Stepped harvesting stress?

Hi all — I have a plant at 9 weeks that I’d like to pull some samples from, and again at 10. I would like to see how the plant finishes out at each stage for the next run. In the past, I have always pulled the entire plant.

However, I am concerned that cutting branches may be stressful to the plant and stall it out, or worse.

Realistically, what impact would doing this have? I see it recommended, but the stress to the plant is never mentioned. Maybe it’s a non issue. But it seems that if (partial) defoliation during flower is ill advised because of the stress and recovery time, that removing branches would have a similar stress impact on the plant.

Any thoughts?

It might stunt it a bit , but I defoliate pretty heavy at wk4 and 8 of flower on some strains with little ill effect.
It depends on the size of the plant too. I grow big plants so a bud trimmed off not a big deal. A small plant may see ill effects.

My thoughts, and they're just thoughts, as to why it is a non-issue is the timing. The plants growth and flowering stages are largely finished at this point. The buds left on the plant are ripening but not gaining too much size and mass. There isn't much to stunt.

You're also taking the flowers along with the leaves and stalks. When you defoliate in mid to late flower, but before the harvest window, you're leaving all the buds that are still developing. I imagine these need a lot more resources and energy than a finished bud needs to ripen.