Well... If light schedule isn't a concern, then, yes, there are ways to control growth rate. I experimented with this a few years ago and concluded that it's basically a matter of carefully constraining growth factors. Those being light, VPD, nutrients, etc. That certainly could include pot size, as well, but I didn't give that much thought at the time. I used one-gallon plastic pots. They were photoperiodic plants. IIRC, they were Acapulco Gold.
I built a small scaffold around the plants that held a diffuser to keep the plant in the shade. (I never got around to trying different colors and opacity of diffusers, but thought about it.) Controlling the light probably was the main growth-limiting factor. I also adjusted the VPD to minimize transpiration and used low doses of vegetation nutrients. The plants didn't die and showed relatively little growth after two months. When I changed them to normal vegging conditions, they then grew normally and eventually yielded a typical crop.
I believe it was important to constrain all growth factors, not just one or two. That, I believe, kept the plant stable or balanced, in that, too much of one would have increased the plant's need for the others.
