AsNoriuanswered grow question 5 months ago Better do all manipulation after flower stretch is over. You will have way better picture what is what. Its ussually day 16- 21 of flower, depending on strain.
I was huge fan of defoliation, but now i do it in totally different way. Take one - two leaves every few days and only those who really block something, not just blocks for your eye ;)
You could do it before flip to flower, clean bottoms a bit, expose weaker branches, but now during first week of flower you can only stress them and achieve totally oposite results to any profit ...