Any suggestions on defolaition or other things i can do to improve the growth of this plant?

It doesn’t look like you need to defoliate in my opinion. If you see a few fan leaves covering up bud sites then you can remove them if you wish. The only thing I would do and have done this personally many of times is to pull down the tallest branches a little bit. If you can do this and lower the light or increase the light to the rest of the plant more evenly it will help out the development of the entire plant… that would be about the only suggestion I would have. Hope this helps.

Hello! Your plant looks great! I would not suggest super-cropping once you have started flower...which this plant clearly has. Super-cropping would be a good training technique near the end of veg. I was checking diary and couldn't see your light details. I would suggest next time trying to optimize your lighting placement to control her growth a little better.

I wouldnt remove anything. Simple version: Less leaves = less flower. I suggest to take a look into & consider "supercropping" the highest branches to flat out the canopy. Good luck!