Cut or no?

Northen Light auto

I would take a few of those leaves off. They are blocking light to those lower branches and removing them will give those branches a better chance of growing up even with the top. Your plant is healthy so taking some leaves here and there isn't going to hurt her at all.

If your on a strict time schedule where you veg for 4-5 weeks and flip then I third what @AsNoriu and @icarus are saying, they are correct about it stunting the plants growth. If you do lose that leaf though don't worry as its not as detrimental as their strong reactions may lead you to think, she won't die☠️ Just add a few days to a week onto your veg and the lowers will not protest but again if you can be arsed bending and tucking is the less harmful way to do things if your purist by nature, I'm admittably more of a cowboy 🤠 Again me personally and to my experience I just go full BDSM on their asses and they seemingly love me for it but I do give them recovery time as I'm not in a rush to crop out so its a personal decision.

Look at the Grower of the Month contests comment section, your question is wildly discussed ;))) Bloombuster gave you very wide answer with pictures, hope it will help you to choose RIGHT answer in that mess ....

Привет, друг! 👋😇 не стоит поддавать дефолиации листву верхних уровней растения, а тем более, расположенные рядом с крайними точками роста! 😇👆 ты можешь попробовать просто передвинуть эту листву в сторону или чуть ниже уровнем, дав этим освещение в пазухах листвы и развивающейся ветке. Но удалять в том месте ничего не стоит. Посмотри по ссылке, мой дневник, какой вариант я предлагаю, как можно сцеплять листву между собой, открывая пространство и не удаляя листвы. growdiaries.com/diaries/60402-delicious-seeds-delicious-candy-grow-journal-by-bloombuster/week/344854 на 5 и 6 неделе несколько фото для примера. в 11 неделе - 9 фотография по счёту - "oldschool " Как вариант. Удачи, друг! 😇✊

I did and mine just started shooting up colas everywhere. So from my experience, I would say definitely. I try to remove about 20% of foliage at a time. That way I don't overstress the plants and I make sure that I remove enough where I don't have to go in for a second cutting.

there is one golden rule in successfull defoliation - leave at least one fully matured leaves nod, everything below you can trim. So answer is No. Tuck that leave under, expose branches to light, bent top, defoliate OTHER leaves, but better not touch that till he will be next in the grid. Defoliate in veg you can all time in flower between day 15 and 20 of flower for first wave, second if you need after 20-25 days from first one. Make time to harvest in 3 parts. After each interval you can harm. ( oversimplified ) Tucking is a better technique, especially on small young plants ... Good luck !

Also even with photos I only defoliate up to 2-3 weeks into flower after which I stop but others continue right through, again if I did continue onwards into flower I would pace it and wouldnt butcher it like I do in veg!

If its a photo period then I would but if its an auto I'll leave that answer to those who grow them, personally I still would defoliate an auto but very lightly maybe a couple of leaves every other day!