutting off the leafs .Cutting a leaf won't make Make 2 leafs ....it will rob the branch from nutrient sugars that it needs to grow. However....If you cut the tip of a branch, 2 growing tips will form. Fan leafs are the large leafs. The ones that transform light into living matter.

 

[4iLLEsT2bTCH0]

no!! leaves are the most important part of the plant. its how it makes energy so please stop cutting your babies! it can also put them into shock.

 

[stoned snake]

whaqt do u maen bu cut tip of the branch?

 

[Paladin]

I thought that it was self explanitory , but then maybe not. At the end of the branch there will be two leafs , between the two leafs you will see other new growth. Carefuly remove that new growth, leaveing the two large leafs. At the place where the two leafs are attached to the branch , two growing tips will form instead of just one.

 

[RooRman]

Trimming to much= bad. However, trimming just enough can in fact be beneficial.

Energy transference is the objective. By trimming the smaller undergrowth you can help the plant concentrate more on bud production. In a typical small homegrow set-up, the smaller 3 and 5 finger leaves located on the bottom of the plant recieve almost no light and they contribute very little to photosynthesis. By trimming these away over time the plant will put the extra energy into flowering, which is what it wants to do.

Part of knowing what and when to trim comes from expierience, but there are a few guidelines:

DO-
-Trim smaller leaves at the base of the plant during flowering.
-Trim any dying or damaged leaves off. These are nothing but a burden.
-Trim in the morning and after watering. This will allow the plant a full 12hrs. to recover and form a scab over the cut off branch and supply it with the necessary fuel to do so.
-Trim SLOWLY over time. You can always cut additionally but once you have cut there is no going back. Slow trimming and monitoring the plants reaction to the trimming is the best approach.

DO NOT-
-Trim large healthy fan leaves. These are the major solar panels of the plant.
-Leave stumps. When trimming, cut right where the leaves' branch meets the main stem.
-Break, twist or trim unevenly. Always make clean cuts with a sharp and sterile instrument. Uneven trimming will slow healing and may invite disease.
-Trim FAST. Only trim up to one set (a pair) of leaves at a time and never trim as part of your daily routine.

With expierience you too will learn what these plants are capable of handling. A veteran grower may trim larger fan leaves to allow more light to access the buds, but if you are new to growing I would reccomend against this because it is far too easy to kill the plant this way. Hope this helps as it is all first hand knowledge and I am a big advocate of intelligent trimming to achieve bigger yeilds. After all, the female plants sole purpose is to produce buds and we are after just those buds, not leaf!

 

[hovo]

Yup, i had clones tha i clipped. I had 8 tops growing on a couple and 6, 4 on the other ones. I left a couple alone to see what the difference will be. Just be carefull not too cut the other leaves. Use clean nail clippers. Fit the leaves in and cut as far down without damaging other leaves. you'll see 2 little leaves popping out. Now you have 2 tops. Cut those u get 4, get the ideal. But it depends because with different strains you get different results. With some strains the only way to get max. but is to cut. With others they may produce 2 smal tops instead of 1 large one. Cannabis has a genetic limit to how much bud it can produce.

 

[THC vampire]

^ ur talking about the top of the plant right?

 

[RooRman]

Topping, FIMing, and trimming are 3 different things.

Topping is done by cutting the top growing node of a plant completly off. This will encourage the next pair of branches down to grow out into two tops.

FIMing (or F*uck I Missed) is done by cutting 80% of the top node away leaving the other 20% on the plant. This method will result in the growth of more than 2 tops, usually up to 8. This is why topping can sometimes result in moe than two tops in cases where not enough of the top node was removed.

HOWEVER, both of the topping and the FIM techniques require that you provide more light for the new growth you are encouraging. If you are attempting to form a bunch of huge bush like plants using only a small light system (anything less than 1000w) then your yeilds will be sevearly decreased, and thus these procedures would in fact be working against you and not to your benefit.

Trimming is done by the selective pruning of smaller leaves and lower branches (called "sucker growth) to encourage other parts of the plant to grow stronger and produce more weight.

 

[parnelli]

I'm growing 2 plants in an Aerogarden and just into the first week of 12/12 to flower. I've been trimming the leaves that are getting into the lights and burning the leaves. I'm keeping as much as I can at or just above the scrog. I can't really lift the light any more because I'm very limited in space and equipment. I'll keep trimming the bottom leaves. Am I ruining the ability for bud formation?

 

[tucker99]

Bringing this to the top because it's a good question. Is parnelli reducing bud formation?
I've been trimming large fan leaves because they are shading bud sites. Think I may be screwing-up.

I'm growing 2 plants in an Aerogarden and just into the first week of 12/12 to flower. I've been trimming the leaves that are getting into the lights and burning the leaves. I'm keeping as much as I can at or just above the scrog. I can't really lift the light any more because I'm very limited in space and equipment. I'll keep trimming the bottom leaves. Am I ruining the ability for bud formation?