About defoliating, go for it!
At a certain point, when I see very developed buds on top of the plant and baby ones sprouting, I clear the new ones because they'll never catch up to the adult ones and I want the plant to focus on the big buds.
I also do that so I can add a side light from the bottom, shining light through the center of the plant, so every part of the branches is bathing in light.
Not a great shot, but this should give you an idea of what I mean. By the way, don't take a lot of leaves and baby buds all at once, or the plant will feel attacked and stop focusing on bud production, go into survival mode. Take maybe 3 to 4 a day until you get where you want to be.
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