Mistake on first grow?

i have autos from the same pack sprouted the same day, and they now kinda 1-2weeks apart in mid flower. so i would say every plant is different. could be your defoliation, could be pot size, could be so much more or just a coincidence. i´ve learned things like removing leafs to give new shoots good light doesn´t really affect the plant, just hope you are lucky and the plant has good node size and distances.

I wont cut more than 1/4 of leaves at once. Also i wouldnt touch autos, only in early veg, in ways that dont shock her. A single topping and defoliate the first 2-4 leaves on day 20-25, not more. And even that gets a lot criticism.

Yes it was a mistake. Why defoliate? What for?? All of the plants energy to grow is made by/in the leaves. Less leaves = less energy being made = less potential growth. The plant was relying on those very leaves to make the energy required for flower growth. Too late now. If you are unsure, ask first then act, not act first then ask if it is ok. Flowering in autos has nothing to do with defoliation, it is all age related and it is just coincidence that this occurred at the same time. Also, pre-flowers is not flowering, only an indication that flowering is about to commence. Flowering proper, starts about 2 weeks after the first pre-flowers appear.

There's really no reason to defoliate a plant that's only 12 inches tall, especially an auto. With autos it's really best to let them stretch first then evaluate your canopy when it's full to decide if defoliation is necessary. It's not catastrophic, but you've probably slowed down this plant a little bit. The flowering is just coincidental, it was already transitioning before you removed anything.