Pruning and clones?

You won't stress it. I remove leaf whenever I want to. I've never had any problems. To me it encouraging growth from down below..win win There is rarely a day I don't remove a few leaves. Leaves are important so common sense removal is needed...not the Charlie Brown Xmas tree method.

I honestly don't think manipulating a plant causes bad stress. Be it leaf removal or bending to damage the plant always bounces back stronger.

I did this to a Critical Kush at 3wks into flower. Crushed every secondary branch outward and left the main intact. That's some heavy stress in flower. She turned out fat n sexy..lol