Denzulanswered grow question 6 years ago It's generally not a good idea to defoliate autos, but many times it becomes a necessity. This appears to be the case with your ladies. They are lovely bushes but that means lot of shade and restricted airflow. I almost always have to defoliate as I use HPS lighting and heavy LST. This causes a beautiful dense canopy but it needs to be trimmed back often. My last 3x3 grow netted me 5 large freezer bags of defoliated leaves.