Personally I would defoliate heavily top down, (not bottom up) every fan leaf with a stem, stopping half way , leaving a solid lower canopy of leaf lower down.
Remove every fan leaf above this line, within reason , and thin it out a little below that line too.... the shaded leaves,... it might seems extreme but they will grow back within a week , with smaller and stronger leaves off the budding stems, not big wide fan leaves .. with a leaf stalk. but with leaves that dont shade lower down but instead directly feed the buds.
The reason cannabis plants produce big wide fan leaves with a stalk is to shade itself, so it stretches above competing plants in nature for light.
We dont want this trait when growing bud, its a survival trait for the cannabis plant and many other plants which has evolved over many millions of years.for survival.
Carbohydrates from photosynthesis first flow upwards , not downwards, upwards first and then any not used by the buds then flow downwards to the roots.
Without Defoliating above that line the buds below that line with be fluffy , smaller buds. By defoliating above that line you will get a more even bud size overall, no popcorn fluffy buds and a higher over all yield.
