when if ever should you defoliate auto flower plants
I usually do it right at flower then a light one about 4 weeks in for air flow.
I wouldn’t necessarily treat auto flowering plants any differently than photoperiod plants when it comes to cleaning up canopy. You want to make sure there is reasonable amount of airflow through canopy and your flower sites have good light coverage without taking away so much that your light is going through the plants and hitting the floor.
Most can be successful taking a couple leaves from top of canopy here and there throughout grow. Others will do 1-2 targeted heavy stripping of leaves per grow.