First Grow

That's a fairly big pot for a small plant. It will probably take nearly a week or more before it needs another irrigation. 1 early irrigation won't be the end of the world. You might get soem fuzzy mold or green algea growing on top soil if it remains too wet for too long. Neither is a huge issue, but not optimal, either. Algea will steal a bit of N from the top of soil (it won't grow into it because it needs light). The mold is usually harmless and feeding off of some decaying organic material. When i transplant, i typically knock that top layer off and top off with some fresh substrate as i transplant. If you stick to a good wet-dry cycle you won't have any roots in that top 1" or more, anyway. Superficial roots are not optimal. just wait for the top 1" to start to dry. That plant will have a taproot all the way down by this points, so i wouldn't worry about it dryign up top. During first day or 2 after sprout, if by chance it was drying out too much up top, i would water slightly early in that context only - if i think the roots are so small they haven't had the time to drive donw far enough. dry roots for a seedling is a problem to avoid. Usually there is no need. So, wait for that top 1" to dry before irrigating. Always saturate entire pot so that the top always dries first. this promotes deeper roots and avoid superficial roots. In flower if you want to gas it more, you'll have the root system to take advantage of it. A little stress for roots to reach for water early on is a good thing. The plant will grow more roots in that context. Then as flower starts you can water a bit more frequently and take advantage of the extra root mass when it matters most - bud development. Don't go crazy about it.. need some minimum drinking to occur between irrigations and proper drainage qualiteis to avoid root rot (50% perlite or similar amendment will ensure proper drainage and o2 penetration for roots)

For the LST, you can start tilting the plant very early on. The more flexible the trunk, the better. So you can start right away. If you want to top it, wait until your plant has the structure you're interested in.

Looks healthy. Leaf variations can happens from something as simple as a shift in humidity. If my plants looked like your does i would be content.

Hello my friend, this soil contains waaay too much Nitrogen. The bottom leaves are lacking nutrients due nutrient lockout. The best solution here is to do a small flush. You can give the pot volume in water. So if you use a 10 liters pot then you give 10 liters with water without nutrients. Make sure that the pH is around 6.2 After you have done this you let the soil dry till the top inch of the soil is completely dry before watering again. From then you can give the full amount with nutrients again and continue growing like you did before.

I wouldn't worry at all about what those leaves are doing! I'd be getting my jewelers loupe or microscope out and checking the trichomes... she's probably about ready to be chopped! Good luck....