I don't grow, but I find the topic very interesting. I was thinking for a few moments to myself, and was wondering if maybe one could grow a plant that literally loses all of the remaining large fan leaves, as well as many of the leaves from the bud, by the time it is ripe. Through intense defoliation during the vegetation phase, would it not be possible, to minimize trimming? Essentially the idea would be for harvest to just be, for the most part, a ripe bud on a stick. Now, I understand that defoliation can cause some plants to herm out, but this is just in theory, if you can keep the plant from doing so. If you know how to do this, care to share?
First of all, I wouldn't want to lose the sugar leaves on the buds. Those fuckers get all frosted up and you'd be wasting a lot of good trim for cooking or blasting BHO. Second, I don't see how it would be possible to "make" a plant lose all of its fans by harvest time. You'd essentially be manipulating the genetics so I don't see how that would be possible. Moreover, the fans are solar panels and absorb light for borophyll, etc etc. Too many issues all around, IMO.