To Trim or Not to Trim? - Page 2 - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

land of the free · #21 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 03:39 PM

Great info. Tonight I'm going to start slowly removing some of the fan leaves. I'm at my last 3 weeks of flowering and have noticed how small the lower buds are due to less light. I'll remove several from each plant and then wait several days and remove a little more. That should give them time to recover. This answered some of my questions.

4evergreen · #22 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4maggio

High all...

IMO.. SCROG (my favorite) and SOG growers tend to trim/take clones (I trim up to the last 2 weeks bloom) because we must. It (SCROG/trimming) also has given me/us monster yields.. so I, at least, think "hell, trimming doesn't hurt!" and since I do not do 'bubble' or the like, I'd like as few popcorn bud at the end (there is always a z for 'butter')... That meens not a hint of green under the screen and no 'big' fan leaves above. The last month of bloom, I put little fans under the canopy blowing up or it gets too dark (without trimming) and damp under there.. they love it.

And now with this new idea, thanks Hatch, trim all leaves the last week or two before harvest sounds good to me (less popcorn).

By the way, there is no wrong answer here, as long as there is reasonable moderation.

Hi 4Maggio,
I agree with you 101%, under the net not leave neither pop corn, above the nets not "big" fan leave giving shadow to buds, and a lot of fans moving the air above and bellow the net. So far my plants love it like this method
Peace

Richard Owl Mirror · #23 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 04:47 PM

I don't grow SOG/SCROG but, when growing a plant normally, I have taken dowel rods with hooks on the end, placed them so they push the branching apart and away from the center. This allows more light to the inside of the plant.
It also gives you a bit more headroom to work with as it serves to lower the canopy.

4maggio · #24 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Owl Mirror

I don't grow SOG/SCROG but, when growing a plant normally, I have taken dowel rods with hooks on the end, placed them so they push the branching apart and away from the center. This allows more light to the inside of the plant.
It also gives you a bit more headroom to work with as it serves to lower the canopy.

High ROM.. all..

Richard, if you are growing 1-2 plants and you haven't SCROGed.. you should give it a try.. My boxes are smaller.. 3'x3'x6' and SCROG elimiates the headroom problem and all those little buds grow to be similar in size to the main cola... I think yield is greater due to better light distrubution to all available bud sites.. and I have done that trim one and not the other routine... untrimmed plant was a PITA and yield wasn't more but there was much more popcorn. If you do the 'bubble' or such don't trim..

SLOWRIDER · #25 (**permalink**) 07-28-2009, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

I find it also matters the type of plant it is. i have had indicas that look more like bushes with multitudes of smaller leaves. And more sativa with fewer leaves and longer nodes. With the indica bushes, if you thin out part it doesn't really hurt the plant but helps because it adds air flow and new buds form. Especially with my mothers. they are pretty dense. Not the same with a sativa.

Peace

2/3 of my plants are so bushy if I did not trim light will not go past the first 2 in. of the plant. I just trim a little at a time as needed to open the plant to light and air flow.

BudPassion · #26 (**permalink**) 10-11-2009, 02:41 AM

I have just started so a newby. I have received some advice from others I know. I am growing indoors and so far I am only taking the bottom growth and fan leaves off well developed stalks from the bottom to the second/third level. Does this sound like a good approach?

Deb-HAS-grn · #27 (**permalink**) 10-11-2009, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4evergreen

For Newbies, this is important, as suggested from Deb, and Shinningwind, when you are growing outside (which I have not experience whatsoever) do not trim, in the inside, the argument is still alive
Please, participate and share with others your experiences in trimming

There's a few different thoughts on this. Now besides taking off the near death leaves I totally agree the fan leaves are very important for the food source. For my grow(proudly grows outside) when near harvest time, about four days before what I'm thinking is when she'll be ready to harvest. I then will trim the fan leaves that I know are blocking the sun from getting to the smaller buds. This year I was able to check on my girls every day so it was interesting to see what it was the plant needed with each growth change, And if you pay attention, you will know what to do and when, Like you hear a lot here, the plant will definitely tell you what she needs....

6951A · #28 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 06:32 AM

I don't trim in veg, not even lower leaves (unless they are >50% dead) as they feed the roots, and you want as robust a root system as is possible for flowering. Once the plants are flipped to flower, it will depend on the setup I am running. If I am staking and LSTing, then I will train the lower branches to be the widest part of the plant so that no trimming of upper leaves is needed to provide them with light. In flower, leaves on the bottom of the plant will be removed as they are providing their energy mostly to the root system and this is no longer needed. In a SCROG or SOG setup I will remove any leaves which attach to the base of a branch, and any leaf that is determined to be crowding bud sites, as well as any leaf on the bottom of the plant.