Pruning effects on yield?

[CrazyChef]

I have a couple plants on day 28 since flipped to 12/12. I want to get rid of the larger sets of fan leaves, but am scared of the girls going hermie. I'd leave everything else. Should I be concerned or go for it? Here are a couple pics of my plants with a few examples of the types of fan leaves I want to get rid of circled in red:

 

[CrazyChef]

Oh, I guess I should add that 1) this is my first grow, and 2) I've been pruning every 2 or 3 weeks since I topped them when they were young. The last time I pruned was on day 14 since the flip to 12/12 (2 weeks ago).

 

[Remystemple]

Understood and I can see a perspective where one could not fully understand . That being one that if you defoliate you will have more flowering sites thus increasing yield. I am definitely not saying that as plant flowering site potential is genetic.

but yes im talking about light exposer and more even flower growth throughout the entire plant as the plant focuses more growth energy to flowers that are exposed to the light then it does to those that are not , that is why flowers inside a bush /under the canopy are airy /fluffy/larff when compared to their counterparts that are exposed to the light . If you already have an open plant structure and your flowering sites are exposed to the light I really do feel you will benefit from defoliation ...if you are dealing with a jungle then you will more that likely see a benefit ..the limiting factors being those stated in my earlier posts .

as you seen in @Remystemple post he has two plants and decided to test it on one , and that is why I told him to compare the lowest flowers on the plants come harvest time and he was only paying attention to the tops .

Will he have success ? that is the question ..even though it was late in the flower game to defoliate I do feel he should be able to see some difference and if he doesn't see/feel a difference then odds are that with his set up in his situation with the strain he is growing it will not function .

Now in regards to my experience ,the test plant on page one that I posted ..the grow space was 19" deep by 33" wide ..roughly .4 square meters and I was using a 150watt spectrum king closet case the tallest branch in the scrogg was a little under 10". Now in the photos you can see how I devastated her by defoliation and how she bounced back . she has since been harvested and yielded 150.3 grams(manicured flower, as snoop would say no sticks no stems ,no seeds) in the curing jar(gallon jug actually) , that's 5.36 ounces . I would consider that a win and at the very least, that defoliation did not hurt my yields .

I'll be posting the pics here on harvest night.

I have a couple plants on day 28 since flipped to 12/12. I want to get rid of the larger sets of fan leaves, but am scared of the girls going hermie. I'd leave everything else. Should I be concerned or go for it? Here are a couple pics of my plants with a few examples of the types of fan leaves I want to get rid of circled in red:

I did one of my white widows and they're about 2 weeks away from finish. no hermie

 

[No Pain]

I have a couple plants on day 28 since flipped to 12/12. I want to get rid of the larger sets of fan leaves, but am scared of the girls going hermie. I'd leave everything else. Should I be concerned or go for it? Here are a couple pics of my plants with a few examples of the types of fan leaves I want to get rid of circled in red:

I would not worry about them turining into hermies . It looks pretty open , with this being your first grow I would recommend just trimming the fan leaves that are covering a flowering site .

 

[CrazyChef]

Okay, got rid of the larger sets of fan leaves, and the ones shading the lower bud sites. Been watching 'Bong Appetite' on Hulu, and decided to keep the clippings. May use them in a salad, saute them with spinach, etc.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

Critical purple with rhino horns.

• BeanTownFan420
• Jul 18, 2019

Never had fans leaves past preflower.

 

[Remystemple]

Critical purple with rhino horns.

• BeanTownFan420
• Jul 18, 2019

Never had fans leaves past preflower.

That's a beauty!.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

 

[No Pain]

Okay, got rid of the larger sets of fan leaves, and the ones shading the lower bud sites. Been watching 'Bong Appetite' on Hulu, and decided to keep the clippings. May use them in a salad, saute them with spinach, etc.

I juice mine

 

[No Pain]

Critical purple with rhino horns.

• BeanTownFan420
• Jul 18, 2019

Never had fans leaves past preflower.

that definitely would have been a thick bush .

 

[BeanTownFan420]

that definitely would have been a thick bush .

Giving her two more weeks to bulk up.

• BeanTownFan420
• Jul 14, 2019

 

[No Pain]

Giving her two more weeks to bulk up.

• BeanTownFan420
• Jul 14, 2019

I didn't mean she didn't look thick now ...lol good looking colas .

 

[BeanTownFan420]

I know this is fun.

 

[bobrown14]

Oh, I guess I should add that 1) this is my first grow, and 2) I've been pruning every 2 or 3 weeks since I topped them when they were young. The last time I pruned was on day 14 since the flip to 12/12 (2 weeks ago).

What's your goal with trimming topping and removing fan leaves?

Do you know what the purpose of fan leaves are?

At the end of their life cycle (different from the plant) they begin to give back sugars to the flowers via TRANSLOCATION as they begin to yellow and FALL off naturally. There's a specific reason they turn yellow. It's a natural process.

As far as stress goes, you are stressing the plant removing leaves. Think about when an rudiment animal walks into a flower garden and starts eating leaves. The plants dont begin a party, they actually tell each other there's someone eating leaves. All the plants begin to change the flavor of the leaves in response. Likely going to have an affect on the flavor of the flowers along with. Food for thought.

2 reasons not to take off fan leaves. I could go on and on with many other reasons..... I think I've already done that tho.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

And i will continue to remove them and get huge results.

 

[bobrown14]

BeanTownFan420,

There was a question on yields so we prolly touched just about every aspect on it.

I could ask another question to maybe bring up and turn on a light bulb.

How do plants uptake nutrients?

I mean really how do the nutrients get from the soil to the plants flowers (assuming this is the part of the plant we want to actually harvest)?

Pretty sure 420% that its the leaves that do all the heavy lifting. See what I did there?

Hint = transpiration.

fascinating science.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

Loving every minute of the experience!

 

[Simon Limon]

How do plants uptake nutrients?

....how do the nutrients get from the soil to the plants flowers (assuming this is the part of the plant we want to actually harvest)?

Pretty sure 420% that its the leaves that do all the heavy lifting.

To think of this in a similar way: If a plant doesn't need leaves it probably won't have any. Evolution 101.

 

[No Pain]

BeanTownFan420,

There was a question on yields so we prolly touched just about every aspect on it.

I could ask another question to maybe bring up and turn on a light bulb.

How do plants uptake nutrients?

I mean really how do the nutrients get from the soil to the plants flowers (assuming this is the part of the plant we want to actually harvest)?

Pretty sure 420% that its the leaves that do all the heavy lifting. See what I did there?

Hint = transpiration.

fascinating science.

@bobrown14 ..you bring up valid points . most of which where reasons I never defoliated in the past .
I feel that all of us here would agree on what the functions of the leaves on these glorious plants are.

The real question is how many can actually be removed before it has a true negative affect on plant function .
We are growing plants indoors and outdoors that have been breed from plants that are for the most part in every grow are out of their element (where they genetically come from) and the plant structures that we deal with where developed by the parent plants to survive in that(their) climate. Its like if you take a plant that grows well in the north with cooler and higher rh and compare it one that grows well in the south with higher temps and lower rh ..the plant structures will be different . Now it doesn't mean that you cant take either plant to the opposite environment and get a good crop .but more so to do so modifications will need to be made to the plant and or how it is housed in the environment.

One point that you did bring up that I feel needs to be tested is the effect on taste as it if a very plausible statement. If Metal halides bring out the sweet and High pressure sodium brings out the sour and that's just the light spectrum making changes or bringing out certain things in the plant ..and root temps can cause the plant to have different expressions ..I feel that it is plausible that a plants flavor could change with extreme defoliation ..the only real way to test it would be to run clones in the same environment and leave one and defoliate the other and cure them separately and test flowers from the same position on both plants . I am not opposed to giving it a run , however it will be a little while before I have that ability .

In that same test we would get yet another answer whats the yield difference and we could be able to answer what are we sacrificing for yields , I feel that is another point/question that you bring up . Are we sacrificing taste/potency/the terpene profile? If so for what percentage of increase-none,10%-20% etc..

The only sad part about the test run that I speek of has to do with the wonderful plants that we grow ...it may only prove right or wrong for that particular strain and or those closely related to it.

 

[Barney86]

I know right - cannabis grows so much differently than any other plant in the universe. It has to be from some other world because it only grows with growing techniques so uncommon that we only find them in the cannabis growing paradigm.

I'm not sure.

When I was getting started growing weed a guy asked me how I grow our organic veggies and flowers in our outdoor gardens and said why don't I use all these bottled fertilizers and "growing techniques" outside?

Was a good point.

When the prohibition is lifted the folks that went and actually studied botany realize the coin involved and start growing weed. Much of the stoner science techniques of growing plants will begin to take a back seat if not disappear altogether.


The change will be driven by economics. The science of economics will change a lot of the in-efficiencies practiced currently.

Anything growers do that adds time to the finish times is costing money.

Chemical fertilizers cost A LOT of money.

Economics will parse this out.

I'm already growing plants that finish in >= 40 days of 12/12 lighting. I'm an amateur. Can't help to think what the smart people gonna do. Exciting times.

Less than 40 days of 12/12?
That must be a world record mate. Usually takes about 2 weeks for me to even see something that looks like a bud. That leaves 26 days for a full bloom cycle that usually takes 60-80 days?