There are several forms of defoliation. Basic Defoliation IMO would be to take the bottom 1/3 of the plant and remove all growth, both fan leaves and buds. The reason for this is two fold. #1 is to allow better air flow to the roots of the plants, this helps to prevent bugs and diseases as well. The second being that bud sites low down on the plant will not get enough light to actually produce quality buds. As part of a basic defoliation you should not have bud sites below about the 4 or 5 node on the stems. So between removing bud sites below the 4th or 5th node and removing the bottom 3rd of the plant growth this is basic defoliation. IMO this should be completed by day 21. There are other more extreme forms of defoliation, the 3 a light guy has one and JB does something similar. Bear in mind both of the last 2 forms require more knowledge and understanding of the plant. When you take off so much of the fan leaves and overall growth you are going to have to deal with nutrient values in a way a novice is not going to understand. Everyone wants to grow the best plant they possible can, but it there is this think called the 80 percent rule and it applies to growing cannabis. You can get to about 80 percent of your goal in a fairly quick amount of time if you put in the work. But the last 20 percent is a bitch. Just remember when you see someone like JB on IG and they are showing off their methods they have been doing this for a long time. Secondly, they have a huge advantage over someone just doing one grow at a time. Once you have multiple grows going and you stagger the time between harvest you can see and apply practices at a much quicker rate. Your overall understanding grows at a much faster rate than someone with one grow at a time.
