We all have our ways of doing things so I thought I'd show you mine. I won't be using complicated terms as I don't know them myself
and will try and keep it as simple as possible for a novice grower to understand.Removing anything from your beautiful plant can be a stressful mission. Especially when you're doing it for the 1st time. Truth is that you can't hurt your plant a lot no matter what you're doing.
The level of defoliation really depends on the lights you're using and the penetration. For example HPS has better penetration than LED lights (some of the new LEDS are as good as HPS but obviously not the cheap ones)
So when you go ahead and start stripping your lower growth try and be at the same level as the base of the plant.
I start from the very bottom and remove all the big fan leaves which are situated at the bottom 1/3 of the plant. That helps me see a bit better to what's going on. Then using clean scissors I'd start clearing all the tiny small branches that are not making it to the top of the plant. You don't need them. They will never mature but still use energy to try and create buds. I also strip all the small fluff that's appearing.
My next step would be to add canes. I use the ones from B&Q which are 60cm I think. I'd just push them into the coco and won't be worried that I'd damage the roots. I am sure there is plenty of them in the pot.
I try and add a cane for each of the external branches and few canes for support in the middle for the more wanky stems.
You can also remove all the pipe cleaners or wire that you have used for LST once you've tied your stems to the stakes.
My final step would be to stand up and look at the plant from above.
I've created a personal rule where I don't remove the two very top fan leaves on a branch. If I decide some of the lower ones, which are situated above the 1/3 of the plant that we already cleared, needs removing I'd do it and try to expose as much as possible of the lower growth.
So that's about it really. It's a slow process which requires time..I'd say nearly as much time as when I am chopping
But it's rewarding which is most important. We all like to smoke fully matured nice buds and get the best of each strain..so after all the effort we put into a grow..why not make that final step.
Here you can see how defoliated and supported plant looks compared to the ones I haven't done yet.
lots of good info in here 
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