New Grower Trimming leaves to allow for more light

[timbro]

Hi I am a first time grower and I am on day 31 and I am wondering if it is a good idea to trim some of the leaves that a blocking light from the flowering areas?

 

[Bgrt]

no in most cases. tuck them behind anything youre worried about losing light. the leaves (especially the larger ones) are the most efficient part of the plant for taking in energy. the buds are the fruit grown mostly by the leaves. think of it like solar panels. the greener it is the more photosynthesis is taking place buds aint that green cause they are the destination not the source of the energy, the whole plant is working to grow buds and itll drop leaves if they become useless. snipping them off is reducing your overall potential theres usually an easier option(tucking or lst etc). sometimes in cramped conditions or poor circulation its a good idea but autos dont have an unlimited time to veg like photos do so youre shooting yourself in the foot. looking good and healthy though slight burn on the tips looks like mild overfeed.
looks like it will outgrow that container.. what is it? is it in a separate one to the one with foil or have you just shallowly filled a pot and lined with foil? it wont help with circulation/heat id say.
id say free it from there and foil up(or preferably paint flat white) a new area/box/case im not sure what youre working with.

snipping causes stress too, not much unless youre going crazy but it will stress the plant and thats not something to aim for when theres an easier better safer option. good luck with the grow :thumbs:

 

[mr jones15]

No! Only if they are dead or very yellow then remove them. Yes removing leaves will bring in more light but by doing so your retarding the bud from growing. Those green leaves have a lot of food in them. Only remove them a day or so before harvest for more ease of access, that's it!

 

[timbro]

Thanks for the reply Bgrt!

To answer some of the points you made.

I am using a soil with auto-release nutrients. I made the mistake of adding some nutrients at half strength when I should have done nothing. I believe there is some Nitrogen toxicity as the leaves are very green and are exhibiting the beginning stages of the "claw" on the lower leaves.

The container is a 5 gallon bucket aka spacebucket . There is a fan that blows in the side of the bucket (it is temporarily removed) and an exhaust fan in the top where the lights are. Temperatures are monitored. To get an idea of what I am using just search "space bucket" on google. I have recently purchased a tent so I will be using that on my next attempt.

 

[Grow-Da-Herb]

no in most cases. tuck them behind anything youre worried about losing light. the leaves (especially the larger ones) are the most efficient part of the plant for taking in energy. snipping causes stress too, not much unless youre going crazy but it will stress the plant and thats not something to aim for when theres an easier better safer option. good luck with the grow :thumbs:

Bgrt has it right on there! I went through the same thought process and came out learning how to LST and tuck! My girls have been loving me for doing it too!

No! Only if they are dead or very yellow then remove them. Yes removing leaves will bring in more light but by doing so your retarding the bud from growing. Those green leaves have a lot of food in them. Only remove them a day or so before harvest for more ease of access, that's it!

mrjones15 got it right there! Only cut, aside from harvest time, if they are dead or yellow... if you just can't wait for nature to run its own course. Those will eventually drop off on their own.

 

[Bgrt]

Thanks for the reply Bgrt!

To answer some of the points you made.

I am using a soil with auto-release nutrients. I made the mistake of adding some nutrients at half strength when I should have done nothing. I believe there is some Nitrogen toxicity as the leaves are very green and are exhibiting the beginning stages of the "claw" on the lower leaves.

The container is a 5 gallon bucket aka spacebucket . There is a fan that blows in the side of the bucket (it is temporarily removed) and an exhaust fan in the top where the lights are. Temperatures are monitored. To get an idea of what I am using just search "space bucket" on google. I have recently purchased a tent so I will be using that on my next attempt.

no problem. it doesnt look bad atall anyway and youre obviously on top of it.
looked up the buckets pretty interesting,never seen one before. the pic makes more sense now anyway, if it doesnt get stunted its probably gonna overgrow that is all i was thinking. seems like the 5 gal isnt full of soil anyway so maybe not.
if it did maybe you could lst it to the edges, spiral it around. get a long cfl to go down the middle. just sleepy ramblings anyway :joint:

good luck with the tent, i love mine. after a small cab it feels good to let them stretch their ..leaves


thanks grow-da-herb for filtering out all my nonsense into a coherent quote :thumbs: