m0useanswered grow question 4y ago If you want to strip the side branches you can.
When I first started growing I would never get rid of all the little things below the main canopy and I got stuck with a lot of popcorn buds.
Now I get rid of them.
If you mainlined once, and then top the two newlines once. You will have 8 cola sites. just need to keep them all even till you switch to flower.
Good Luck!