Defoliation in flower

Never. Less leaves = less energy being made = less potential growth! Unless controlling excessive humidity is an enormous issue, there is no need to ever defoliate. Buds do not need direct access to lght to grow, but they do need leaves to make the energy required for growth. "Lollipopping" your plants may be beneficial, but that is very different to defoliation. SCROG nets can be helpful if your plants are lanky and then be expected to hold big flowers without falling over.

Wanted to say.. one of my early regrets was not using a scrog. Once you use one, you'll likely keep using it. the stretchy kind seem esaier to untangle for me and fewer loose threads than those cheap trellis options. Worth the few extr a USD for sure. Those cheap ones are single-use or you'll find threads in your buds.

Do you have a problem? If not don't defoliate. Leaves fulfill several functions beyond light absorption. CO2 intake being just as important. Overlapping leaves, leaves resting on tent walls and such are good options to remove. Try to keep as many as possible. As far as axilla (branches), This will depend a lot on canopy management choices. If over crowded at all, i'd strip off all the developed lower branching 14 days after flip, if there's any chance it actually redirects growth/resources, doing so later definitely won't do that if 'vege' growth has stopped already. Whether it's a stretchy bitch or bushy may be reason for different timing, too. There are a few moving parts that will take a little trial and error to get familiar. Well spaced colas will grow good buds on side branches deeper into canopy than a crowded canopy will. crowded canopies will stretch more competing for light. Relative to your experience, prune off the stuff you are certain will be weak buds, if you want. Err on keeping slightly more until you dial it in better. Scrogs are used different ways. My first level helps train it horizontally. Later on i add a 2nd scrog for support about 16" above the first one. If anything is shorter than that, i know it's a stocky, strong plant that won't need the support. I want my support scrog just below the top colas (when fully grown), but a bit lower is okay, too. That should support even the weakest branches. I just added my 2nd scrog, but pics won't be up until sunday at earliest for 'next' week. but you can see my earlier weeks with the scrog for training.

Check mine out.Mine are big plants though.Do they really need it?You can see mine after defoliation and they're still stacked with leaves because 1 is full indica and the others are 80% so the leaves really are on top of each other so the plant growers much better with some light in there.I wouldn't touch them after 1wk of flower.Depending on strain and light which effects the shape in a huge way they'll carry on stretching for 2wks so in theory 2wks but I wouldn't stress them that much.Check out the strain to see if its capable of holding itself up in full flower,they usualy say.My last ones all flopped over which is why I haven't got a decent picture of the room finished.

If there really is a "best time", it's after the stretch but really you should approach defoliation as a case by case, as needed kind of basis vs a set timetable. Some plants require little to no defoliation and others you'll find yourself picking every couple weeks on. Whether or not you wanna/should SCROG not only depends on your available headroom but also the strength of the light you use as well. Little sense growing a 2 meter tall plant under a 100w light, it's gonna likely be stretchy and very little if the plant will be in the desired sweet spot in your light's output range. SCROGing allows you to keep more budsites in that zone. If you're running really high watt lights it's less of a concern as the depth of penitration increases.

A week before flip. Take 10% or so of major fan leaves off until you're happy. Then after the stretch & pre flower is over (the plant stops its upwards stretch) you can then open up bud sites if you want, make sure to keep a few sets of main fans up and down each node. (Stem). But do in small amounts. Photos can take 3-5 weeks to fatten