So I found out I have spider mites and nute burned my plants in the same day. YAY!!! Put in some Pest Strips and they seem to be working. This is the first time I've done LST this extreme and I usually don't cut off fan leaves. But seeing as how dense things were getting, I started snipping. I removed most of the big fan leaves and the plants seem to be responding well. I had 8 plants but sacrificed two due to overcrowding. I'll probably flower just 4 in the future. This is my first grow after a long time off and I obviously went overboard with the number of plants (and nutes). I flushed and the plants seem to be coming back though.
I'm right at 32 days and the plants seem to be responding well to the defoliation. I tied down most of the side shoots, and only a day later the undergrowth is filling back in nicely. I plan to veg for 2 more weeks. If this works out then I might start snipping at a month on all future grows. Hey, maybe if I snip off enough leaves I can starve the mites to death...
Here's some pics
Day 29 before nute burn/mites/defoliation
Day 32 after defoliation and more LST (one day after snipping)