Sure can do! Some of the top leafs to propagate sunshine to all buds and the bottom leads in the shade. If done at once you might stress the plant. I would try to clip 3-4 leafs a day till its done.

Wyj not 😉

I shoot for day zero bottom 2/3rds day 21 fans lower than the top 3 pair Day 42 all fans day I always give them some mono silica to reduce the shock of it all.

sure

Just leave it. As 0011 said, apical dominance dictates where growth is directed, not light hitting buds. Tucking leaves is a far better option than removing (energy producing) leaves.

seems alright.. any condensation occuring from leaves touching? if not it's fine. You don't ever have to defoliate if you simply avoid over-crowding the canopy in future. It's a needless thing of no value. light hitting leaves further away is not as optimal as hitting something closer, fwiw... just losing more photons. The products of photosynthesis go where they are used and highly mobile. Apical dominance determines if a bud is larfy or not and not so much if light hits it directly. sex organs are for reproduction. leaves are for absorbing light. your balls don't store adipose tissue, correct? cell differentiation is a thing.

Hey, in my opinion you can defo a bit yes. But not too much, don‘t make them naked. Just that the light can penetrade more through the plants :)

Hey. If you have to defoliate like that in the photo, we can't really tell you. You have to go with your instinct. The goal of defoliation is to get light back on the parts where there are buds or potential hidden sites. So if you think some are still hidden, I recommend it, or push your leaves down. Each leaf will be extra nutrients for your plant during the final phase. Have a good evening!