jack herer fast "fan leaves"

[dirtymike]

I have found a smoke that does me real well. I have a nervous system issue that is calmed by this strain. The fast version is a real treat to watch grow. It moves into flower so slow then blows up like a balloon. It seems to be a large plant with huge fan leaves. Have yet to let one grow to full height(indoor). I'm ole skol and don't like to cut on my herb while its breathing. I seem to form a relationship with my plants. Lonely old man troupe. LOL. These fan leaves on this strain get in the way of the flowers. Ive tucked them but they seem to be strong enough push back over night. This strain has stems that are longer than I'm use to. Do they need cut off. If so ,all at once , bottom to top?I'm not scoging either.LOL Any help is appreciated. Dirty

[Going2fast]

Try tying them down. If there are just too many you can take a few at a time but don't go crazy. They are needed to feed the plant.

[OldManGrower]

You really need to remove the large fan leaves. Your plants will thank you for it. Bend the branches out and fasten them down. This will result in a big increase in yield.

[AGH]

I am a big fan of defoliation as long as you remember a couple of things:

1) Start by taking less off than you think you should. This allows you to see how the plant responds. Plus, you can always take more off, but you can't put them back on. Trust me, I've tried :-p
2) Generally it's not advised to defoliate past a couple/few weeks into flower. This is because they won't be growing any new fans during flower since all their energy is going into producing buds. Also, you want to keep that energy going into buds, not healing from the stress of defoliation.

Gentle and judicious defoliation allows air to move through your plants preventing pests and disease and it allows light to get to the buds which helps fatten them up.

Good luck, have fun, and remember to take off fewer leaves than you think you should initially!

[Blowdout2269]

dirtymike, can we have some pictures?

[Bluey]

LST to 8 colas spreading them wide. See the buds starting to come through the central canopy...I have to regularly tuck leaves out of the way, which is currently impossible as I'm away.
pic was about day 44 I think.
i trimmed the first top fan leaves at the 2nd and 3rd top and ive cut those fans off around the time of this pic. As long as i can keep the central buds in the light I'll keep the canopy thick but trim fans below getting little light...last trim i try to do before I see first buds...so not much after flip....I'll then only cut off the dead ones or no light ones

I have 3 of these and a forth I have only topped once...its going slow.

[AGH]

What a nice deep green on your plant!

[dirtymike]

I've never tried t get one that low. Is it manifolded?

[SoOrbudgal]

Picture of whole plant, how old is the plant?

[dirtymike]

Got the leaves tamed, tucked and tied back. Here is a pic or two. Its 41 days from breaking coco, first time with this medium.No smell yet. Switched to 12/12 at 4 week.

[Bluey]

How much light do you have and at what height?

[dirtymike]

Using 2 TS600 MH at 18"

[Bluey]

You've flipped it early....I see it's sitting in the sun of a window and doesn't look like lights are on. Is it getting 12hrs of uninterrupted total darkness?

[Puglover1]

Yes, I would've waited 2 more weeks to flip, at least. A pic from above the plant in your grow area shows the light penetration better. GL!

[dirtymike]

Yes i flipped early. last one was up and running away by now. 12/12 Bluey, pitch dark 10' under.75f, 55rh ph 6.5 coco. FF trio

[Bluey]

Your pH is a bit too high for coco. Drop it down to 6.2 and see how you go. The typical window for pH in coco is 5.8 to 6.2...I feed at 6.0 unless I see a nute or runoff problem and then make slight adjustments. Your temps and humidity are fine. I don't recommend using nutes at full strength either but that depends on a few factors...lower pH first and see how it goes.

[dirtymike]

Far out, run off is 5.8-6 now. So drop runoff to 5.6, cool. Good genes on this one. Pretty Green. In the 70s we put them in a hole and checked back in three months. Sure do alot these days for a good smoke.LOL

[Bluey]

No...don't drop run off any lower...you're using fox farm with coco and I don't know what that does but your pH input is high and your run off is a tad low so don't lower input pH any more.
I aim for run off around 6.2 but it varies of course. My plants are happy around there.

[dirtymike]

Cool, aint use to this coco yet. Easier so far. Ill ph water at 6.2 tomorrow. today's its day off form interruptions. Everything stays happy here,

[Bluey]

Your run off pH target is what to aim for...don't lower your input pH if your run off pH is on the low side..increase pH a little or maintain it and see if the run off pH starts coming up.

[dirtymike]

I understand. I use rain water for the most part. Doesn't need much buffer to go either way fast. Ill water at 6.2 and watch. These JHF seem a little soft skinned to me. They don't seem to like alot of nutes. nice heritage though.

[dirtymike]

Update: fan leaves gone Tying them back worked very well. I took them off one at a time from bottom up till all fan leaves are gone. They seemed to turn yellow slowly tied back. Day 52, (12/12 day 35) coco FF trio cal/mag and black strap molasses MH TS600X2 3x3x8. 100 cfm fan exhaust. temp range 66-85f. rh 45. 4 inch bottom fan