LST and Defoliation help

And i run 20-4 I wasn’t ever gonna flip them to 12-12

I’m only defoliating what I have to they get so bushy the light can’t get down to the bottom bud sites or hell even the sites right next to it

Well first of all, I'm not sure why you're defoliating an autoflower here... and you're not going to be switching the lights to 12/12 - that's done to flip photoperiods into flower and these ladies will do that automatically. The LST is great but seriously, stop the defoliation as your plants need them for photosynthesis ... with autos, you can selectively defoliate when they're much bigger if you need to increase air flow or to get light to the lower bud sites... but don't do it now - it just causes stress to the plant and she's operating on her own time schedule which you might be interrupting. Ambitious number of plants for a first grow! Good luck - they look great so far!

High Ryanh, Beautiful LST just keep bending them so they stay at the same height and for that get the same amount of light. There are 3 reasons to defoliate. 1. To create airflow 2. To let the light reach all the leaves (so when 1 big one is blocking the light for 10 smaller ones you cut the bigger one). 3. To avoid small popcorn buds that use a lot of energy from the plant but do not develop to big, fat and juicy buds. You can defoliate later, just cut the big leaves on top that block the light from the leaves below. And cut the lower 30% of your plant 2 weeks after you switched the lights to flowering (12/12). The smaller buds so your plant is focussing on the big ones at the top. And the lower leaves because they do not get enough light to be usefull for the plant. Happy Growing! 😋