Should I cut off all the fan leaves?
Yes you should – but with the correct technique. A proper thinning will remove 20-40% of the mid to upper foliage every 5-7 days. Removing these fan leaves opens up light and produces better air exchange to the lower canopy.
You can remove fan leaves during flowering in much the same way you do during veg. Prune away large leaves that are overshadowing bud sites, as well as dead or dying fan leaves. One thing to keep in mind is that you should prune in intervals, giving at least a couple weeks between each session.
Remove fan leaves only when you feel that they are affecting your plant in a bad way. Because of this, if your plant is too bushy and you think it is affecting it in a bad way, it is recommended to slowly remove around 20% of the fan leaves to allow a better airflow and light absorption to the lower part of the plant.
Yes, removing or pruning some fan leaves is a necessary step when cultivating cannabis healthy plants. When fan leaves become too large or abundant, they block the light and airflow to parts of the plant that can hinder trichome and cannabinoid production.
Your plant experiences a rapid growth spurt in the flowering stage, and any significant pruning at this stage could lead your plant into a state of shock. Any time you remove the fan leaves, growth will temporarily slow down, and nutrients can be left behind in the substrate, causing growth to pick up rapidly.
A proper thinning will remove 20-40% of the mid to upper foliage every 5-7 days. Removing these fan leaves opens up light and produces better air exchange to the lower canopy. Healthy leaves at the bottom of the canopy should be kept to trap valuable light from being lost and wasted.
The longer you keep your plants in the vegetative stage, the bigger your plant will be, resulting in bigger yields from plants that were vegetated longer.
Usually, growers trim the fan leaves weeks before harvest, which is a period that leads to senescence, a phase in the plant cycle when the larger leaves start fading away. It is safe to start removing these dying leaves and continue until harvest. However, the main trimming processes commence after harvest.
Bigger pots does not mean bigger plants. The recommended pot size for transplanting is between 2 to 4 inches larger in diameter from the pot that the plant was planted in. This gives the roots enough space to spread and absorb more water and nutrients.
Most cultivators vegetate their plants for 4–8 weeks. After this time, a switch to 12 hours of light per day is required to initiate flowering. In contrast, autoflowering plants flower on their own. Provide them with 18–24 hours of light per day throughout veg and flowering, and watch the magic happen.
Why are my buds not getting big?
One possible reason your buds may have stopped maturing is the plant is “re-vegging.” “Re-vegging” means the plant is returning to the vegetative stage in which the plant only grows stems and leaves. Re-vegging happens most often when plants are somehow getting light during their 12-hour dark period.
Fan leaves will get larger, however, they will not regenerate. Any leaf that is cut off during the flower stage will not come back, so always keep that in mind. Once it's gone, it's gone.
This advanced defoliation technique needs to be performed roughly halfway through the flowering process, around 3-5 weeks in. The idea behind it is to redistribute the plant's natural growth hormones to the power areas of the cola.
Deleafing is most effective during the flowering cycle. When done around the 20th and 40th day of flower, this technique will allow for good airflow throughout the canopy and help ensure that most of the plants' energy is directed towards flower production. However, it's essential not to remove too many leaves.
