Very First Plants[AUTO].

Defoliate what ??? Why ??? How they will produce energy??? Most of current lights penetrate 50 cm deep into canopy, yours is like half of that ... Dont do comercial stuff for huge plants at home, especially with such tiny ones... You will do more harm than any theoretical gain ...

Plant canibalised unneeded part, some bottom leaves in shade can be salvaged to redirect plant storage / energy to more efficient parts. Thats normal if you meet few like this during grow ...

From diary photos your plant is too dark - aka overfed. I would slow down personally. Dark leaves are not so efficient, plus overfed plants can go into stagnation and wont develop so well vs better feed ratio ones. Not a tragedy, far from it. Autos need way less food, theirs flowering cycle ussually is faster, so it will be hard to get fade and good taste with high feeding doses. I would personally give few waterings just plain phed water when needed and i would roll down that pot excess like a sock for better air movement under canopy and root zone.

Plants maintain a certain amount of liquid. Don't try to withold water if it is ever near wilting. It won't really impact drying times too much, and in general you want to slow drying time down, not speed it up. Don't flush unless there is a buildup in your substrate. Have a reason. Flushing does not impact mineral content of flower. This is not an opinion. The plant has no excretion system. as far as the flower that has grown, what's done is done. There's no 'flushing out excess to improve flavor," because it is impossible. They do look fairly close. All you do know is continue to observe the plants. a 30-60x magnifier will help 'scope' the trichomes. Jeweler's loupe or currency checker are cheap options that work well enough. I'd suggest one with a glass lense. Pistil maturation -- turning color, coiling up etc... And, nug density - this one you don't want to repeat. I like to do it only when the other 2 are saying it is harvest time. I mostly just give a feel to the lower nugs of relevance. Make sure the lower stuff is ripened. I'm not saying you should get all handsy with the plant, lol. less is more for that last one. Plant will tell you when it is time. Leave the decision competely to what you observe on the plant.