Gold1answered grow question a day ago What's good, dawg? Good question and nice pics 👍.
Defoliation is a tricky topic, especially for autoflowers. Some reasons you would want to defoliate.
1. Increase airflow to parts of the plant that need it. Humidity concerns etc.
2. Increase light exposure to lower budsites that aren't getting enough light.
3. Increase quality and density of the top budsites through defoliating lower budsites (lollipopping/pruning)
4. Increase quality of and density of budsites by removing foliage that doesn't support the production of buds (?contentious?)
Personally, I prefer to not defoliate my autoflowers at all unless it is necessary to avoid major issues like mold. There seems to be differing opinions about this with many of the opinions holders (myself included) not actually being well versed in the actual science of it, so definitely take what I have to say with a grain of salt and maybe get some second opinions.
Here's my thought process:
1. Since autoflowers are notoriously susceptible to stress, I try to not stress them at all throughout their life cycle. Excess defoliation can cause this and reduce size and yields.
2. I can increase light exposure to lower budsites without defoliation by plant training (LST/HST).
3. Leaves store nutrients for later use. You run the risk of experiencing mid-late flower nutrient deficiencies due to the loss of so many leaves. (?contentious? Also mostly only applicable to organic growers who don't use a liquid nutrient feeding schedule.)
If I were in your shoes, I would not defoliate. However its probably not a big deal if you're using synthetic nutrients and are on a schedule. Your plants look very healthy and happy and there would be no harm taking off a few leaves here and there.
As for your three other plants I can't tell if they're flowering or not. You'll have to grab some of the branches and check for calyx formation and pistils. Odds are that they've just started preflower though. Its quite common to see many different phenotypes even in the same pack of seeds. Some flower later than others etc.
There is a small chance you got wack genetics, but I wouldn't count on it especially if those seeds are from a reputable breeder.
Hopes this help friend. You're looking real good 😎👍