To trim or not to and different methods used and why

[micmac]

After one sided debate with first time grower ever ,he was drunk after the fight ,I've decided to try and get a few more opinions on when they trim why they trim and what outcome you expect from your trimming also what effects you get after trimming so I will go first remembering all theories will be appreciated and probably no one is right or wrong basically we are all trying to achieve the same thing ,

Personally I never knew about supercropping etc until I got into indoors and learnt how to use google my number 1 aim is to get good quality smoko and maximise the harvest have always gone by the thought more stress more thc but certainly not to point of stressing so no growth occurs to do this I try and get a idea in my head how round I can get the plant giving it room to develop without interfering with the others then once I have bent the branches to achieve diameter I will allow those branches to start the normal pattern of growth towards the light source,while this is happening removing any leaves from these branches once the new sprout is about 1cm why do I do this ,at the moment the plant is using all available resources to repair damage (grow that new branch ) and all the other growing tips I think you might call this super cropping each branch to help this process along a bit this where the knuckles come into play pumping more goodies to the places they are needed the most, another benefit is allowing the rest of the plant to catch up giving a nice even canopy don't panic all this bending isn't going to stop or stunt your plants ,outside you can continue to bend tie etc until late February where I am , inside I think it would be until you have filled in all the gaps in saying this I am a little anxious that if I do this to my current grow I will be running into problems because of the fast approaching summer conditions and the shed can get pretty hot,

When seasons change and the plants transfer from veg to flowering is when I suppose I have a much more reserved approach ,the sugar leaves I didn't need b4 now become more important to in the process especially in the last few weeks I am reluctant to remove them only if they are covering another bud ,the last week when I can see more amber trichs than clear I will remove those big sugar leaves ,by this time they are ready to fall off any way making the plant think it is under attack again 1 more time hopefully pushing that last little bit of thc into the buds , once harvesting I like to give some of plants a little bit of taste sometimes putting the plants with roots in a bucket with some wild turkey honey maybe some port or just plain honey or sugar diluted with water for a couple of days then hanging to dry

I am not interested in what you grow in or what you use just how you approach your growing technique and your theory behind it, by the way my youngster mate made his argument from what he had on the internet , it was not to remove any big leaves his explanation was a man on a tightrope using the the pole to balance just as a plant uses sugar leaves for stability, my theory was that there was enough growth on the plant to cause enough resistance to stimulate strength and stability sure his plants are 6 inches higher have these massive leaves but the problem for me is that they only have 4 branches each with very stunted growth along those branches probably 4 maybe 8 branches to bud with big spaces between each node but these massive leaves, sort of reminds of golf ,drive for show putt for the doe,

Well that my 2 cents worth anyway, if u think I am wrong or just an old fool not with the times let me know but please back your argument with experience not something you have read.

[pedro de pacas]

Sugar leaves or shade leaves, never herd of anyone removing sugar leaves.

Think ya supposed to drink ya bourbon not give it to plant, the hippies used to boil the roots in sugar water, fuck knows why

Never trust a hippie or a hipster, I recon

[micmac]

Sorry Pedro shade leaves

[kushclub]

I just trimmed maybe 50% of shade leaves in week 3-4 of flower . My tent is pretty full though so really needed some extra light penetration.

 

First grow so i cant compare but as far as i can tell i cant see any negative impact to my plants. Still slowly developing. Since the trim my buds have started to fatten a little but for all i know could be at the stage where this would happen anyway

 

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[micmac]

Thanks for the reply , I would have done the same thing.

[GREENQUEEN]

Hi micmac,I can't really comment on indoors grows but I've got plenty of outdoors experience and as far as outdoors go,s unless there yellow or damaged I leave all leaves alone to do there job,leaves are there for a reason they collect energy from the sunlight the more leaves the more energy goes in to producing big healthy buds, it photosynthesis,sometimes I'll tip them when there young once sometimes twice while the plant is small and that's it after that I leave em to do there thing till harvest only removing the old damaged leaves so the plant is not wasting energy on leaves that will not recover,that's what I do and that's my reason why and I always ALWAYS have big beautiful healthy plants that reward me with a bountiful harvest, it's old school but it's what works best for me and my garden,I know there's many ways people do things but that's what I do,cheers Micmac,GQ

 

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[afgahn bob]

Thanks 4 taking time to explain process micmac

 

I could never write that many words

 

At least i can take on board what u been talking about

 

Thankyou  

[micmac]

Was hoping you give your opinion just a couple of questions gq 1 how much stealth do need to keep your projects out of prying eyes

2 do you get direct sunlight from dawn to dust

I've pretty much had to be very careful in selection of a site trying to keep growth lower than the surroundings even in the back yard so growing big monsters is something I have never really had to chance to do unfortunately,

[micmac]

Thanks 4 taking time to explain process micmac

 

I could never write that many words

 

At least i can take on board what u been talking about

 

Thankyou

yeah thanks bob was pretty smashed last night my wife in bed nothing else to do thanks for taking the time to read it glad it made clearer for u what my process is all about just not a scissor wielding madman

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Only time I trim shadies is when I SCROG as I'm from the school of thought that the shade leaves are there for a very good purpose, being solar panels and storage of sugars to go into the buds in late flower.  But in a SCROG, particularly indoors, all those leaves block way too much light from getting through the canopy so I try to trim the minimum amount out.  Some leaves get removed, and some I only cut a portion of the leaf out, no exact science to how I go about it, just clean scissors and wait until after stretch finishes and some bud has already formed up.  Also try to do it over 2-3 spaced out sessions to minimise the stress on flowering plants.

 

I agree with GQ about not doing it outdoors though, but take a slightly different approach if outdoor plants have effectively been SCROGged, which I did once.  That time I did a little leaf thinning, but nowhere near as much as indoors, partly due to the fact the sun angle changes through the day, and partly due to doing the SCROG more openly and tall than I do indoors.

 

At the end of the day though, leaf thinning, as with many grow techniques, should come down to the individual grower doing what they want how they want to.  There's pro's and cons to most things, so just go with your gut and you'll be much happier with your growing.