"Know your strain" could not be more apt around here (and ironic) b/c my first attempt was an "unknown" bunch of seeds which were eventually discovered to be gangly CBD sativas - and presented all kinds of problems in a -35 winter. The ugliest plants you ever did see, turned out to be helpful to a couple of pets. Now I have some White Widow clones - and totally agree that growing from seed is more rewarding, and Symmetrical!
The symmetric thing helps, but I have some flower-clones going and I use the exact same technique with each sprout. stretch them out, then only leave selected nodes to grow out and train.
When you say "be careful about how tall you let each cola get before you flip" - how do you do that? Do you still trim what would be the top colas somehow?
For me, I like to keep them growing sideways until they reach the edge of the pot. Every time a lower shoot gets long enough, I snip it. When they reach the edge of the pot, I let them grow upwards, but keep pruning lower shoots until I flip. How long you do this part is the height you get in veg. Depending on the strain, the size will do anything from half-again the size to 2-3 times the height at flip.
Thanks for all the pretty pictures and info.
You're welcome