Topping Autos?

[FrankieCoste]

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.
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Wow!
Thanks a lot for your reply!
And this is a beauty!! Didn't know you were breeding too!
Perhaps I'll grow one of your strains someday who knows?! haha :)
Breeding is definitely something I'd be interested in when I'll have enough years of growing behind me. I've always wanted to make strains!
What does she taste like by the way? Sour?
Any journal?
Again, thank you!!
Peace,

 

[Midwestjay]

Photos are pretty simple to. They are way more forgiving and usually produce higher quality and bigger yield. But autos are faster and can be plugged in at any point of the grow. Even 12/12 with photos. I few years back I was skeptical of autos because I think most people were doing low riders and small autos. The first auto a grew was a advanced bio-diesel and got 75+g off of one that finished the last month under 12/12. I've mostly grown Dinafem for autos and some of those are 6' plus monsters, 150-200g plants that are great quality. All rdwc experience for me tho no dirt or coco.

 

[FrankieCoste]

I'd definitely try to grow some photos at some point..! Would be good for experimenting with advanced techniques like topping and FIMing...
And wow, 150g per plant for an auto is amazing!
My cab is quite small unfortunately so I can only fit 4 mid-size autos in there. I could probably have 2 small photos in there I suppose, or 1 mid-size photo. I like variety though, so having at least 2 different strains would be better :)
What's the best way to have a higher yield with photos? Having a single plant but that is given some more space to expand horizontally, or having 2 smaller plants? Also, could I try some SOG as my cab is small?
Thank you!
Peace,

 

[Midwestjay]

I'd definitely try to grow some photos at some point..! Would be good for experimenting with advanced techniques like topping and FIMing...
And wow, 150g per plant for an auto is amazing!
My cab is quite small unfortunately so I can only fit 4 mid-size autos in there. I could probably have 2 small photos in there I suppose, or 1 mid-size photo. I like variety though, so having at least 2 different strains would be better :)
What's the best way to have a higher yield with photos? Having a single plant but that is given some more space to expand horizontally, or having 2 smaller plants? Also, could I try some SOG as my cab is small?
Thank you!
Peace,

It's always easier to fill with more plants, and trim to fit. I'm running single plants in the flower tent. It's a 2'x4'x7'. I don't have much room either.

 

[Ooopsi]

Hello! I'm really not an expert but I just recently lollipopped and strongly pruned two autos I had going. Ok, it's not exactly about topping but still I feel like my plants were a bit stunted after I did it. They recovered pretty well after a week but I'm under the impression it will take a bit longer for them to finish so... wondering if that was worth the trouble. As 95% posts I read do say: do not touch them! .. I won't touch autos anymore but it's like always: every grower has his ways and what's not working out for me (lots of things do not work out for me...lol!) could be working out just fine for others so... depends on the strain as well I'd say. I had super skunks, they're said to be tough maybe that's why it was 'ok' to touch them..but you never know I guess... Good luck anyways mate!

 

[Midwestjay]

Hello! I'm really not an expert but I just recently lollipopped and strongly pruned two autos I had going. Ok, it's not exactly about topping but still I feel like my plants were a bit stunted after I did it. They recovered pretty well after a week but I'm under the impression it will take a bit longer for them to finish so... wondering if that was worth the trouble. As 95% posts I read do say: do not touch them! .. I won't touch autos anymore but it's like always: every grower has his ways and what's not working out for me (lots of things do not work out for me...lol!) could be working out just fine for others so... depends on the strain as well I'd say. I had super skunks, they're said to be tough maybe that's why it was 'ok' to touch them..but you never know I guess... Good luck anyways mate!

Yea it really depends on strain and size. On the bigger slower autos there's not much difference than a photo, only difference being the light schedule.

 

[Quagmire]

:)
What's the best way to have a higher yield with photos? Having a single plant but that is given some more space to expand horizontally, or having 2 smaller plants? Also, could I try some SOG as my cab is small?
Thank you!
Peace,

SCROG... (Screen of Green) This is the method I'd recommend.. I used to run 2 AK47 and get 6oz per run easily and could of gone much higher with better patience, which I lacked a wee bit back then.. lol. Run a screen about 12-14" above the planter top, run the plant horizontal under the screen tying it in places until 80% is filled, then flip to 12/12 and begin feeding every single little budsite thru the 1" holes again tying things down to hold in place as needed..
remove all growth below screen for good air movement and just keep feeding them budsites thru the screen.. you wind up with a screen full of buds in the end.. I've done this with single plants also and it works great man.. read up on it man..

 

[Quagmire]

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.

Thanks Jay, I'm just hooked on these new Autos called the Next Generation after they got away from Lowryder 1 as the base breeder.. Things are really exploding and I might just buy seeds for the first time ever.. lol. Dinafem has my eye right now.. SCROG might be tuff but I am watching a guy at another site who does use a screen method to feed the budsites thru to spread them out and is having awesome luck.. He just harvested 6oz off one plant and his goal is a pound.. I know right? crazy..
Just started some babies myself but takes me 6 females to pull in 6-8zips... hopefully these new felt pots will improve things a bit... cheers.

 

[Midwestjay]

Thanks Jay, I'm just hooked on these new Autos called the Next Generation after they got away from Lowryder 1 as the base breeder.. Things are really exploding and I might just buy seeds for the first time ever.. lol. Dinafem has my eye right now.. SCROG might be tuff but I am watching a guy at another site who does use a screen method to feed the budsites thru to spread them out and is having awesome luck.. He just harvested 6oz off one plant and his goal is a pound.. I know right? crazy..
Just started some babies myself but takes me 6 females to pull in 6-8zips... hopefully these new felt pots will improve things a bit... cheers.

Yea, I've never grown in dirt, I Started with hydro and following hygro hydro on you tube. He's scroging 1 plant per 4x4 net and in huge buckets under it's own 600w hps for flower he was in the pounder class per plant when I started and with in a year was getting 700g dry off a plant. He charges to watch his channel now

 

[Quagmire]

Wow.... makes ya think huh? wtf am I doing wrong. Ya know, I've done a few single SCROG grows and can easily picture what he's doing.. takes the right strain and lots of pruning and he's gotta top the plant a few times I'd imagine to get more bud sites.. still, be kewl to see...

 

[Midwestjay]

Wow.... makes ya think huh? wtf am I doing wrong. Ya know, I've done a few single SCROG grows and can easily picture what he's doing.. takes the right strain and lots of pruning and he's gotta top the plant a few times I'd imagine to get more bud sites.. still, be kewl to see...

He vegges for ever and does what he calls "monster" cropping. Topping, super cropping, and lollipopping. Looks like he's trying to kill the plant before he puts the screen over it. Talking a good 16 to 18 weeks total. And big buckets and big res. He used flora nova and a couple boosters.

 

[Quagmire]

Yeah, my problem is I never have enough extra weed lying around to take all that veg time like that... I also removed anything below the screen as once the canopy fills out light really cannot penetrate below it so it's wasted plant energy trying to keep it going.
Lollipopping is a great way to get the plant to concentrate it's energies on bud development and it's all about proper timing and practice.. Supercropping has been argued exactly what it means.. in Soma's grow book he refers to it as pinching the stems of each shoot below the buds and causes everything above the pinch to blow the f up... I still do that on every plant.
I've even gone as far as bending the main shoot over, sometimes breaking the stems, man the 1st time I almost cried thinking I just ruined a 4mos old fat ass bud... but, I kept it at 90 degrees and supported it and it grew a knot at the bend and while it repaired the knot everything else caught up to it... so I kept bending plants to control height.... these things are tougher then we thnk..... lol

 

[Midwestjay]

Yea I use the squeeze and bend method all the time. And lots of LST, I just don't get too aggressive with the autos tho. I've done 5 or so photo grows and love the result, just seems so much slower. Plus its so easy to plug a auto in at any point in a grow. And i swear I don't work for dinafem but have had the best results with their autos. They have stable strains that produce quality and quantity. @BostonGeorge do you have CJ pics?

 

[Midwestjay]

Yea he had something like 100 tops on each plant

 

[Midwestjay]

Yeah, my problem is I never have enough extra weed lying around to take all that veg time like that... I also removed anything below the screen as once the canopy fills out light really cannot penetrate below it so it's wasted plant energy trying to keep it going.
Lollipopping is a great way to get the plant to concentrate it's energies on bud development and it's all about proper timing and practice.. Supercropping has been argued exactly what it means.. in Soma's grow book he refers to it as pinching the stems of each shoot below the buds and causes everything above the pinch to blow the f up... I still do that on every plant.
I've even gone as far as bending the main shoot over, sometimes breaking the stems, man the 1st time I almost cried thinking I just ruined a 4mos old fat ass bud... but, I kept it at 90 degrees and supported it and it grew a knot at the bend and while it repaired the knot everything else caught up to it... so I kept bending plants to control height.... these things are tougher then we thnk..... lol

When I started I heavily trimmed/lollipop but I was running 4 or more plants in a 4x4 with a 600 hps. But since I've started growing again, and under a 2x4 t5 from start to finish in haven't been so aggressive. Ive been running one at a time and have been talked into less is better when it comes to pruning. I think I had better results when I was aggressive. And this next dinafem og autoflower will be topped and trimmed. I have a diary I just started.

 

[FrankieCoste]

Very interesting info! Thanks a lot guys.
I'm still far from what you guys do but it's good and it makes me learn a lot ;)
If you're looking for good auto genetics, I'd suggest you to have a look at Mephisto Genetics! I've seen many grow journals on the AFN and they seem to be top genetics! Let's see how my Supernatural OG does :)
Peace!

 

[Midwestjay]

I'm always down to try good genetics

 

[FrankieCoste]

I'm always down to try good genetics

There you go!

 

[Midwestjay]

And don't downplay how good you're doing. Be proud of that shit. And don't be afraid to try new shit. These things are tough for the most part. I recommend at east one topping, or at least fim. But then again I've never been in dirt so I don't know how fast they recover. I've had autos I've topped and didn't even notice them slow down.

 

[Midwestjay]

There you go!

Do they ship to everywhere in the us?