Cutting big old leaves - are there benefits?

ebh

ebh

Hey,
 
I just notices that the leaves that first appeared on my plants (the oldest ones - mainly the ones before the first Y split) got very big. I remember in previous years they started to fall once the plant got a bit bigger, but now I'm growing hyroponically and they still linger on, most of them getting close to 30cm.
 
Do I gain any advantage by snipping them off? I'm thinking that will encourage new growth at the top, somewhat like topping and pruning does at an earlier age.
 
I remember seing some professional green house grows (tomato and peppers) and all the plants, while indeed very tall, had most of the leaves up until the flowering/frutting part cut off. The stalks were "clean".
 
Does anyone have any experience with something similar?
 
Thanks!
 
Yes I pull large first leafs off the plant. Your plant will put out smaller leafs where the old large leafs where. It's the same principle as topping. The plant will come back if the root system is mature enough.
 
I would never prune them unless I had to and/or if there is any dead material on the leaf. I actually disagree with the previous post stating it is the same as topping in the fact that the leaf itself is a power plant and the bigger the leaf, the more sugar production you will get. When pruning/topping, you are stopping any new growth and encouraging other areas to start. With pruning the big leaves, you are just taking horsepower away from the engine. Not to say therre aren't good reasons to prune them back, like taking away from light getting to lower growth or if any part of the leaf is dying (but even then you could just cut off the dead part, the plant will continue processing even with a portion of the leaf still in there.
sorry for errors, too lazy to proof read
 
Yep, as said above, only if there is a compelling reason eg - you've gone crazy on nitrogen and there is so much foliage it's blocking light to lower parts and hindering production.
 
I checked out the internet and there were mixed answers regarding this aspect. I ended up cutting them anyway...
 
Thanks
 
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