Defoliating during preflower

Why defoliate outside? Sun rises in east, sets in the west. This creates a "arc" over the space of daylight hours. This arc provides light from varied angles that allows much higher levels of light penetration, very popcorn nugs. Indoors the light source is fixed therefore defoliation is required to lower parts of plant tht dont reicieve correct spectral composition due to different wavelengths penetrating to different depths. Indoors all defoliation is is expediting what you know will never fully develop by end of grow. Defokiation outside I guess is more to stop moisture being trapped in the density of mass. Plants look like beasts :) certainly going to be a big harvest. Wish I had a garden.

Personally, I have never defoliated any outdoor plant for over thirtyfive years and I never will. Your plant knows exactly what it is doing and how to grow her best flowers. Growing her best flowers does not involve shedding or dropping any healthy, green, energy producing leaves for no reason. ALL of the plants energy to grow and thrive is made in the leaves. Quite simply......... Less leaves = less energy being made = less potential growth. You could lollipop some branches, but I would strongly suggest to not defoliate at all. Sunlight spectra that we can not see with the human eye will pass through upper leaves and strike lower sections anyhow. Flowers do not need direct light to grow, just like how fruit grows all over an entire tree, not just on the sunny side. Also, moisture does not build up on the leaves outdoors, this is an indoor cultivation problem.

I also would recommend to wait until the Stretch is done, otherwise you may stunn her in the Most Important phase…

YES! DO IT NOW! She needs a Haircut BADLY before the Buds form and enclosure moisture that got collected by the leaves. Good luck, she looks awesome!

I would do it but it is outdoor so only remove really only remove leaves that don't get any sun at all

Beautiful plants friend! Well groomed too! I prefer to defoliate in the first two weeks of flower to shape the plant up and remove branches that won't see much light. I try to make sure most of the work is done by the third week. If I defoliate past the third week its most likely due to necessity to get greater airflow into the plant or to take off dead or dying fan leaves. Doesn't look like your plant need too much work. Good job keeping them nice. 👍 You have a beautiful garden.

Nice plant! I would wait till stretch is done, then do a light defoliation. But not too much, just spots inside the plant where moisture is build up. I would always keep stress on a minimum during flower. Much success 🤞and Happy Growing