Autos: Defoliate, or not?

Tried this thread in the Newbie section, and didn't get a response....so I think it may be better served here...

I've read a few times in other threads that I shouldn't be defoliating autos, but I can't find a definitive thread on the subject.

I THOUGHT I had pretty good success defoliating the autos I've grown so far, but am I stunting growth? Whenever I've done it, the plant seems to rebound in a few days and it looks like I did nothing...only the plant is bigger. I thought this was a success. Was I wrong?

What's the general consensus?

As long as they're healthy, autos can be defoliated any time after week 3. Just don't take so much that you stress the plant. A good practice is focusing more on removing inner-facing secondary fan leaves that are covering bud sites. Also, it's a good idea to make sure that your plants have recently been fed. This video has some good info.

One big thing to consider when defoliating;

All mobile nutrients NPK etc show up in older leaves. If you remove them and miss time your feeds/wrong pH etc Then you’ll lose leaves which are doing the most photosynthesis - the ones you want to keep green!

So you’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot unless you’ve dialled in the strain and setup.

Absolutely yes to defoliate (and training) autos... but i have a lot to learn on growing and autos.

Nutty sKunK said:

So you’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot unless you’ve dialled in the strain and setup.

Click to expand...

Solid advise. I'm finding that it's a balance. Knowing what to cut away, and what to keep. The kind of thing that I learn from experience. I am only on my 10th plant at this point, so I'm still pretty much a newbie. Appreciate the reply.