Towing the line? 🤣

read the guides on cocoforcannabis.com and rid yourself of urban myth and bro-science. The dr photon articles are also good, and the other guy that is associated or runs the site too -- or just dr photon, whatever, lol... i can't recall. Beside being stripped of too many leaves, they look fine. It'll still turn out fine, but don't remove so many leaves, next time. you can "lolipop" the axillary buds and leave the fan leaves attached, for example. There should not be gaps in your canopy. that's just lost light, which equals lost growth. Going forward, the calyxes will slowly plump around their pistils and the pistils will start to look short, maybe even turn color and coil up. Once fully plump, pull out your 30-60x magnification and start scoping trichomes. Since you are new, i'd suggest taking buds off at different points of harvest window -- First, take the bulk off based on what you think you will enjoy the most - speedy to sleepy is the general consensus as far as how long you wait / how much amber you see. So, take the bulk when based on your initial perceptions, but leaves some buds to linger, if that is not a 'late' harvest window preference. Scope all over - top colas, mid colas etc.. it's a 'best guess' averaging out the amount of amber you see. you'll generally see faster ripening up top. e.g. you prefer the middle Take some buds early on in harvest window, take the bulk, but leave a few buds to ripen even longer. You'll want to allow quality buds to ripen, not just some larf at the bottom. Compare apples to apples to learn what you prefer - early-middle or late? 10%? 30%? 50%? 70%? these are rhetorical and don't necessarily match up to evrybody's perception of early-to-late. Drugs can affect yo differently than others. think of how nyquil works. some people get hyper while most people fall into a coma within 15minutes of taking it. It seems unfamiliar at first, but be consistent in how you choose.. that makes adjusting easier in future and shortens the learning curve. Once you have some familiarity, you don't have to pay attention as much and simply repeat your common procedure. Rember, don't take off the leaves unless there is a damn good reason to do so. they don't just receive light, which is enough reason on its own. they are the lungs. CO2 is a limiting factor, so that's obviously supremely important not to inhibit the plants intake of CO2. They are production plants - build molecules that are used for growth all over the plant. They are also storage facilities. Even a shielding plant is a net positve. If it is a net-negative, the plant will suck it down and shed it. Let the pant decide. removing leaves that cause congestion/condensation is a good reason, as one example. there aren't too many other good reasons. If you properly space colas, airflow should be takencare of. Shoot for 2.5-3 colas per sq ft and air flow is never a problem and you still maximize yield relative to genetics and area of garden. 'more' colas is not always best. just causes needless stretch and increases proportions of larf.