now really think about this.. you have 12 overgrown plants that you prune back a ton and spend an extra month "defoliating" to achieve proper light
or you have 12 plants that you grew to an appropriate size, then flowered, and didn't need to do any defoliating, just a little LST.
you achieve the harvest one month early. some may argue that they don't care cause they have so many plants in veg, but think that you could actually be flowering those over-vegged plants in time to not have to "defoliate".
I really liked uncle bens 2 or 4 top method. If you do the 4 top method, as the buds dense up, they weigh down outward and allow light in the middle of the plant more.
also wanted to mention, when the oscillating fan wiggles my leaves, there is now light getting to EVERY leaf. When needed, translocation will feed whatever needs it, so i keep as much green leaf on the plant (following a 3-1-2 NPK feed schedule the entire time). The result is maybe a little "less" bud but one whole month quicker, so i see it like almost getting a half of a harvest back
i guess my statement is that the claim to improved yields through defoliating is actually due to extra veg time and defoliation is necessary because you don't have enough light to satisfy the plant, all of this will take longer than it has to and is counter productive. Not that it doesn't "work" but it should be avoided