Hello birdboy,

First thing is...don't panic, it's a plant that is pretty forgiving. Again tho I'm working without a pic of the plant, so I'm not sure how much you took off.

Like I said on the other thread, generally it is not a good idea to cut off leaves since they gather the light to drive the plants growth, along with nutes. But you said you are only 3 weeks into flowering and kept the main top fan leaves. Your plants may do fine with what it has left, maybe slow growth rate a little, maybe cost some finished weight. But they will continue to flower and I doubt they will turn hermie just from that.

The wilting lower leaves are probably not from the trimming, could be any of a couple of things. Keep in mind as the plant finishes, lower leaves tend to die off first anyway. I trim lower branches sometime because any buds from there are going to be smaller anyway and I'd rather see the plants energy used for the larger top buds.

I am assuming that you grow fairly large plants (like 4' or so) like most people on these boards, so if you cut less then 1/3 of the leaf mass total, you should still have enough "leaf power" to get the plant done. But like I said before maybe a little slower and with smaller bud. With a little luck you might not loose anything....and it's better to lucky then good.

Next time consider this, if you are not growing to a production schedule; when the top buds are ready to harvest, cut the plant in the middle and harvest the top half of the plant. Then give the bottom more time under the light (a week +/-) so the bottom buds can plump more and finish to the trichome level of your choosing.

Good luck and if you could post a pic here, I will try to help you more.
oldmac Reviewed by oldmac on . Why should you not trim leaves during flowering I was told that during flowering, i should trim the larger leaves off that are hiding the buds. I did do this and have trimmed several leaves off the plants giving the plant more light for the buds. Now i have been told NOT TO trim that the larger leaves help light intake. I have noticed some of the plants are wilting on the bottom. is this from trimming too much. What is the affect from trimming the leaves that i will have? I am pannicing now i have gone this far i am afraid i might Rating: 5