Hey red - a lot of folks do staggered chops. I advise them if you're looking for the best quality bud and intend to smoke it all. If you chop the entire plant the little unformed buds go to edibles, hash, green dragon. Whatever kind of use you can think of, but they're not worth smoking unless you're hard up. On my last harvest for one plant I did the top two layers of satellites + the main cola and then propped the plant up so the other buds would be closer to the light. I waited two weeks and did the rest of the bud. It's all about how much room you have my friend.