I've always read mixed info about what to do with fan leaves, specifically the ones that aren't doing so well - yellow, crispy, etc. So, lemme refresh my own memory, and also ask for some refreshers... Fan leaves are good for turning light into food/energy, yes (photosynthesis)? They suck up CO2, yes? Provide cooling for plant, yes? So when they start turning yellow or crispy, they're showing me that something is wrong or deficient. How much benefit are they to the plant anymore? I remember Lion was adamant about leaving those on, saying if they're still relatively solid (yellow, not crispy) they are still performing some photosynthesis, (just not that much) and therefore are still beneficial to the plant. Others said Nay. Pluck them off, they're blocking light, and the amount of PS they might do isn't as beneficial as getting more direct light to a bud. So.... Do I pluck, or not? I have been, but it's largely because I'm a natural plant groomer - I spend hours sometimes with all my houseplants, picking off crunchies and deadheading and the like.... Would there be any reason to leave them on until they fall off on their own? GTWT
Personally I take them off although there was a time when I didn't. Even if you don't practice mass defoliation I don't see any reason to leave dying leaves on the plant, all it's doing at that point is blocking light from the lower bud sites. Break out the scissors and clean up those ladies to your hearts delight.
Give a gentle downward tug up near the stem. If it plucks off, the plant is done with it. I'll trim back the occasional yellowed leaf just out of habit though. If it falls sometime and I don't notice it becomes a source of unwanted fungi or pests as it rots between the plants or on top of the soil. If there's lots of yellowing, it's time to figure out what's going on. Then I save every leaf until it gasps it's last bit of green. Hope it helps.
If you are starting with a robust healthy plant, I don't think taking off fan leaves, even perfectly healthy ones, hurts the plant at all. Look at MGJ's grows to see evidence of that. We mere mortals? Well I am a bit more careful, though for the first time ever i completely defoliated one who table of 8 plants, and then I defoliated to different, lesser degrees on two other adjacent tables. All the plants were roughly the same size starting out, and the tables get fed from the same reservoirs. It will be interesting to compare the yields of the tables. If I can keep everything sorted out during the frenzy of trimming. In sum though I have no problems trimming healthy fan leaves, especially at the top where the big ones shade everything below it. Cannabis is such a selfish plant - each budsite does it's very best to screw ALL the others out of light by shoving it's fan leaves over neighbors. In a crowded flower room, NOT trimming off fan leaves at the top will most definitely give you more popcorn and less chunk at harvest. No question about that at all.
Thanks, guys! I'm definitely pro-pruning just by habit, being a hardcore plant nerd, but I wanted to find out if I would be doing any damage or affecting yield or health.
I should stress that the plant's gotta be healthy and bombing along, no issues. I can see trimming fans off a struggling plant really hurting it. Also there is a law of diminishing returns at work somewhere here, which I believe Duc ran into last run. If you take PPB too far you can decrease yield. Mr GJ makes it look a little easier (IMO) than it really is. The crux is deciding what to take off and when.
