Guess its down to each individual. Personally i pluck prune and pull all new growth off the bottom quarter of all my plants.
Leaves, small buds and any other growth gets plucked. Thats how i do it and it works for me.
I defoliate all low down leaves and buds. Promoting all new growth to the top of the plant.
Learned through trial and error over the years. But to be honest, we all do things quite differently.
So if you have more than one plant, try experimenting with different techniques and educate yourself. ATB