First Time Grower: next question

[MattC]

We have entered early flower stage! Exciting!
I have changed my fertilizer to a high potassium NPK (“Open Sesame”) and things are progressing nicely.
My question is: Should I remove more fan leaves or leave them be?
i feel like I could get more sunlight to the bud sites if I remove some more but I am also very afraid of damaging the plant at this stage.
Thoughts?

[Gator]

It's a matter of personal preference, most outside growers don't defoliate,and if they do it's usually done by week 3 of flower, for example

[DabberDog]

Defoliating is about opening your plant for light and air. Being outside, you have the best light and best fan on the planet. If you see something being blocked or leaves from different plants touching, pluck one of them. But, really, plucking outside is unnecessary. Imagine large scale outdoor growers probably don't do too much.
Something people don't talk about is the OFL method of defoliation. I am getting older, fatter, and lazier. I pluck a little at a time, over time, so when final harvest comes, I won't have so much to deal with all at once.

[Bluey]

This works well for old fat lazy bustards. Not so well for plants. But its an approach I have adopted many times. Allowing plants to just grow works great if you have heaps of light and great breeze. Plucking bits here and there also.
You can get great yields with lots of defol and also none. I think spreading them out for most light and great breeze is more important.

[perfectbuddies]

Congratulations on reaching the early flowering stage! Your plants look great, and it sounds like you’ve been taking good care of them. It’s exciting to watch them develop. Keep up the good work and happy growing!