Im into week 3 now with my afghan auto and there are 2 HUGE fan leaves that are completely blocking light to all the lower nodes from growing. Is it ok to snip these dan leaves or should i just let it go? I tried LST but just cant get light on the lowers with these huge fan leaves.
Do you have pictures?
Most growers aren't banging out 4ft tall, dense plants in veg to need to remove any leaves. It's hardly even needed because leaves don't "block" light, you as a human visibly perceive light blockage but that isn't how photons behave.
This is just your second grow, far more important things than removing leaves because of what you "see". You can LST for sure, that breaks apical dominance and helps to create an even canopy but you could also top to achieve the same results in a similar fashion.
Defoliation doesn't increase yield, it can improve air circulation, mitigate micro climates that may breed pest/pathogens/mold but it doesn't improve yield. If you were to defoliate, the best times would be around day 10/21 while also removing thin branches/growth that will not produce, usually resulting in the bottom third of the plant being pruned.
Bud sites do not photosynthesize in a significant way to believe that they are a higher priority than your can leaves, made to photosynthesize/retain water/hold nutrients.
Strong lighting that achieves maximum DLI(40) when measured correctly by the manufacturer or with a PAR meter(phones suck). Improves canopy penetration as less light intensity is lost over a certain distance. That improves yield.
Growing hydroponically will improve yield. Proper irrigation or fertigation is a great aid.
Maintaining a consistently clean environment that adheres to Vapor Pressure Deficit improves yield.
Properly using your nutrients, if that's what you do, improves yield.
Keeping stress low, not constantly touching your plants, being clean yourself - improves yield.
Bottom line, if all of the above are in line, there isn't a need to typically defoliate as you'll lose a good amount of biomass in the lower 1/3 of the plant with careful targeted pruning of BRANCHES and not simply every large fan leaf that offends you.
