I hadn't reckoned with the aeroponic system's fragility when suggesting bending the plants in half. The only way I can see to avoid burning is still to squash 'em horizontal, but how to do that if it upends the mesh buckets eludes me. Do you have someone local who can hold the stem steady while you lower a screen from above? It's not truly full-on SCRoG, but those overachievers look like they're itching to hit 6 feet otherwise. Perhaps start a thread in the plant problems forum; several of the gurus hang out there consistently and might have an idea.

Board consensus as far as I've read is to leave leaves be unless they are completely dead. I clipped foliage off of mine that a cat had mangled, and I'm still not sure it was wise.

Don't pitch the male! Chop him up, run him through a coffee grinder and cook him for a couple hours with 1/2 cup butter in a 200-degree oven. Make half a pan of brownies with the butter, eat it one sitting and report the results. I wanted to try it myself, but they all turned female ...which may have been an act of self preservation after seeing me standing over them with a stick of butter and a glint in my eye.