If you are time restricted, as you mentioned earlier, about topping and developing a SCROG then you need to top your plant and start LST to move your growth out to a horizontal growth to be able to control the stretch in the first few weeks in flower as you weave into your trellis....this keeps your canopy more even, but heh, you might get the odd runaway, but that is no big deal, but that is how you learn to make your SCROG successful
As I am following your grow, I want you to be aware of your feeding habits, and what to watch out for....you are feeding every second watering, but something that I have learned from great growers over time is that when you feed your plants in flower, you should never over feed them the ppm that the light wattage you use over your canopy....so, if for example you have your lights at the right height, and you are using 1000 watts of light for example, then your actual feedings combined should not exceed this amount in ppm's during this period of flower...meaning that during the flowering period you should not exceed a 1000 ppm of nutrients during the entire feeding. In other words be careful you do not overload the nutrients into the soil where the roots have not yet reached, so that when they get there they don't burn from a build up up nutrients previously added. In flower, I water, water, feed, in a 3 gallon pot every 4th day....When I do feed i will give a 450 ppm ...giving the plant exactly what it needs, then again 3 watering's I will give another 450 ppm, spreading out the feedings over the time of flower, remembering that I will flush the last 2 weeks, with only magnesium/ sulfur to help the ripening of the plant. Get the notion that you can PUSH a plant out of your mind. A plant will only take what it needs, not what you give it, so go easy and read your leaves. remember, in soil it will take a good 4-5 days to see any results to what you do on day 1, so don't go chasing a problem because it doesn't happen over night
So, let's clean up the bottom of your plants....get rid of the big fan leaves at the bottoms of your plants...this helps prevent insect infestations and other problems that start at the bottom of most plant grows, and starts determining where you want to have your canopy. If lower branches are shorter, train them up to the middle of your plant, and the top branches need to be bent down to a horizontal at the same height so that nodes along those branches can grow upward and help build your canopy...below your SCROG you want no growth as it will not get the light to develop any worth wile bud... it will be larf at best. Also, control any early overfeeding or it will eventually give you trouble near finish, and start shaping your plants for a SCROG now so your plant grows to fill out a trellis. I hope this makes sense to you, as I am really flying a helicopter myself now....but, you can make this work...a SCROG does not happen by itself, but has one of the best yield outcomes if you do what need to be done early