Hi @kevinstrombel , welcome to GN and what a wonderful introduction. You have a beautiful setup and great lineup of genetics and seem to be in the thick of things when it comes to growing.
Dont stress about the autos being different, its just a refelction of different phenotypes, however saying that the smaller of the two is looking stressed even though it looked very similar in size after transplanting.
LSTing is an essential skill that is developed over time with auto’s, so really after 15 years of being dormant and probably your first auto experience, dont stress too much, you about to learn alot, just like autos have come along way since first being introduced in the late 90s’.
Below are some recent journals and auto grows that may give you some insight to LSTing your plants.
Going to invite a couple of our moderators to your grow, @kevinstrombel is helping us grow GN and based in Colorado working for growershouse.com, lets welcome him aboard: