LEMON TREE

Just rremember......... Lees leaves = less energy being made = less potential growth. The plant knows what it is doing. The plant has invested a lot of time, effort and energy to grow those leaves. Cutting them off and forcing the plant to grow replacements seems like a waste of energy to me. Energy that could be better utilized. Correct, I do not believe in defoliation, especially outdoors. Let LST be your friend!

Hello my friend, only prune the leaves that give problems like blocking the light for a large part of the plant or leaves that are stacked on eachother blocking airflow. I always study my plant and check good what leaves need to go. Once cut you can not glue them back.

Leaves make the plant energy from the sun, I try not to remove to many of them. Your plant is on the smaller side but expected when growing in a pot, I don't think you need to do anything more. Taking leaves off all the time can stress it out and cause some undesired effects to happen, its also working harder to try and make more leaves to make food for its self. I tend to only remove leaves in veg and don't touch it in flower. I sometimes will bend or fold a leaf under a bud site so it can get more light. Good Luck!