Quote Originally Posted by grey1223
You never want to trim off fan leaves. Even if they are getting insufficient light they are still the plants' solar collectors. I trim a fair amount removing flowering leads but I leave the fan leaves alone. Unless they are laying on your soil.
With CFLS I feel it *IS* necessary to trim off a few of the larger fan leaves; however not many.. just 1-2 strategically.

CFLs just don't have enough penetrating power to reach down to the lower canopy. With plants getting to be 3-4 ft tall.. it becomes difficult to produce much bud anywhere except for the top of the plant.

LST does help with this some however even LST'd plants can grow an additional 2 ft or more in height.. still creating problems for CFL to penetrate the canopy.

So to answer the original poster question.. Should you cut them off?

My opinion.. and I state opinion because this is my preference:

1. Leave as many leaves as possible.
2. Lollipop the plant. Meaning just cut off all the lower growth that is not going to get any light anyway. Your plant is wasting energy on these off shoots that won't produce any quality bud.
3. Cut off fan leaves strategically and very.. VERY conservatively. This will allow you to get some more light below the top of the canopy, but still allow you to retain most of the fan leaves for food sources.

It's a balance I feel everyone must find.

Good luck. :thumbsup: