I don't use cali-magic, I bought the "kit" and added flora and diamond nectar. Do you think I would benefit from using cali-magic on my next round?
Absolutely. Cali-magic is great. Some shops have samples of
Great White as well. I love that stuff too, but you can usually get an amount to try before you buy it. Or maybe it's just a tiny tub at a reduced price, but you don't have to spend $37 to try it.
Diamond Nectar is a personal thing. I skip it in lieu of products that will aid in growth. But if you like it, it does no harm. I don't really notice a difference using it or not...but I'm hydro. My basic recipe is
Great White, Armor Si, Cali-magic, GH Micro, and Gh Bloom. Bloom is a 2:1 ratio to micro. The rest use per instructions.
Good idea on partially defoliating. I think you are good. The first pic or two, it looks jam packed. But from underneath, it's fine.
For your first grow, you have done an amazing job. Most people have burnt the daylights out of their plants by now. Keep making your nute adjustments small, it will save you a lot of heartache.
If you didn't tell us this was your first grow, nobody would even know it.