hey buddy lookin sweet so far.

for finally comming out the shaddows man. youve done the right thing. regarding the defol, i fimmed mine last time and ended up with 70 tops. it was a nightmare. for the last 5 weeks i was trimming 1-2 shopping bags off every week and it didnt do them any harm. as with all things in growing though start small.
i believe the genral jist is that you dont want to defol during veg as it hinders vertical growth but during bloom, once theyve stopped growing up anyway. defol causes the plant to go into self preservation mode and produce bigger better buds. apparently stronger thc aswell. its a bit more in depth but thats the basics.
start defol with a few leaves per day and see how they react to it and work your way up though. too much at once and they can go into shock i believe. concentrate on the bigger ones that are blocking out more bud sites and get rid of anything useless underneath. they look really healthy so you shouldnt have any issues with being a bit brutal with them. thats my advice mate. brutality is key. ive got height issues so have to be and its worked out awesome so far : ) reckon youll get a decent harvest like. theyre lookin mint. youve done a brilliant job with the lst aswell : )