Indoor grow

I always trim when they get too bushy. The key is to not take too much. So I try not to take 2 leaves from the same site. I take leaves that are blocking others or are in the middle and cant get to the light. I lollipop for the most part on every plant. I dont think I could go a whole run without trimming anything. It is almost always neccessary.

I always defoliate in flower up until about week 5 or 6. Usually about once a week or less if needed to allow light to penetrate the canopy as much as possible without over doing it. I've never noticed any negative effects and it does seem to help get a beefier harvest.

I think light defoliation during early flowering should not be a problem. Just make sure that it's not too much. I usually grow bonsai-style plants, due to height constraints, and there i regularly have to defoliate, even up to mid-bloom. So far it never seems to have hurt my plants, but then again i wouldn't have a real comparison that wasn't defoliated, but with the other factors being the same to see if the result would have been any better.