Defoliation autoflowers? YES or NO?

Don't do it, would be my suggestion. Every healthy green leaf you remove will just reduce your plants capacity to produce energy, which will then lead to slower/smaller growth. Or, to put it another way - Maximum amount of healthy green leaves = maximum energy production = maximum growth. This is basic plant biology 101. Try to only ever remove yellow leaves, for by the time they are yellow, they have served their purpose. Defoliation during flowering is the worst possible outcome for your plant if she was to lose her healthy green leaves. Not only does the plant suffer with reduced energy production, you will also deprive your plant of the rich store of amino acids, sugars, carbs etc that are in the older leaves and which your plant will draw upon during flowering, as it is more efficient for your plant to re-use the vital growth elements (carbs, sugars, amino acids etc) from her older leaves rather than try to grow flowers and make these elements from new during flowering. This "recycling/re-use", is why some leaves will go yellow on otherwise healthy and well fed plants during flowering. Removing leaves that "are blocking potential bud sites" is also foolish, as the "bud sites" are relying on those big fan leaves to make the energy the "potential bud sites" need to grow! There is no way that the small leaves associated with the flowers can ever make as much energy as just one big healthy green fan leaf. Besides, light spectrums we humans can not see, will pass through the upper leaves to then strike the lower leaves and then still be able to stimulate photosynthesis, therefore providing energy to the plant. Cannabis has evolved to grow her biggest and best flowers. Nowhere on this evolutionary path has cannabis ever developed a trait that for getting rid of perfectly healthy green leaves during flowering or at any time, for no reason, or for any biological benefit. Yellow leaves, yes, but never healthy green leaves. During flower production she needs as many healthy green leaves as possible to make the energy she needs to grow her biggest and best flowers. So, not only does defoliation reduce your plants ability to produce energy (and which will slow growth), it also robs her of a vital source of growth elements (carbs, sugars, amino acids etc), that she has cleverly "stored" in her older leaves as a ready source of nutrition that she will use to grow her biggest and best flowers. Defoliating and leaving just the "colas" will result in smaller, slower growing flowers, due to the lack of energy production and the lack of readily available "pre-made" nutrients that she had so cleverly stored in the older leaves for re-use during flower growth. Hope this helps,..... Organoman. (and steadfast anti defoliation crusader!)