Not sure about the philosophy so to speak. It's like the art of bonsai I guess, it just kind of speaks to you after you learn the basics...Here's a plant I have now that I'm turning into a small mother plant that can give up at least a dozen clones every 7-10 days. I topped the plant after the 4th set of leaves, removed bottom growth, cut the resulting branches above 1st, 2nd, & 3rd set of leaves (from top to bottom branches), then again after the second set on each branch after that, and cleared out the center & badly placed branches. The key for me is to keep a nice, small canopy at the top because I'm using a fuorescent light that will give plenty of possible cuttings.