@Med_in_Tropic, I think it depends on the plant and how it's growing. In my case most of the lower leaves won't get enough light my canopy is pretty dense. I usually start in week 5 or 6 with autos by removing popcorn bud sites and fan leaves from the lower 25 to 30% of the plant. The upper canopy gets slowly thinned out up to harvest. I use smaller stresses rather than big ones. My only concern with using too much stress is causing hermies especially with autos. If your growing out side light can reach the entire plant and massive defoliation may not be needed unless bud sites are being blocked. If the plant has only a few leaves with good internode spacing I wouldn't defoliate very much if at all. Using defoliation and slight damages to the plant causes it to release jasmonic acid to the injured area which actually is a defense response. This would slow down growth/ bud developement temporarily until the area heals. Jasmonic acid may have a relationship with increased resin and terpene production it can also help keep buds tighter and dense. It's key to do this early enough so it doesn't interfer with key bud building times. Seems like a bit of trial and error. I've heard Indica strains don't like to be heavily pruned and defoliated yet Sativas seem to enjoy it more.
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