Fan Leaves Vs. Trimming

[low_rdr]

In the past I've had more room to grow. Since this is my first CFL grow, I'm not sure which technique to use, in my previous grows I have always cut the fanleaves off all the bottom nodes but left some stem behind for the buds to secure to, making them semi tight, and still nice sized buds in the end.

Now that I'm in a smaller area my fan leaves are a bit weaker, will trimming increase overall yield, or will leaving them on produce more stalk strength for the plant? I'm starting to get some overcrowding on my LST'd pineapple express, and my bubblicious nodes are so tight you can't even see the stalk.

Advice in this area would be great, quickly

Thanks guys!

low

low_rdr Reviewed by low_rdr on 12-14-2012. Fan Leaves Vs. Trimming In the past I've had more room to grow. Since this is my first CFL grow, I'm not sure which technique to use, in my previous grows I have always cut the fanleaves off all the bottom nodes but left some stem behind for the buds to secure to, making them semi tight, and still nice sized buds in the end. Now that I'm in a smaller area my fan leaves are a bit weaker, will trimming increase overall yield, or will leaving them on produce more stalk strength for the plant? I'm starting to get some Rating: 5

[low_rdr]

I had to trim. I'm hoping for several grams of popcorn from the bottom of my stalks, and those buds were getting no light whatsoever, I realize this will help to harvest them early, but I don't want to harvest early unless the buds are ready, I'd rather have them swell up and mature with the rest.. At any rate, I trimmed all 3 plants, and the pineapple benefited the most from it, I'm afraid the bubbles were going to use those leaves for nutrients, so I might have actually hurt my harvest a little bit.

I'll keep this thread updated with my final findings on these plants

[higher_than_you]

hey l_r,
what was your set up before? hps or mh? did you trim during you flower cycle? i personally wouldn't take any fan leaves off, you need a certain amout of leaves to produce the hormones that make it bud, u take off too much it will concentrate on making new leaves to get the hormone ballance right thus slowing your growth
be interesting to see what happens looking forward to the update
peace

[low_rdr]

I was using HPS.

I clipped 90% of the fan leaves in week 2 of flower (coming into week 3) the budding stems are all pointing up today, and the plants look good again, sugar leaves are starting to form trichs, bud hairs not so much, but there are a few crystals forming up there.

Pineapple has 22 bud sites and it looks like the bubbles have about 6 per plant. So far, so good. The remaining fan leaves were the new ones coming in, all under 4" wide, I took all the hand size leaves off as they were a bit too big for my cabinet, lol

[higher_than_you]

90% in the flower cycle?? lol i bet a few heads are turning :wtf: each to there own i say and be good to see the results:thumbsup: was there no way u could have tucked them in underneath? saving stress? but saying that from the sounds of it she is recovering nicely so looking to seeing her growth progression

[low_rdr]

Nope. The fan leaves were taking just about all the light up, but the plants have already bushed out quite a bit further than I would have expected, and those smaller fanleaves spread a bit further out, and are already increasing in size. This is the point where you can basically hear them growing if you listen close enough. Having done this in the past for light penetration in smaller amounts, I'm not too worried about the buds not forming, they're already starting to intertwine quite a bit, and the stalks are there for the support, still looks like I'm going to have to stake the pineapple up, strength of these stems isn't very high at all, even with the fan in there.

The bubbles are nice and sturdy, buds are forming well there. As far as the plant soaking up those nutes in the last few weeks... I feed mine until the end, they don't get a week or two week flush

[higher_than_you]

This is the point where you can basically hear them growing if you listen close enough.

<( not sure if that worked)

haha i know the sound i hear ya tho man, growing space can be limited at the best of times. from the sounds of it way things are going you should still get some quality nugs :thumbsup:

with regards to your pineapple tho i have had experience with her before, i vegged for 4 weeks inside on a 600w hps till she was about 2:5f and topped then stuck her outside in the corner field next to my house in may, she grew 7:5f, two main trunks thicker than my thumb from the 3rd node, she was beautiful i never got to experience her tho, was about half way through her flower cycle and 'ol mc donald' came with his tractor and cleared the field :beatdeadhorse:

maybe early on the veg let her get a little taller before the lst and move the fan a little closer, iv waited till the 3rd week of veg before on some before l applied the lst, just make sure u secure her at her trunk to on one side of the pot, this string is tight but as not to bend her,(brace tie) then pull her down the opposite direction to your brace about 3/4 height up the plant , gently! lol. with this method u can leave em to get that little bit tougher before before u apply the stress.

bubbles? is that a bubble gum? theres so many high quality strains out these days its hard to keep up lol, no flush? have u already done a taste test yet? u say 'bubbles' and 'are' so i am assuming more than 1? if you havent? then you so should, and post the results. always a good read when a grower challenges 'the rules' :thumbsup:

looking forward to the updates
peace

[low_rdr]

I do an RO flush to cure, after the plants are harvested, the buds are put in tubs of water, the process is osmosis, extracts the chemicals from the plant and disperses it into the water (you can actually see it) - The plant gets treated like this for 1 week after harvest (fresh water daily) and at the end of the 7 days if the water is pretty clean, they nuggets can be put straight into a dehydrator.

I'm more about medicine than I am flavor, this decreases yield, but increases potency something fierce I haven't mentioned it here before because nobody has really asked, but the process is called water curing. In many cases it can increase bag appeal, but in some, it ruins all bag appeal, and the fact that it reduces smell can really effect the bag appeal, but as far as medicinal purposes are concerned.... It's the shit.

Wanted to address 3 points before they were asked

1) Dehydrator?!?! Are you nuts? Won't that make your shit taste planty?! - No. The purpose behind the 'cure' of marijuana is to let the chemicals and chorine evaporate - The reason the smell intensifies over time, is because the chemicals and chlorine disperses more and more over time, leaving the natural product behind. The water cure removes all the chemicals and chlorine, so all that's left is the natural scent of the plant - Putting it into the dehydrator only removes the moisture, since the rest is already taken out, it's completely smokable as soon as it comes out of the dehydrator.

2) You gotta be an idiot. - Your right, I am. I'm also the guy that is proving that you can get 6-8z's per month in a small cabinet setup, when you guys told me it was impossible So try it with a nugget or two from your next harvest, even if you do a water flush at the end of your grow, these nuggets will still be cured before your harvest is ready to smoke.

3) Aren't you flushing THC down the drain? - Not at all, see, THC isn't water solutable, which is why we can make bubblehash. As long as your gentle with the buds during the rinse and refill, you won't loose any trichs. After you get it down to a science, you won't lose any plantmatter at all! Don't knock it til you try it.

[cannabis-seeds]

Time for me to show my ignorance - I've never heard of water cure before.

What am I missing? You simply soak it in water for a week, changing out the old water for fresh daily?

What do you see when the chemicals come out in the water? Is it just cloudy or what?

Very intriguing idea - would love to know more.

[higher_than_you]

iv never heard of it before? but after your 3 points you have explained it pretty well, so thank you :thumbsup: lol justification of ur methods, i find u have to do it sometimes if yours differ to others and they have a strong opinion on it, i try and keep an open mind myself.

it would seems we have a different end 'bag' appeal, altho i need it medicinally, i also like to taste the different flavours and smell

i like the idea but i wouldnt want to risk a full plant for my 1st attempt , maybe i will practice on some smaller nugs, the idea of that much water after harvest scares me and if your pulling 6-8 monthly thats alot of water changes or is it in one container?(completely off topic but your 1st grow log 2600w-are these the same plants?)

i hang mine myself till the day before i think there stem will snap lol it took a while, then keep them in there curing jars, i have a smaller one that i will just refill as and when i run out.
plastic baggies ect cause a static that will pull off your trichs

will drop in later on im keen to see how yours get on.. will u update here? or if that is your grow log-there lol
peace