How to LST properly on autos!!

Hello friend! Lets go over some common terms and what they mean. LST = Low Stress Training: HST = High Stress Training: LST is essentially training the branches of the plant via tying them down with string or wire. There is no pruning or "cropping" involved. The point of LST is to increase the amount of light penetration to the bottom of the canopy, allowing your plant to yield more and produce higher quality flowers without actively harming the plant by cutting plant material away. HST is any training technique that cuts material away from the plant in order to train it. Some common HST techniques include topping, mainlining, supercropping, pruning etc but the most common is topping. Topping is the act of cutting the top node off the plant to encourage the plant to grow two new tops. This spreads the canopy out and forces growth hormone to the rest of the plant so you don't have just one giant cola when your plant flowers. With autoflower plants, you usually want to avoid HST because it can stunt the plant and reduce your yields when flowering. This means (in most cases) you don't want to top your autoflower plant. Instead, growers will opt to use LST techniques like tying the main stem down to the side of the plant's container with wire or string. Tying the main stem down will allow the other branches to catch up to the main cola, giving you a better result at the end of flower. You do not want to LST your autoflower once it enters the few first weeks of flower. This is because when the plant flowers, its stems become hard and brittle and easy to snap. If you were to attempt to tie the plant's main stem down to the container, it would definitely snap off. Your window for LST has passed. The technique used in the second image you posted where the plant is spread out and symmetrical is called "mainlining." Its essentially a fusion of LST and HST. Its mostly used with photoperiod plants. There's not much you can do to train your plants now, but its not a big deal. If you take care of them they will give you good quality flower, although you won't get as much as you would have if you had LST'd them from early veg. For your next grow I would research how to properly low stress train your auto plants. Youtube is a pretty good resource, especially if you're a visual learner. Hope this helps and good luck friend!