Topping Autos?

FrankieCoste · Feb 20, 2016

Hey guys!

I am starting this thread as I thought it would be interesting to have some debate going on about topping autos. I am a relatively new grower and have only grown autos so far. Most of what I've read online is against topping autos, but I did see a few comments of people doing it every time and with great success.
So I was wondering what you guys think!

Looking forward to reading your replies!

Thank you!

Peace,

FrankieCoste · Feb 20, 2016

The Auto Lemon Bubble could be a potential candidate I suppose?!

str8smokn · Feb 20, 2016

It will stall out /slow the growth by about 2-3 weeks. So count that on your finish time, if she lets you push her that long. I had a helmet get stuck and ended up like a topping. It slowed down by three weeks .she ended up getting the hash treatment afterwards.
STR8

str8smokn · Feb 20, 2016

Sorry ,that's my experience.
STR8

FrankieCoste · Feb 20, 2016

Thank you STR8!
Well I suppose I won't try anything at this point. Perhaps the best would be to do a photoperiod grow next winter, so that I can experiment a little more :)
Peace

str8smokn · Feb 20, 2016

I think @Quagmire does some FIM technique on Autos. Let's see if he chimes in .
STR8

Quagmire · Feb 23, 2016

str8smokn said:
I think @Quagmire does some FIM technique on Autos. Let's see if he chimes in .
STR8

Well of course you knew I would huh? lol. You never want to top an Auto.. because of the reason they pretty much skip the vegetation phase you'd most likely wind up with a very stunted plant.. however, F.I.M. works quite well on certain strains or fast growing pheno's.. I did this on a Blue Himilaya plant that wound up just under 3ft, and this was after the F.I.M. To do this you simply gather up all the top leaf material and cut them in half leaving half the leaf on the plant. What this does is causes the plant to slow upward growth and commit it's energy to the lower shoots to allow them to catch up a bit to the main cola.. Another thing you can do is use bamboo stakes and spread them lower branches out a bit so they can get more direct light.. Most of this is learning what your strain does and likes and why it's important sometimes to grow the same strain so you can find her needs and get her to her best performance... I'll be doing this with 2 strains I'm working on.. Sniper & DV8R.. Experiment and take good notes... good luck & grow em big and sticky

FrankieCoste · Feb 24, 2016

Quagmire said:
Well of course you knew I would huh? lol. You never want to top an Auto.. because of the reason they pretty much skip the vegetation phase you'd most likely wind up with a very stunted plant.. however, F.I.M. works quite well on certain strains or fast growing pheno's.. I did this on a Blue Himilaya plant that wound up just under 3ft, and this was after the F.I.M. To do this you simply gather up all the top leaf material and cut them in half leaving half the leaf on the plant. What this does is causes the plant to slow upward growth and commit it's energy to the lower shoots to allow them to catch up a bit to the main cola.. Another thing you can do is use bamboo stakes and spread them lower branches out a bit so they can get more direct light.. Most of this is learning what your strain does and likes and why it's important sometimes to grow the same strain so you can find her needs and get her to her best performance... I'll be doing this with 2 strains I'm working on.. Sniper & DV8R.. Experiment and take good notes... good luck & grow em big and sticky

Thank you very much!!
Yes it makes lots of sense. When do you usually F.I.M. your plants?
I might just do some more research on it and might try it on one of the young plants sometime!
Thank you for taking the time!
Peace,

Midwestjay · Feb 24, 2016

Long as its a bigger slower auto I've never had issues. It can stall smaller autos too much for my taste. But a few of the dinafem autos love to be topped. Long as its a bigger 70day or longer I recommend it.

FrankieCoste · Feb 24, 2016

Midwestjay said:
Long as its a bigger slower auto I've never had issues. It can stall smaller autos too much for my taste. But a few of the dinafem autos love to be topped. Long as its a bigger 70day or longer I recommend it.

Thank you!

Midwestjay · Feb 24, 2016

FrankieCoste said:
Thank you!

Light training is fine too. I like to use yoyos to open the plant up. Just don't get to agressive. I just started an OG auto and a thread for it in journals. You can follow it and see how she reacts. It'll be my first journal.

FrankieCoste · Feb 24, 2016

Midwestjay said:
Light training is fine too. I like to use yoyos to open the plant up. Just don't get to agressive. I just started an OG auto and a thread for it in journals. You can follow it and see how she reacts. It'll be my first journal.

Perfect, thank you! I was in fact about to ask you if you had a journal on which you recorded your successful toppings! I'll try to find it now ;)

Midwestjay · Feb 24, 2016

FrankieCoste said:
Perfect, thank you! I was in fact about to ask you if you had a journal on which you recorded your successful toppings! I'll try to find it now ;)

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/dinafem-og-auto-grow.79347/

Midwestjay · Feb 24, 2016

Im pretty new to the forum thing. Wasnt sure how to post the link

FrankieCoste · Feb 24, 2016

Midwestjay said:
Im pretty new to the forum thing. Wasnt sure how to post the link

You'll see it's awesome! I joined this forum and the Auto Flower Network 4 months ago before starting my first grow and honestly, without the help of the guys here and there, I wouldn't be where I am at right now!! :)
Plus it's a good way to make friends too. Lots of nice and kind people around here, and who won't hesitate taking the time helping you when you need it!

germinator · Feb 24, 2016

FrankieCoste said:
You'll see it's awesome! I joined this forum and the Auto Flower Network 4 months ago before starting my first grow and honestly, without the help of the guys here and there, I wouldn't be where I am at right now!! :)
Plus it's a good way to make friends too. Lots of nice and kind people around here, and who won't hesitate taking the time helping you when you need it!

Dude..
I been watching you been killing those autos.
Your thumbing looks spot on to me. How are the yields per plant?
I'm almost ready to try one.....

Midwestjay · Feb 24, 2016

I stumbled through my first few grows reading forums but never joining. About 5 years later I have messed it up every way possible lol. But am confident in what I've learned. But always down to learn a better way.

Quagmire · Feb 24, 2016

Some breeders are introducing long flowering Sativa's into the Auto world, now these I'd maybe top, I have one that goes 90 days but have not tried her as of yet.
F.I.M. cutting I wait to see how the plant looks to me a few weeks into flowering.. I only do it if I need to slow down upward growth and improve growth of lower branches.. all of this stuff is not only strain dependent but also pheno.. but it works quite well... pretty cool as it is a technique found by accident and stands for..
Fu_k I Missed. lol.
LST = Low Stress Training and there are so many different ways to do it.. I used to put small holes thru the top of my pots and use fishing line to pull the branches outward away from the plant to get more light to it.. worked quite well.. find what works well for you though, curious to see what Midway is up to in his training.. we all learn from one another here, purdy darn cool huh?

Here's a strain I created called Sniper.. AK47 x Sour60 taken to F2 then pollinated with Assassin F2 and have now taken Sniper to F3 Auto.. It's getting quite the following at another site.

Midwestjay · Feb 24, 2016

Quagmire said:
Some breeders are introducing long flowering Sativa's into the Auto world, now these I'd maybe top, I have one that goes 90 days but have not tried her as of yet.
F.I.M. cutting I wait to see how the plant looks to me a few weeks into flowering.. I only do it if I need to slow down upward growth and improve growth of lower branches.. all of this stuff is not only strain dependent but also pheno.. but it works quite well... pretty cool as it is a technique found by accident and stands for..
Fu_k I Missed. lol.
LST = Low Stress Training and there are so many different ways to do it.. I used to put small holes thru the top of my pots and use fishing line to pull the branches outward away from the plant to get more light to it.. worked quite well.. find what works well for you though, curious to see what Midway is up to in his training.. we all learn from one another here, purdy darn cool huh?

Here's a strain I created called Sniper.. AK47 x Sour60 taken to F2 then pollinated with Assassin F2 and have now taken Sniper to F3 Auto.. It's getting quite the following at another site.
View attachment 575959 View attachment 575960

I'm only 5 years into growing and autos but this is all spot on from what I've experienced. I do what ever I need to do training, cropping, topping to keep the canopy even. Still haven't scrogged an auto but plan to soon.

FrankieCoste · Feb 24, 2016

germinator said:
Dude..
I been watching you been killing those autos.
Your thumbing looks spot on to me. How are the yields per plant?
I'm almost ready to try one.....

Thanks a lot bro!
Yeah I'm pretty happy to say the least!
First plant (Grapefruit) got me a little less than 2 ounces, and the second (Girl Scout Cookies) got me an once and a half! Now I think Green Crack will bring me about the same - 1.5 ounces/42 grams. For 10 bucks the seed, I really can't complain :)
Those are all FastBuds by the way, but I've got a Pheno Finder's Auto Lemon Bubble and a Mephisto's Supernatural OG running atm too, as well as a Dutch Passion's Auto Daiquiri Lime germinating :)
I'm truly enjoying the world of autos, and it's a good way to start too I suppose! As a new grower, I'm really fascinated by how these autos grow by themselves.
Thanks for passing by! Looking forward to seeing your grows! (got any journal btw?)
Peace,

Topping Autos?

Topping Autos?

FrankieCoste

FrankieCoste

str8smokn

str8smokn

FrankieCoste

str8smokn

Quagmire

FrankieCoste

Midwestjay

FrankieCoste

Midwestjay

FrankieCoste

Midwestjay

Midwestjay

FrankieCoste

germinator

Midwestjay

Quagmire

Midwestjay

FrankieCoste

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