Bud cut?

Yes you could, but you may also induce a "shock" reaction in your plant due to metabolic imbalances, which could also lead to a degradation in trichome quality. I have noticed in the past that if I harvested just the top half of the plant or only the biggest flowers at the ends of the branches first, and left the remaining parts to "fatten up/get bigger", the plant would go into slow mode for about 2 weeks, then take forever to finish maturing and with a notable reduction in the quality of the stone. These days I just harvest the whole plant in one go and take the good with the bad. This is where careful and selective "lollipopping" during mid/late veg can play a part in trying to get everything/all flowers to be ripe and ready at the same time and not have to worry about the smaller inner flowers being not ready/big enough. After 35+ years of experimenting with this wonderful plant, the only 2 things that I would consider as actually providing any benefit towards a better harvest are the previously mentioned selective "lollipopping" and some gentle "low stress training" or tying the plants/branches down. Hope this helps.... Organoman.

You sure can, take a bit longer though. I like to trim all the larger guard leaves and lower popcorn buds if any while the plant is still not chopped. Then I chop the larger branches/colas off the main plant and trim them branch by branch. Then I either hang each branch or cut them down more and remove most of the buds off the branchs and place them in my drying rack. Lots of ways to do it. Some people just cut the main stock at the bottom and hang the entire plant leaves and all, then trim dry. This way takes longer though and I find is more of a pain to trim. To each his own though...lol Cheers!💨