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Does clipping off leaves open up the plant to infection?
- Thread starter G13Fan
- Start date
El Timbo
Well-known member
Nature includes herbivores.
St. Phatty
Active member
Cutting off leaves is like removing fat from the hide of a live whale.
The leaves contain energy the plant stored for itself.
If you have the right kind of wire or string, or maybe some wire twisty tie-wrap things, you can tie the leaves so they don't shade the growth sites.
The leaves contain energy the plant stored for itself.
If you have the right kind of wire or string, or maybe some wire twisty tie-wrap things, you can tie the leaves so they don't shade the growth sites.
I have been growing for 50 years and I have a degree in Biology. The leaves are essential. I never remove them unless they fall off dead in to my hands. If you use the correct penetrating LED lights you will not be removing much at all until harvest time.
I often prune fan leaves because I run a high density canopy. Even after pruning, almost no direct light makes it through the canopy. If I don't prune with such canopy densities, the yield drops and buds get more larfy due to many/most buds being shaded by unnecessary large fan leaves. I say "unnecessary" because the photons that would be caught by these large leaves fail to make it past the smaller leaves in the canopy...so the light isn't completely wasted.
Of course creating an open wound will increase chances of infection. But in reality, I cut off enough fan leaves each cycle to fill a 30 gallon trash can half way....yet I never get infections. I've also taken cuttings with dull dirty scissors and still had 80%+ success rates...not that I recommend it. I just think that fearmongering plant wounds is a little excessive. I've accidentally broken branches on larger plants and stripped off a big layer of epidermis exposing multiple square inches of inner flesh, then grew them out in filthy basements with no intake filter...and still no infections.
I think pruning is harmful for 99% of growers. But for the few of us that actually run thick enough canopies, it can be beneficial IF DONE PROPERLY. There's no reason to remove unshaded fan leaves from the lower part of the plant, because they don't block budsites. It's also not beneficial to prune a fan leaf if the photons it was catching are going to travel through a hole in the canopy and not get absorbed by the plants. It's also strain dependent. I rarely/barely prune my Headbanger, but the Double Dutch needs it pretty bad.
Sorry, I know the thread is more about open wounds/infections than pruning. Just wanted to share my experience which seems to contradict the mainstream narrative around here.
Of course creating an open wound will increase chances of infection. But in reality, I cut off enough fan leaves each cycle to fill a 30 gallon trash can half way....yet I never get infections. I've also taken cuttings with dull dirty scissors and still had 80%+ success rates...not that I recommend it. I just think that fearmongering plant wounds is a little excessive. I've accidentally broken branches on larger plants and stripped off a big layer of epidermis exposing multiple square inches of inner flesh, then grew them out in filthy basements with no intake filter...and still no infections.
I think pruning is harmful for 99% of growers. But for the few of us that actually run thick enough canopies, it can be beneficial IF DONE PROPERLY. There's no reason to remove unshaded fan leaves from the lower part of the plant, because they don't block budsites. It's also not beneficial to prune a fan leaf if the photons it was catching are going to travel through a hole in the canopy and not get absorbed by the plants. It's also strain dependent. I rarely/barely prune my Headbanger, but the Double Dutch needs it pretty bad.
Sorry, I know the thread is more about open wounds/infections than pruning. Just wanted to share my experience which seems to contradict the mainstream narrative around here.
RockinRobot
Active member
Actually this happens to plants in the wild quite often, either from animals or winds. Plants have evolved to survive these things. Supercropping is an excellent example. When you pinch and bend a stem, the plant will form a knuckle at the damaged area that is not only stronger than the original but also more efficient at delivering nutrients to the upper branch.
As for mold, there are mold spores everywhere and it will grow on anything if it has a favorable environment. Do keep your humidity down and your airflow moving and you shouldn't have to worry about pruning, bending or any minor damage to plants.
