Unsure when to defoliate the plant. Anyone got a i...

Why defoliate at all??? It is not a necessary "technique" when growing cannabis and is best avoided at all costs, unless there are massive problems controlling humidity during flowering. ALL of the plants energy to grow and thrive is made by/in the leaves. Less leaves = less energy being made = less potential growth. Just because everyone else is doing it, does not make it right.........they are allowed to be wrong! The buds are relying on the leaves to make the energy that they need to grow.............less leaves......smaller buds.

only when its needed is when you shouls defoliate ie when there are issues with light penetration or air movement otherwise leave those leaves alone

As need or selectively. Just providing more light and air to insides if plant to promote growth in more areas.

Definitely herd mentality on the obligatory, no-cause "defoliation" https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/community/photons_corner/to-defoliate-or-not-to-defoliate/ Best info in dr photons corner that you can find anywhere. Along with dr. bruce bugbee (apogee instruments) videos on youtube. Surface area of leaves is the primary factor for yield. Removing leaves that would otehrwise contribute to the end result will only hurt you. This last grow i purposely bent some leaves over buds at a particular depth in canopy so i could compare it later one... guess what? the buds that were heavily looked exactly the same as all the other buds at that vertical height on the plant.. Apical dominance controls that because the sugars produced from photosynthesis are highly mobile... they are ever-present in the phloem if the plant is fed well, which is piped all over the plant at all times. too many mouths (method of fertilization/growing will impact this as some are more efficient than others) and too much depth in canopy will cause a higher percentage of larf relative to any parameters set by the genetics.

I’m not really for defoliating unless it’s necessary for airflow etc. in veg you can pretty much do it whenever. In flower I think it shouldn’t happen past the end of week 3 as to not stress the plant when it’s making buds. Exception is selective leaves here and there that could be blocking light but wouldn’t do anything more than that

If your not having problems controlling humidity or getting wet spots on the leaves then leave her alone. Otherwise if you need to defol then take a few bigger leaves nearer the centre of the plant.