Another great writeup!
Other than the scrog, I employ all of the techniques you're discussing. I have scrogged in the past, but for my current grow room, it's not practical. I also like being able to move each plant individually. (I use an Ebb & Gro)
I thought you no longer liked airpots due to the fungus gnat problem?
Tieing down plants is very easy with my Ebb& Gro too. I just spent a minute drilling some small holes just under the inner pot's rim, and now I can tie down anywhere I like. I use garden wire rather than string. I was using string, but it is MUCH more work tieing knots. You're a commercial grower Sl1ng. You should try wire. It's soooo much faster.
I just leave my little pieces of wire attached to the bucket and they are ready to go for the next batch.
I just thought of a question for others that train their plants withOUT the scrog....
Do you keep them tethered for the duration?
I untie all mine after only a few days. I've found that the branches tend to take on the bent shape, more or less, permanently after just a couple days. I did my last round of training the week before flip. I went through and did a couple maintenance passes over the next week, but I untied them all in the first week of flowering.
My approach is to keep the plant low an wide until I flip. At that point I should already have all the branches I'm after. Then I'm just letting them grow straight up during the stretch. Then at ~3 weeks after flip, I do the final defol and clean up all those lower branches that are not going to produce nice nuggs.