I prune my plant constantly. ShouldI continue to prune, meaning taking off larger.
leaves and damaged ones, or should I leave it alone
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How far to harvest ?
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If it’s not damaged leave it alone
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Ive read that plants take roughly 3 days to recover from a decent trim. I would only trim where leaves are covering bud sites or damaged leaves like youve been doing. i trim maybe once a week depending how the plants look.
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This has been a debate between my grow partner and myself this year plus best time to harvest. I leaned to just pruning damaged leaves on the two Widows and harvest later. Partner pruned constantly on five Purple Kush and an earlier harvest. I ended up getting my partner a book by Cervantes.
Debating is over. And harvest has been delayed 
, the two Widows buds are looking numerous and hopefully big. Sadly the 5 PK was plain just over picked, buds looking smaller and way fewer and yield will probably be way less than the Widows. I hope this helps you as it’s my first grow and just my experience thus far.
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If you do decide to prune be careful if growing in soil as last two weeks they’re given only water & feed off the remaining leaves. Take all your fan leaves off & they will start feeding off the sugar leaves to survive.
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(Plants need leafs to grow) it’s how they soak up the light and turn nutrients into energy to live and thrive… why on earth would it make sense to defoliate your girls… 
It’s not even a discussion… it’s a bad decision…
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All leaves turn light energy to chemical engery. By removing leaves, you limit the sources of energy.
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Not quite sure. Its been budding about 2 weeks. I assume it can go a few more weeks where the weather here has been pretty good. its outside in a pot
TY
MCM
O don’t recommend pruning in flower my self
As @Aquaponic_Dumme mentioned alll leaves turn light into energy so I would leave them @MaineCoonMom
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@MaineCoonMom
Ok , all the folks here have valid point , but here is the deal.
1st. It is your plant so you can do anything, especially if you started it like an experiment ( many of us did)
2nd.
There is more than one style of growing and sometimes different strains require different styles…
Now , you are asking for advice, so naturaly you will hear different opinions…
So here is what I do :
I prune pretty aggressively right before budding, so by time of flower bottom third of the plant if free of foliage and small lower branches…
In flower I do not intentionally prune branches anymore just picking off yellowing leaves, its pretty much daily chore…
Its called “deadleafing” and its pretty much full time job until harvest…
Some strains are shedding like crazy, by harvest you got only buds…
Leave healthy green leaves alone…
I also take off very small and shaded buds, giving more energy for the big ones…
Its hard to explain , but I just basically listen to the plant I do as she wants
So , most importantly, enjoy your experience and take it easy, its very hard to kill MJ plant
Good luck and happy growing !!!
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Thank you
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There is a valid reason for removing fan leaves and that is when you are covering otherwise productive areas with them. I’ve had to get pretty aggressive on some of these bushy Indica strains. The other reason would be to increase airflow to reduce mildew and bud rot.
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I am debating this issue daily out of fear of over pruning. All I have done is LAST no topping because I want to see the end result of ILGM strains. These strains have super genetics! I can definitely identify the difference in production by bushes. My plants are not very large boasting between 11-14 nice thick branches. I’m in my 1st month of flower. A lot of fear in place due to the fact I stepped out of line and got a very strong bloom formula that has burnt my babies. Fortunately I only sprayed the plants and not root fed. However it is a struggle to see them spotty and recovering their color. Buds ARE growing but the pace has greatly slowed due to my mistreatment of the ladies. I did the same on my first grow however plants did recover(what I didn’t kill) and smoke was weak. I water 2x weekly & feed once. Medium is soil and my 4 gallon pots only allow about 2-3 feet of height. Pray for me and the ladies that I can continue to be a good daddy and pimp these midgets to be great producers! Too embarrassed by my mistake to post pics. A simple WTF moment! Good luck with your grow!
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@Viktor7, autos or fem? You can get away with a lot more with fems. Any damaged plant material should be removed simply to reduce the risk of disease.
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They are fems and very forgiving because I’ve made some mistakes along the way
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Hi,
They are females. I have a penchant for pruning the hell out of ANY plant. old habits die hard.
Ive been figuring if it works for other plants, it will work for a weed. however im trying to leave it alone,
and just pick off any damaged leaves.
Thank You
MCM
cant be worse than me spraying my plants with soap and water. I pray for your girls with energy and light.
Looking good 
.
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