That all sounds good to me. Cutting leafs off or just in half wont do much harm depending on how crazy you get. so cutting leafs in half is no different than when you would a clone for transpiration reasons, so it wont hurt. I took off all lower branches tonight actually, picture. Just make sure you disinfect your scissors first, and take any petiole or branch off at a 45 degree angle. If you can find something with b vitamins, especially b1, they help out with transplant shock. I use Superthrive and it works great for transplant (little to no shock). It can get pricey but using mycos' and tricadermas', beneficial bacterias with some carbs/sugars added, will cause some incredible root growth. I use Great white and voodoo every water (reverse osmosis) through veg and little later in flower. You are already on the right path with your organics, and avoiding at all cost CHLORINE.
I hit my ladies up with budblood, not at full strength, a day before inducing flower. So that the nutes are also helping out with flower formation when the lights go out. I do go huge on my containers, only to get the biggest root formation possible. More roots, bigger surface are to take food. So 5 gallons are plenty big. Hope this helps, Ill keep up with you and I update my albums for reference. WOLF COOKIES AND GORILLA MILK OUT.