Any tips on defoliation?

[No3odiesShad0w]

So I'm curious about defoliation. I noticed in my last grow any leaves that were even slightly covering the buds, grew much smaller than the ones exposed to direct light. I don't want to rip off too many leaves, not do i want to do it too late into bloom.

The bigger one is just about finished with her pre-bloom stretch. I have developing and developed budlets. The rapid growing is slowing down and i want to remove some leaves. I already removed about 2 handfuls of leaves over the past week from below the screen, everything went. Above the screen I've been focusing on making sure the leaves aren't covering any buds.
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The new one i just put to bloom this Saturday so it hasn't even started "the stretch." So I'm going to wait a bit. Only doing the leaves below the screen for now.

Any tips at all would be appreciated. You could Photoshop and scribble on any of my pictures to show me any areas that I should focus on. Am I doing a fairly good job at what I'm currently doing should I do something different? I know I can't strip away all the leaves but I know I definitely have to reduce some because it looks way too dense there's not going to be proper air movement.

Here's some pictures to show you a little before and after. I want to do a little bit more defoliation on the one that's finishing the stretch before I stunt the growth.
You can see on the other one how dense sleep pack the leaves were and how I got rid of a lot of the leaves underneath and thinned it out more for the buds to come in properly which I didn't do on the one that's already blooming. Hopefully it'll have some positive effects.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

He's given you some good tips when and how. I just do those inside big fans on a as needed basis after flower begins, not to many just enough to see soil when standing over them. Like he says, there comes a time when they no longer produces leaf and focus energy on bud growth.

 

[OldManGrower]

Yes, that is succinct and to the point. Only remove useless leaves and those covering bud sites. Spreading out and tying down the branches is preferable to removing leaves where possible.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

That's EXACTLY the info and reassurance i was looking for. Thank you!

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

Thanks everyone! I just wanted to be sure I'm retaining and putting this knowledge into practice correctly. Thank you again!

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

Yeah the bigger one that I have is like week three since I switched it to bloom. So it's still in pre-bloom stretch but the stretch is just about over. So I'm glad I'm doing this correctly. This time around it's looking like I'm going to have a lot better yields than much better everything overall.

 

[dilvish]

Bottom line: fans are solar collectors. The more leaves, the more light is absorbed and hence a healthier plant. Personally I trim dead leaves and only those directly over a bud site. That's were training comes in. You are doing fine.