Hey fellow farmer, i would defoliate it, 33% to 50% from bottom up, and also clean the rest of it, remove fan leaves that are blocking sunlight. If you leave it as is then you will get lots of larva buds at the bottom and slowly developing buds in the middle. Here is a video from one of the OG masters, explains why and how and you can decide easily after it:
www.youtube.com/watch good luck! 👊