Hello fellow growers!
Im excited because my plants finally have pistils
Am i to believe that ALL fan leaves should be pruned? Seems kind of extreme & ive never seen pics where there are colas without fan leaves
So if its a good idea (ive heard) to prune fan leaves at this stage, how much do i take off or should i just leave it alone
Thanks in advance growers
4 Likes
No do not take off those fan leaves. Since they’re starting to flower you can just remove some bottom growth. Look up “lollipoping”. If those fan leaves are in the way just tuck them behind. You can remove small amounts of leaves but removing a lot will stress out your plant and set you back
9 Likes
It’s also slightly dependent on the individual plants as well. I’ve had plants where I only had to remove a handful of leaves through the entire grow, and others where I’ve filled garbage bags, lol. Some are way leafier than others.
Either way, I try to remove as little as possible, but I take anything that I feel is necessary to allow light to penetrate and air to flow properly.
9 Likes
Any pics I trim mine every week but as stated above all plants are different I believe in good defoliation
5 Likes
Congrats on your new pistols… I mean pistils!! From guns to ganja there. 
No, do not prune all fan leaves. If you can post some pictures it will help the group be better able to really give you more personal advice, based on your grow, as to what would be best. 
3 Likes
OK guys, here’s some nudie pics of ‘my girls’ 
from the front, back & side. Disregard my wife’s tomatoes plant
I know they’re a little droopy since I haven’t watered today yet. Everyday I pluck a few bigger yellow fan leaves off & that’s all I’m going for now. The smaller yellow seem to wither away & fall off so I not worried about that
So the consensus is to leave them alone, I think?
4 Likes
Much like myself, at 3 weeks flowering I would remove the lowest 1/3 and any damaged leaves. You may also want to remove a few large fan leaves and small shoots from the interior to redirect energy and increase airflow. I would then focus on the yellowing/browning and slight droop to the plant on the right. In my limited experience, others may have better insight, you look to be experiencing a slight pH or nutrient lock. Are you able to test things like soil pH, water/feed pH, and ppm in your runoff or are you having to wing it like me this season? I know a lot of people say the fading is normal and it may be for some strains, but personally having experienced fading myself before and having successfully halted it, I have my doubts along with others that claim to not experience it. This does not pertain to the last weeks of flushing before harvest. You will obviously see fading then. Overall, you’re girls are looking pretty healthy to me gromie! 
2 Likes
So today I actually gave mine a haircut. To give you a better idea here are pictures before and after. I will do a touch more interior thinning towards the top on Saturday and that’s it. Hope this helps.
BEFORE
AFTER
3 Likes
Hey, thanks Shade! That’s really helpful, gives me an idea for my bush. How long 'till harvest?
1 Like
You ain’t kidding every plant is a bit different. This year I’ve had that skinny chick with no curves just lanky and lean and then I’ve had that big booty poppin burstin at the seams plant with nothing but a cluster 
of foliage that was an insta trap for powder mildew thanks to high humidity and low air flow 
3 Likes
Awesome man, glad it helped. She just turned 15 weeks from seed and 2 weeks flowering on Monday with 6 to 8 weeks to go. Here’s a couple flower pics from yesterday.
1 Like
I’m 18 weeks out from sprout to the pics I posted & going on 2 weeks of pistils, so I think I’m looking at the same time frame, the 2nd to the 4th week of Oct
Thanks for your help
1 Like
Yep, we’re riding the same train! What strains are your girls? Be sure to keep me posted. 
1 Like
Looking real nice. Luck be with you on getting threw OCTOBER if in a frost zone.
4 Likes
I’ll keep you posted
1 Like
They’re feminized, 2 plants are Girl Scout Cookies Extreme & 2 are Bubba Kush
2 Likes
Luck be with me if I don’t end up with powdery mildew or bud rot here in Va… 
Excellent choices!!
2 Likes
Based on the pics, what’s the best guess of how many weeks 'till harvest time?
I have 4 plants, 2 Girl Scout Cookie Extreme & 2 Bubba Kush, all feminized
They all seem like they are at the same point of maturity. The pistils are starting to crimp inward & lose color (getting a little dingy/darker)
Pistils started to show up the 3rd to 4th week of Aug. Plants are outdoor in Mpls
The last pic was taken with the magnifier on my phone to give you an idea of the trichome situation
Thanks!
3 Likes