Poor Bugger , I feel for ya mate from the bottom of my heart . you are going to come out of this being a lot wiser man .

Poor Bugger , I feel for ya mate from the bottom of my heart . you are going to come out of this being a lot wiser man .
Please throw out your two cents!!
Kong is chopped, so it's just the HBSS . I was just looking very closely at them. They are INSANELY thick with foliage! I can't part the foliage and see the media. .....my hands stink fer an hour!
I do have my exhaust fan set pretty high and two clip-ons on high, so there is very good and fresh airflow.
They are packing on the buds like crazy! I don't want to stall that growth by defol at this point in flower. I also don't want to make the ongoing issue worse.
On the big girl. at the very bottom of the canopy, the foliage is small and fine and a shade lighter. I really don't think they are contributing much.
The little HBSS is MUCH more stiff and stocky, so it's too difficult to check the undergrowth like the big girl. I'll have to pull her out to get close enough to check.
Could removing the fan leaves make the current issue worse?
Would the defol slow bud fattening by a large margin?
Now that Kong is gone, I can center the Earthboxes, but that will only help the fore and aft ends. There is no room on the sides or between them.
Thanks for the input! That was my train of thought also.I'ver had a couple plant lately with insane foliage. I'd defoliate, even with good airflow your risking PM and mold, I'd clip it and all the sucker branches, open up any buds that are shaded, I'm sure it will pay off, even with the issue.