Hi Growmies!
As a beginner, I decided to leave one plant untrained, but I am noticing some large fan leaves preventing light from reaching lower branches. Is it ok (or beneficial) to periodically remove a large fan leaf if it is blocking light? I hear autos are tricky.
I've had no issues with removing fan leaves from autos, as long as you don't remove too many at once. I take off the 2 that are blocking the most bud sites and then leave it alone for a week, and then depending how she looks I'll take off a few more, but I never take off leaves after the early flower stretch has stopped. Happy growing.
No, defoliating autos will make the plant stop to repair, and you can’t afford that time with autos. Later on, during flowering, when leaves start turning yellow, you can remove a few without any harm.