Yeah, probably not what you want for your 8ths birthday. Seeds that take years to become a plant! "Gee, Thanks for the gift.!"
Georgie; The guy on the other forum who adviced you to cut off the leaves deserves a
good onion up the nose! When the dark season comes, it will need as much green as possible for energy absorbtion to maintain metabolism.
I like to think of leaves as sails. Without sails there's nothing to power the ship.
Erlend