Harvest

The bottom buds will never be done before the tops, sometimes the tops can finish before the bottoms and in this situation you can harvest the tops and leave the bottoms to go on for longer. I have done it in some of my diaries. It looks like you have another week or two before you want to be chopping any branches off.

Cutting branches off could cause stress, and slow your buds down, if defolin causes the plant to slow down and stress a bit then cutting branches off would probably give the same effect. But I've done it and not noticed any issues so I imagine if there is stress, it's minimal. Strange the bottom would be done but not the top. Anyway, to answer your question mate, yes you can cut branches off and leave lesser cooked buds on the plant and keep it under lights until it's ready. I've known much, much better and more experienced growers than me to do it.

Hi! Have you checked the trichomes? (with a microscope that can magnify enough) If they are almost all still transparent, you will hardly feel any effect from your weed. Go for cloudy, then you'll get a euphoric and energetic high. Cloudy + amber trichomes = Stoned, cough-lock effect. More amber means the THC is converting to CBN, and you'll get medicinal cannabis. Look for clear photos online to compare with your trichomes. I think the harvest is quite early for a photoperiod plant. (you're now in the 13th week, according to your diary) If there's no reason to harvest early, I think you're too soon. It happens that growers harvest in two rounds. Often, the top buds are harvested first since they are usually riper, and they let the lower ones fill out a bit more and harvest those later. Never squeeze a bud to take a closer look if you're not going to harvest yet, this puts unnecessary stress on your plant. Make sure your day-night temperature varies a bit more so your plant can cool down, 27 degrees is high. I hope I could help 🙂 Good luck with the upcoming harvest! 🌱