Removing leaves from plant...

Many, many moons ago, I was always taught not to 'clip' the leaves, but to gently pull them down, so they virtually peel themselves off of the stem. If you didn't break any part of the the leaf's stem, (or any other part of the plant) it was removed correctly.

But, I can't remember why I was taught this. I think it was all about the growth at that internode, or something like that.
What are the benefits of carefully removing the leaves versus what happens when you just break-off, or cut-off the leaf?

...Rusty

http://boards.cannabis.com/advanced-...an-leaves.html

I don't bother the yellow leaves, until they fall off naturally.

There use to be constant piss fests about this...:D

if the leaves are weak i usually pull them off(its easier that way to me)
i dont think its good to keep dead and dying leaves on and around the plant cause it can help attract pets. if they dont pull off maybe their not ready to be pulled off. if a blade or half a blade is bad and doesnt look repairable get the siccors our and cut that part of the leaf off and most likely the plant will repair itself faster without that bad part. when you try and cut the leaf off at the node you will probibly never get as clear/clean node compared to pulling the leaf off

Sorry, but there was no answer to my question from 'the piss-fest' post, (I read it all) and am not into cutting a leaf in half. Not at all what I was asking, but thanks for the imput. I was wondering about the best way to do something I do. I do what I do, and I do it for a few reasons:

I remove the lower leaves that are shaded and dying, or that I've splashed nutes on at some point, or have been wind damaged or suffered from nute lock-out and are of no viable use to the plant...
-and-
I do remove the occational interior fan leaf that is blocking a perfectly good secondary bud or two. (and bending isn't working due to space/breeze from fan...)

Thanks again, but still looking for answer.

I'm just taking a stab here, but I bet that it would be better to cut the leaf off than to peel it off the stem. If you peel it off, isn't it kinda like a hangnail, where it just keeps peeling skin, and by the time you get up to your elbow it is taking out chunks of flesh? It would be a much smaller surface area of an open sore if you cut it. Less chance for infections. On the other hand, you really ought to wait until it comes off when gently tugged on. That is unless there is no way to bend or pinch it out of the way of young nodes.

Thanks Opie. That's a start. As I've never had any problems doing as I stated, and plan to continue, All I am curious about is technique.

When I cut or break-off a leaf, what's left on plant 'bleeds'. Does not 'bleed' when peeled. I'm guessing there's a cambric-type layer (or some sort of layer) that allows plant to lose a leaf without leaking it's sap, or opening an accesss point for bacteria.
Most definatelly a guess, tho.

The issue isn't really important, I'm sure...I'm just a med grower that's a bit curious.

OK I'll take your word for it. If it's not shiny like with a lot of moisture coming out where you peeled, then it probably is better. I try to peel a node down the stem when cloning cuttings. Where it's peeled is more likely to get roots, like scarification. I don't know if that's related at all or not.

I don't know.

If you are pulling off healthy fan leaves you are not maximizing yields. The fan leaf is the engine that drives bud growth. If you don't believe me, try this little experiment.

On the same plant, pull off a fan leaf from one side of the main stem, about 1/2 to 3/4 up. Keep the fan leaf on the opposite side. Flower as normal and compare the two buds when finished. You will not ever again pull off a healthy fan leaf.

Different strokes....Granted, removing healthy fan leaves should be shied away from. But It's not a matter of disbelief in what you are saying. For me, different situations call for different techniques.
Looking back at what I said, I remove the dead/dying lower leaves, and the OCCATIONAL fan leaf that is blocking a secondary bud. (or clusters of buds)
I'm sorry that I forgot to mention the occational fan leaf that blocks a bent growing tip, the (self-imposed) desire to offer more light to lower branches that I've seeded, (if re-stocking my supply) thus providing more energy to mature the seeds...(unproven technique, but makes me feel better)

I'm not looking for an argument over what I do, or why I do it. I'm still looking for info on best way to remove the leaf with the least amount of trauma to plant. Do you have any pertinent info you could share? Would be much appreciated.
Thanks...Rusty

Hey Rusty, I know what your talking about.

I've been taking various leaves off of my plants throughout the last couple of weeks and have been wondering some of the same questions.

My experience is that when you are able to gently "pull" a leaf off of the plant, the plant was ready for it to go. If you look at where the stem of the leaf connected to the main stalk, you will see that there are no tears, or "open wounds" on the plant or the leaf itself, it kinda looks like the leaf had almost been glued to the plant and fell back off......kinda hard to explain.

So I'm pretty sure that when you pull/cut a leaf before it reaches that stage, you are trying to do something that the plant isn't yet ready to do itself; therefore stressing it. So, the reason for not pulling/cutting a leaf would be to avoid stress. Not to mention, like Perp said, fan leaves are where our buds get a lot of their "energy."

As for removing a fan leaf to expose other bud sites? I agree with you, I feel that it is beneficial, not detrimental, to lose a leaf to gain a bud site. Acknowledged, I may be ass-backwards on this logic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by norkali

Acknowledged, I may be ass-backwards on this logic.

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Same here, but it works for my little med grow.

So modest.