Personally I run my autos on an 18/6 cycle in the same room I veg my photos, when the autos are done it's time to move the photos to the flower room and start the process over
I never top or transplant or disturb the autos in any way, just let them be auto, switch to bloom feed only after the "stretch" slows not when the preflowers appear( usually only 2 weeks in my experience) then water only to finish out. Play around with some lst but don't get crazy with it till your more comfortable, they don't like to be supercropped, at least I don't think so I've never tried, sorry for rambling heads full of pineapple chunk right now...current auto I'm running is critical rapido from barneys, grows nice, but a little weak in the thc for my taste.... Pic is of day 24 one tied down one left natural for comparison....Happy growing