Too early to prune?

[Sctanley007]

Here are my girls. 2 Seedsman Jack Herrer, 2 Seedsman Gelato OG, 1 OO Seeds Bubblegum and 1 RQS Sherbet Queen.

They are 23 days old and have been topped after the 4th node, except for one Gelato which was topped after the 5th node simply because Ive never topped after 5.

Last grow I defoliated for the first time and loved the results. Problem is those plants had been vegging for quite a while when I removed the fans that were blocking vertical growth. These plants are much younger and smaller (5 inches) but the fans are blocking light to secondary branches which are shooting on the Jack and Gelato and I feel like the Bubblegum branches aren't popping which may or may not be due to too much foliage or simply genetics.

I've searched defoliation and pruning and cannot find how old or the amount of growth a plant should have prior to defoliation or pruning in veg so not to stunt growth or adversely impact future yield. Ive read to wait until there are alternating nodes, till they are 8 inches tall, till they show sex...Im sure everyone has their own style and method that works for them but is there a go / no go timeframe when it comes to scissors to plant?

These plants are very healthy and are currently in 1 gallon pots and will be potted up to their final 3 gallon pots very soon. I'm looking to flip to flower fairly quickly for no other reason than it will be the end of flower when the summer heat kicks in and Id like to not fight the heat this year.

 

[Blew Hiller]

Up pot and then consider pruning...not both at same time...and they are ready for a bigger home.

 

[J Obadiah]

What do you have there, about 4 nodes? I cant tell, its really thick at the stalk. Very nice! In my humble opinion, yes, it is too early to prune based on its size and the number of nodes, as well as its container l, which will soon need a changing.

That being said, depending on your specific goals, genetics, strategies, and ideas, you may find that pruning now is more beneficial. Try pruning one now, wait for the other to give yourself a bit of an empirical opinion. I believe that pruning only has one real rule: the plant needs to be healthy. Essentially speaking, you can prune whenever your heart's content, but just realize there is certain hormonal interference that occurs when you prune a plant, and those hormonal and cannabinolic changes are specific to the stage of the plant's life in which pruning takes place. Hence, LST.

I just topped mine today for the first time. They're about a month out, in a soil/coco mix outdoors, organic.

I attached a few images. Theres one from before, taken a few days ago, then the other 2 are after the topping, taken yesterday, I believe.