Defoliation

I wouldn't do any more toppings. What you want is to remove everything in the shade and under 3 nodes on each stem this will focus growth to the top 3or4 nodes of all your branches. And then in 3 weeks time make another assessment. 👍🌱

Hey I just did some defoliation on my grow! go check it out!

hey, defoliate leves only... prune underneath, maybe. probably don't want to "top" at this point at all unless you know you have enough time for it to grow back stronger.

you could take a few off the top. try to leave at least a leaf or 2 on each, but get light to hit deeper on the plant to promote a larger zone of quality nugs -- in the center more so than the outside of canopy. if you take too much off, you hinder yield. as far as pruning anything.. i think all you have is strong colas... but, if you have one that's only a node or two and stashed under foliage... i'd still keep it if you do other stuff like edibles and bubble hash. the plant isn't unruly or too large to provide, as long as it isn't a significant portion of the total. but, that's the top of crap you lop off near bottom. i taek off lower leaves, not for the benefit of the plant, but because i want easier access to water, lol. However, i'm farily confident about not running into problems later. leaves are armor against stupidity, so have a really good reason to remove any. they do exist. don't worry, 1 week into bloom gives you leeway... should be plenty of time to grow back a bit.

Are you planning on lst them at all anymore? I'd leave what you think might still get good enough light to turn into a good bud. This is all subjective to how powerful your lights are. Lower can still make some decent buds if they can get some light but if you think it's not going to develop take it off. Are you trying for just one big main cola? If so from what I've seen they strip almost all of it except what's at the top but I've never main lined. Hope this helps!

So I should defoliate the leaves but leave the stems, even if they are not receiving much light?

What you should do is Defoliate the leafs that are pointing inside towards the main stem of your plant, one's that are blocking bud sites. Be selective only remove them if it serves a purpose, as they are what give you plant their energy those big beautiful solar collectors.. Cheers and happy Defoliating!