I accidentally removed some leaves from one of my autos, and sure enough she hit flower early as a result. My advice, tuck the larger leaves under the bud sites, but be careful doing it. The bud sites grow quickly and will soon overtake the larger leaves. Defoliating, much like flushing, is an abused technique apparently. I've been told by enough people smarter than me on here to just tuck those big ole leaves out of the way. Happy growing, and happy smokin!