For the record, my “biases” reside on 55 years of growing about every kind of plant material you can imagine including cannabis. That also includes mentoring others in gardening forums on Facebook and such. Have also attended dozens of horticultural workshops not only in the classroom but in the field, sponsored by plant specialists and scientists.
Most noobs have never grown a plant before, much to their disadvantage.
UB
We all have our biases, I do as well. I do like that you believe in the science, which is how I operate as well. Research articles have been proven to be shaky in the past, as the acceptance of peer reviewed entries is flawed. However, I don’t see anything in this article that leads me to discredit the results with yield and chemical profile. Although I don’t have 55+ years in the industry, I grew up in farmland in South America, and have returned to college to complete an agricultural science degree. The article goes on to reference legumes and grapes being affected very differently than cannabis, so pruning definitely isn’t for every fruiting plant. As you said, an apple will still grow deep inside of the tree where no light is penetrating. Sadly, you’re comparing apples to oranges.
Without science backing your statements, I just can’t accept them as truth.
They sure do, but me, and all the birds in my back yard will tell you the ones that get direct sunlight are much tastier.
one study does not guarantee anything. the stretch observations are dubious at best ime.
there are other studies, i believe Allison Justice (phd in plant science) mentioned that targeted pruning of leaves receiving low light (cant remember the exact ppfd number) was beneficial to keep humidity under control, increase light penetration, and thats about it. i believe she said that as long as it was a SMALL targeted defoliation yields would not be decreased (but not increased either). the podcast was hosted here but i cant find it anymore. she goes on in here to explain that users who do heavy defoliation in late flower may be successful because of at the end of flower the plant isnt using that much light anyway.
Im pretty sure Bugbee has dismissed heavy defoliation but not sure… regarding flushing he has def dismissed but in the way saying “flushing or no flushing at the end of harvest makes no difference”… so if you flush you save on fertilizer that day lol.
Well well, time to smoke a beer. 
I’ll bet that well water has something to do with that Nice skunk smell you have going on.What’s your water sulpher content at you think?When I a kid I used to use the well water we had to water my outdoor stuff in the back the stuff I had in the field was watered with rain water I had tarps folded in triangles catching water for my plants all same Cultivar just different water source same food ect.The Well water ones always I mean always stunk so bad you could find them in the dark.The other ones were pretty Smelly too but not quite like the well water plants.Ours was border line on the smell of farts so I remembered the well water and what you said you used and wondered if sulpher has anything to do with bringing out those rank skunk smells?
No sulfur. Bicarbs of Ca and Mg.
The smeller’s the feller. 
Sulfur is definitely known to increase terpenes.
I got you:
I notice people that heavily defoliate , there pics are always from a distance , but up close their buds generally look way more leafy and airey
The extra yield is sugar leaf and less bud ( quality )
Then buds are trimmed to look more cola like , for closer pics ( illusion )
We’re here to grow bud not leafs
: )
I’ve listened to the podcast with Dr Alison Justice at Kiss organics,
she reckons anything under 400 ppfd doesn’t bring much to the table beside humidity.
Iirc she made reference to the lower leafs getting removed?
I see so many Nubie statements
On this topic
If long time successful growers
Trim leaves it be smart to listen.
Or at least not be closed minded.
Try one plant and see
Anyway
Does this look like a far away leafy Pic?
Ok they say a Pic is worth 1k words
Rather than the back and forth
Bla bla
Let’s see
This Pic shows one of Paps crosses
I trimmed Saturday
We will watch the progression
So folks can see
Now the times I don’t trim
And don’t lolly pop
I end up with a bunch of popcorn
And a tangled mess.
But ITS cool whatever one does
My point here is to.show
It’s not a stupid thing done by long time growers
The choice is yours
What works for others is a blessing to me
Huh? This is exactly what’s wrong with cannabis forums, this kind of thinking.
You’re here to grow leaves, which in turn produces a prolific, efficient root mass and finally flowers. Think outside of the (absurd) cannabis forum box and think ROOTS. There is a damn good reason I use root pruning systems, either chemical (MicroKote) or air/light pruning - rootmaker.com.
https://mycotopia.net/HTFaq/1321.htm
Do you have a control group?
Everything in this thread and the dozens like it are based on anecdotal evidence.
Go ahead, take off all the plants photosynthesis factories and see what you get.
Flowers are not a “source”. They are a “sink”, meaning they take from, not produce for the entire plant.
" What is source vs sink in plants?
The source in the plant is responsible for synthesizing the sugars required for plant growth. The sinks in the plants use the sugars for immediate use and store the rest for future metabolic needs. The leaves act as a source when photosynthesizing."
Here’s a small defoliation side by side
Seems in this side by side the yield was very close with the defoliation having a better yield with better quality buds. Seems like you get more dense quality bud when you let the light and air get to your bud sites. The untouched side ended up with 3 Oz of less dense airy buds due to lack of light closer to bottom of plants.
The defoliation plants had a higher yield and tested higher for thc on all three strains. But average terps were slightly less.
But this might only hold true for smaller grows in tents and rooms. If your outside in the sun it may not be as beneficial as the sun can penetrate alot lower on the plant than the lights we use for indoor growing.
The plant can only generate a set amount of energy in its time frame
Why waste it growing leafs over and over again ( defol ) instead of concentrating on task at hand , growing buds
Maybe that explains it better
We’re here to grow buds not leafs over and over again
Like a fruit, an apple or a grape that’s deep into a canopy “buds” don’t need light. That’s myth.
Fan leaves are excellent photon collectors - they are big and stick way out from the plant for a reason. True, the bud leaves collect some, but very little photons by comparison.
Now, if you tend to butcher, drop your fan leaves prematurely, because you screwed them up with some cannabis bloom food snake oil…
Shocking… apparently this is as true today as it was three months ago. 
