Too bushy?

Rather than defoliating, you could just try tuckong leafs back outta the way of your buds so they have light penetration through the canopy. If you defoliate only do say 5-10% of leafs and after defoliation, you may notice water consumption drop for a couple of days or the plant may look a bit grumpy as a sign of stress - when water intake is back to normal or plant has picked up again you can do some more defoliation. Small and often is the way, you dont wanna force em to grow balls.