Looking for insight from all growers. How far do you go to removing excess growth to help with blooms? How much do you remove safely and encourage plant health? Some say more, others less, what say you. thanks to all
Do you mean like lollipoping? Iām never tough enough when it comes to removing undergrowth
I say do whatever you feel comfortable with. I am rougher with my plants than most. Some may say too rough 
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I think that I want to know what others remove from there plants when there 12/12. thanks for your knowledge. this hit for you
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I will only get aggressive about removal of fan leaves and undergrowth up to flip. After going to flower I try to only remove small growth underneath and large fan leaves blocking bud sights.
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Modern lights are such high intensity that the plant really doesnāt need as many leaves as it would in the wild (think pests, wind, accident etc to keep producing leaves in quantity) but none of that applies indoors (hopefully).
I do a āfan leafā removal a couple of weeks into flower; mainly for light to get to lower canopy and to promote good airflow. I wonāt get really aggressive until the final week or so and even then if ambient humidity is low I may leave more leaves on the branches at harvest to have a reservoir of moisture as it dries.
If doing training like a SCROG you will remove a LOT of the understory.
@MattyBear has a technique that works for him.
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I trim off the bottom third of the plant (most of the time) a week before flipping to flower. Then at day 21 of 12/12 Iāll do an aggressive pruning of all large fan leaves in the middle of the plant and any blocking bud sites. I need lots of airflow to help keep RH down. Iāll take a couple leaves here and there throughout flower too. On day 42ish Iāll do another aggressive pruning to open things back up. I donāt do a complete ādefoliationā like some do, but Iām going to on my next run
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Iām a bit different than some. I defoliate early and often. I chose what comes off by trying to promote airflow and light penetration to the budding sites (or potential budding sites.)
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Thank you for this info. That is why I like this site so much, answers to questions earned thru hard knocks.
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Same thing that I do, is that considered lollipoping.
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Yessir 
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Can I just send you my seeds and ship me the budz??? 
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We were talking about this last week on my thread see Neofirebird's What's Growing On? An ongoing journal - #364 by neofirebird
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Hahaha 
this guy, I like your style,
mi amigo
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i usually do selective defoliation as needed to help with air flow as things move along. i also always lollipop the bottom 1/3 prior to flipping into flower. these are just things i do for my environments however you may need more or less in your environment depending on air circulation, temps, himidity, ectā¦ to me the key is to defoliate as much as required to help prevent any mold and the lollipop just removes all the larf before you ever have to deal with it. just dont take it too far and remove too many of your plants solar panels or it will slow them down.
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I am beginning week 3 with 2 GG and a Blue Dream scrogged. I have started to clean up the blue but Iām very hesitant on touching the 2 GG. I have seen and read about stressing them too much, causing hermies. From what Iāve gathered it depends on how stable the strain is.
I got my girls from ILGM. Has anyone grown their GG4 and defoliate during stretch/flower without pissing them off? Am I over reacting?
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Auto or Photo? And welcome!!!
the closer I get to the end the more I remove, at the end I have almost no leaves left (makes the trimming much easier)
I would say I start removing about 10% leaves in the first 2 weeks of flower, i then leave them a bitā¦ remove some more gradually and at the end of flower they have about 10% leaves left. But it is also very plant dependent, is it growing properly, everything looking good etc?
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I am also growing GG4 and selecting leaves to remove. Some stretching donāt know how much. Seems to be going good just go with it. I believe that we can over react to things