On 24/05/2014 3:30 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Thursday, May 22, 2014 11:46:44 PM UTC-7, Fran Farmer wrote:


On Wednesday, May 21, 2014 2:40:23 PM UTC-7, David E. Ross wrote:

Or does cutting off part of a leaf degrade its function?


I generally leave a small margin of dead leaf, about 1/2 inch. I think
the remaining leaf cannot be affected since anything in the dead area
already stopped contributing any substances produced during the dying.


I agree with David Ross.

Dead is dead. Live parts on a leaf would still function to feed the plant.



? How does that address what David said? His practice, if I read it right, was to leave a tiny bit of dead leaf because cutting into the live MIGHT be deleterious to plant.



David cuts off the dead bits. He leaves the live bits. The fact that
David leaves a tiny bit of live leaf is not inconsistent with what I

wrote.

Look back. He said he leaves a tin bit of DEAD leaf. Question of aesthetics,
or question of plant function?

Reread. I've left in the pertinent bits and snipped the rest since you
seem to be confused.

David said he cuts off dead bits and says the dead bit he's cut off is
not contributing substances. I said that dead is dead but live feeds
the plant. They both say the same thing, or they should.