Defoliate mid-veg?

[getrag]

I have two babies, 4 weeks old from sprouting (photo strain). My temps are a little on the low side (65 night, 75 day) so they aren't turbo growers, but nontheless they grow fast. I am at the 6-7 nodes. I have started training them, but there are a couple of gigantic fan leaves keeping some bud sites in the shade. I am not planning to switch to flower for at least another week, maybe two. Should I be removing the just before switching to 12/12 or can I remove them now and be fine? Do bud sites need light exposure when in full veg or just when switching and flowering?

I am growing them in 3gal pots and one of the has such enourmous fan leaves that they cover almost the entire pot. So when I am tying them down, they flatten out even more and cover the bud sites.

Should I be leaving some of the stem when defoliating? Or I just cut it at the base? How can I make sure I don't damage the bud site?

Thanks!

[alltatup]

Hi getrag: Here's a link to a defol tutorial over on GWE, which will help you to decide what to do with your plant. Happy growing!

https://www.growweedeasy.com/defoliation#picture-proof-veg

[Weed Pharma]

Go ahead and cut the large fans now and leave about 1/2" of the stem - (it will fall off, naturally without damage to the plant).

[PaganRich]

You have a lot of wiggle room in veg. Usually I`d wait til I had a fair few leaves and then removing the odd big one wouldn`t be an issue and often a bit of trim and tidy up can cause better growth. It`s hard to say without a pic but if you`ve got good leaf growth then I`d whip them off. Watch the fluids after for a few days but if you`ve got enough greenery, nought should happen.If you feel that she hasn`t taken it in her stride, veg for a few days longer...that would be my advice. Good luck in flowering mate

[getrag]

I trimmed both very lightly, 4 big leafs and two top ones on each. Some grow tips are now stretching further towards the light in only 24hrs. I even fooled it a bit and raised the light another 4" and I can already train the plant further.

Fixed my coco pH problems too in the past week and they are growing like ... weed