sorry i have to disagree with folks on this one. Defoliation during flowering is never recommended by any professionals. Exposing bud sites to light promotes lateral growth, but only during veg. for us growers, pllucking a few leafs seems totally fine, but for the plant it is actually a HST isnt it? so the best is to have flowering with no stress at all. Will the plant die? no. will defoliation improve outcomes ? also , no. keep up with the LST, that's the best thing for the plant. Hope this helps ! 🚀