Autoflower Defoliation

I took this picture a few days ago. Since then the whole interior of the plants are covered by huge fan leaves preventing light from getting to the other flower sites. I tried tucking but the leaves sprung back up. Can I defoliate, and if so, how much, or how often?
The 2 bigger plants are 5 weeks old Berry Ryder.

 

[MickJ]

I LST and tuck but when necessary I will cut a leaf or two to expose a bud site. I never cut more than two leaves per stem at a time and from above I make sure I can't see the pot through the leaves.

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[CapnCrunch]

Thanks

 

[Slater]

I took this picture a few days ago. Since then the whole interior of the plants are covered by huge fan leaves preventing light from getting to the other flower sites. I tried tucking but the leaves sprung back up. Can I defoliate, and if so, how much, or how often?
The 2 bigger plants are 5 weeks old Berry Ryder.

If your worried about removing a lot leaves in one go just pull 5 -7 off every day in places they need removing. This shouldn't stress the plant out much if not at all. It's what i do with my auto's.... that's not saying you can do a good leaf strip just after the stretch, it all come down to strain in the end.

I also remove a lot if not all of the big fan leaves in the last 2 weeks of growing

 

[CapnCrunch]

If your worried about removing a lot leaves in one go just pull 5 -7 off every day in places they need removing. This shouldn't stress the plant out much if not at all. It's what i do with my auto's.... that's not saying you can do a good leaf strip just after the stretch, it all come down to strain in the end.

I also remove a lot if not all of the big fan leaves in the last 2 weeks of growing

Thank you, I'll try that today

 

[hortongreene]

I defoliate initially at 3 1/2 - 4 weeks. I cut back at least 2 branches at this time, I do sea of green, so I'm always cutting back, ponytailing and removing anything that does not reach the canopy. I always remove as soon as possible any small buds that might popcorn. I started with 16 Fastbud autos, chopped 2 and have 14 in picture