And for a beginner's perspective on defoliation....
I was tempted to defoliate around three weeks into flower, but I'm glad I didn't. Right around that time my GDP developed curling in her leaves from nitrogen toxicity. I cut back the nitrogen and flushed her really well. By doing this, I think I removed everything beneficial in her soil. In a week's time I'd say she drained about 20-30% of her largest fan leaves. I worry about what the plant would look like now if I had removed those leaves right before she needed them.
Now that she's back into a healthy balance, I pick off 'troubled' or 'used' leaves. I remove a lot of the thin, limp leaves deep in the plant that keep trying to grow, but never thrive. After a fan leaf is at least 80% yellow and a bit crinkly on the ends, I will remove that.
I think it's something you have evaluate with each plant. If my humidity were too high, I'd probably remove more leaves. I wouldn't remove any leaves if my humidity were too low, unless I risked powdery mildew development. When Loretta started having 'the troubles' I picked a lot off of her growth simply to be able to see her branches easier.
Barring any of those issues, I'm more inclined to leave them because I now view them as a safety reserve. Maybe once I'm pro and feel like I won't need that backup, I'll do heavier defol, but not now.
and thank you
Sideways...
AWESOME
