Aldo90answered grow question 2 years ago Start at the bottom work the way up. It's an auto yes, it will recover from a defoil. Autos are not as flimsy as many like to believe, however you should only do sections of the plant at a time and never fully strip the plant of all its fan leaf. Start by taking the leaf from the bottom branches first then take some from the top to open up the canopy. Allow light to get to the branches under all those big fan leaves.