Thoughts and opinions on general plant care, LST and defoliation:
Defoliation:
One of the main issues I see with growing is defoliation. Regardless of our desire to do differently, it's seems a lot of us humans, have a real tendency for extremes. This carries over to our care for our plants as well, as we have a predisposition to either not defoliate enough or strip our plants of needed leaves. There are some great tutorials on GWE on defoliation and all are focused on what really matters, your harvest. If you're having issues or questions about defoliation explicitly, I would highly recommend you take the time to to look them up.
Here are a few to get you started:
https://www.growweedeasy.com/defoliation
https://www.growweedeasy.com/schwazzing-cannabis
https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...flowering-auto
I have fondness for following what fellow GWE grower
Canuck147 does when it comes to defoliation: Pick a set day of the week to do your defoliation and remove leaves covering bud sites. Why is this a good thing? IF you have any obsessive compulsive tendencies in the least or have a fear of damaging your plant; giving yourself a set day to defoliate can really help. It can keep you from picking your plant to death or from not defoliating enough.
I have some friends who grow who just don't do well unless things are methodically done, always the same, at the same time, with every grow. Unfortunately growing doesn't work like that. You have to treat every grow, every plant, every strain, and every stage of your plants development as new - and is simply something that MUST be done to achieve the results you have in mind. Having a method, a system, and a predefined outcome gives you the foundation you need to achieve your goals.
Unless you are growing the same thing every grow, a 'do this at exactly this time' approach just doesn't work.
(Veg Mode tip for defoliation) When defoliating your plant, I find it helpful to start at the top of each branch and work your way down. DON'T remove too many leaves and or side branches off of the branch you are defoliating, keeping in mind that your plant will flower as far down as there are nodes IF light can get down that far.

Regardless of your defoliation itinerary, each of your plants main flowering branches should be easily visible without looking like each one is a separate plant when it is in veg mode if using the method outlined in this journal (BU2B'sPPP method).
You may notice from the image above that there are a LOT of leaves left on those girls. In veg mode, I keep branches defoliated and bud sites open, but not to the point they are completely exposed to the light. Ambient light can still get in but they are not defoliated to the degree that I do during flowering. My reasoning for this is; if the plant is completely open to direct light all the way down each branch, they're gonna grow. By this I mean; side branches are going to develop much more fully down each of the plants 'flowering tip' branches. This has the effect of making your plant even bushier on the inner structure (when you are going to need to open it up later), and each of those new branches is going to create a separate bud or smaller bud packet. I find this generally ends up with a lot of really small buds that in the end decrease the large bud packets and overall harvest weight. I think that if you leave most of the interior structure of your plant open to ambient light during veg mode and later remove the small undeveloped side branches off your flower branches (leaving the flowing node at the leaf/branch junction) you will have a more favorable outcome.
When in flowering mode - defoliation takes on an entirely new place of importance. There are two base types of flowering when dealing with indoor photoperiod plants. Plants that do a lot of stretching during flowering will generally have more flowering from the top of the canopy (before flowering began) upward. Plants that do very little stretching during flowering will generally have more flowers from the top of the canopy (before flowering began) downward. The majority of stretching during flowering occurs during the first 3 weeks. Both base flowering types will benefit from your defoliation efforts. For type 1 flowering plants you can increase your flowering weight by opening up the plant allowing more smaller buds that left on their own wouldn't develop and for type 2 flowering plants, defoliation can lead to substantially larger bud packets.
LST, the importance of a level canopy and General Plant Care:
To be quite honest I have seen some amazing grows that were pretty much left on their own - which speaks as much about the hardiness of cannabis as it does the growers skill. We are truly lucky to be working with a plant that more than most can put up with just about anything and thrive.
I know when you've finished a defoliation and done some Low Stress Training on your girls to bend the branches outward and keep your canopy level they can look worse for wear.

They'll look fine in 24 hours, but the work you have done is essential. Low Stress Training doesn't slow your plants growth and helps to increase your bud harvest.
Keeping your canopy level has several benefits; not only will it keep exposed growth tips to the maximum amount of light but it will also help you judge which of the new growth tips that are being created just under the canopy to keep when it comes time to flower. I know that we have already removed growth tips while the plant was in veg mode, aiming for around 40 or 50, but your are going to find your plant is still growing more shoots and brunches just below your canopy. Some of these will be taller than others, some less developed. By the time your plant goes into flower at the end of week 8 you should still be aiming for around 50 flowering bud branches - but as flowering continues, you may find that though the number my stay about the same you may not be putting the same effort into the the same growth tips you were when you started flowering mode. Your level canopy's other benefit is to not only limit undergrowth but it helps you determine which if any of the growth tips just below the canopy are worth opening a spot for.

The importance of keeping a level canopy with LST during vegetation mode becomes obvious when your girls kick into flower mode. It not only allows top flowering branches to get the most light, it also helps you determine which growth tips just under the canopy are worth keeping, wont block other sites and eventually develop into large bud packets.
I do a transition to bloom, both in nutrients and lights. This generally takes 7-10 days (as each day I am increasing the total contiguous amount of darkness by at least 1 hour). Though I do count the day the girls actually made it to 12 hours of darkness. I start counting flowing from the day I first see flowers (3-7 days after 'the switch') not from the day the darkness is at 12 hours.) Everyone may have their own way of counting - this is mine and works for me. It is really not that big of a thing. But, if you ever wonder why some peoples plants finish at a different time for the same strain under the same general conditions, it may come down to just a simple matter of counting when flowering actually starts.
I find the same thing is true when it comes to vegetation time - many count week 4 for example at the start of the week not at the end of the week. Where I count week 4 day 2 some may count as if week 4 has already occurred and may report week 4 day 2 as just past 4 weeks.
One other thing I have done for a while - whether rumors and hints are true or not is; I always leave my girls in the dark the last 36 to 48 hours of their life. Whether this actually increases the THC level of your buds may still be up for debate, but this much is true, as light degrades trichomes, allowing your plants sit for 36 to 48 hours and keep producing trichomes without light degradation does make for frostier buds and in my book that's always a good thing.