Should I remove cannabis fan leaves

The cannabis growing community is really split in the opinions in this one. Some are supporters of lollipops trimming of leaves, some peeps remove just leaves that cover buds and others trim all leaves few weeks before the end of the flowering phase. So what is the best decision to do? We are going to use little logic and common knowledge to debunk and explain the common truths of the internet.

What is the best way of cannabis defoliation

The answer to this question is quite relative. Relative to the environment you are growing in, the way you are growing and also depending on the phase of the cannabis growth cycle you are in.

So lets ask ourselves - why do plant needs leaves? The plant needs leaves to produce food for getting bigger and bigger. The plant absorbs sunlight through the leaves for the energy and carbon dioxide and water from the leaves. So if we think about it logically - more leaves surface equals more food which equals bigger plants. So during the vegetation period, leaves are better to stay on from this point of view. Secondary use of leaves for the plant is protection, so indoor growers prefer to defoliate then outdoor growers.

What about cutting lower leaves and sprouts to bust energy to other leaves (also called lollipopping)? We know that lower sprout most of the time don't finish flowering and have very little smokable material on them. So is it better to cut the less potential growth away to boost the strength and yield of bigger ones? If we take a lesson from gardening, then the answer is big yes. When we cut plants less potential and stagnated growth we boost other healthier and stronger parts of the plant. During the vegetative phase, we boost healthier growth and in the flowering phase, we force the plant to put more energy in flowering pf the buds and less on the growth. Because we want big buds and fat colas.

So if the plant forces energy when cutting leaves to the buds then clean cutting away all plants leaves should maximize the energy to the buds? This one is a little bit in the gray area. If we do this in the final few days of the flowering phase, then it could be good, because plant produces trichomes for fighting stress that you caused with removing all the leaves. But in earlier flowering stages this can actually hurt the plant. Why do you ask? Because as we said earlier, plant uses leaves to get the energy for growing.

So do you have any experiences with defoliating cannabis plant? Did you came up with different facts than we are? Then leave your experience stories in the comments and let us exchange knowledge!