Should I defoliate?

[Greenlivin]

I switched over to 12/12 about 5 days ago. Should I defoliate this one? It has a lot of growth underneath, but I’m worried to do it bc it slowed another one down quite a bit.

[Tersky]

I'd remove the big fan leaves up top that are blocking budsites. If a plant is healthy enough, it shouldnt slow it down very much. If there are other issues then it could stunt growth. I notice explosive growth on mine the next day or two after defoliation in late veg. In flower you wont get new growth after it stops stretching.

[YYCannabis]

Tersky could you explain the “stretch”. When does it happen? How long does it usually last?

[Tersky]

The stretch happens soon after the plant starts to flower. Happens to every cannabis plant the plant will double or triple i height. Starts in early flower stops a few weeks in. Have you never flowered a plant before YYCannabis? Its fine if you haven't im just surprised your asking that question as it's a important part in growing cannabis indoors.

[YYCannabis]

To be honest, I’ve never taken note of height happening in surges. I would once a week make sure my light was at 18-20” above plant tops. Never really thought about how one week would be an adjustment of an inch, and the next week it being 3”. 🤣 But then again, I was unsure of what to see when an auto goes “into flower”...I was waiting to see several small clusters of hairs or something ...long story short, I was probably 3 weeks into flower before I changed nutes and switching my amazon light from veg to bloom/veg.

Part of learning is knowing what you need to learn. I’ve read about the stretch, but assumed it was more of a photo thing instead of an auto thing.

[Cloud]

You can tuck leaves if your to scared to defoliate.

[quirk]

Supercrop

[Mr.furley]

Three of the biggest fan leaves off the top.

[Gingerbeard]

Supercrop a fan leaf quirk ? I'm experimenting with hard core supercropping. What I understand and notice that when a stem is supercropped, the stem puts more energy into repairing the damage. Are you doing that instead of tucking?
I also notice the supercropped fan leaf to be at the base of a young bud site. With the defoliation and supercropping I'm doing I would have removed the fan leaf, supercropped by gently rolling the still young leaf between thumb and forefinger to soften it up a touch, and get it early into LST.
I'm following Light Addict's fluxing technique as a guide. But I didn't top, am supercropping, and am doing alternating bud sites instead of opposites. No picture from me, again until Sunday. The growth is amazing.

https://www.growweedeasy.com/fluxing