First grow

For myself i feel the best time to start lst is about day 21. But i just look at my plant to decide when the time is right. I want 4-5 nodes on the plant. Any sooner seems too early since there aren't any lower cola's forming who need light. You can start lst at anytime after that I feel. But I want my cola's to grow at the same speed and form a Nice bush, not a christmas tree, so I do it as early as possible. But it is never too late to give your cola's more light imo. As for damaged leafs, depends how damaged they are. But in your case I wouldn't remove any unless they're really totally lost since your girl is pretty small already

The damaged leaves will falled so let them fall by themselves. The LST can be applied as soon as you can bend your branches/stems, if you 'r applying the topping + LST combo then top after the 4th node

Hey there so the damages leaves i would remove if theyre so damaged they cannot do anything anymore, but if if just a few nasty scratches wait a little longer. Like the others mentioned the plant is still pretty small so you may not need to lst. How many direct hours of outdoor light is it getting? At least 5? I had to move a plant around the yard probably 6 times a day last summer to be catching enough good light. Maybe add in some sort of "grow" nutrient if its not already amended in? Best of luck and if you want to play with lst you still can, it's your plant and you can always untie if you're not happy with the result. Happy growing ✌️