Should I prune/top my autos?

[BoB_Gnarley]

???

 

[new3]

no

 

[aridbud]

Keep em growing unless spider mites, any critters/ diseases/ accidentally topped. Growth cycle extremely short. You cannot clone.

 

[BoB_Gnarley]

Thank you. So essentially it's hurry up and wait.

 

[aridbud]

Thank you. So essentially it's hurry up and wait.

What strains have you planted? Those with indica tendencies mature faster than sativas with ruderalis (generally) as the autoflowering trait. Some strains do not have a ruderalis genetic make up. Anywhere from 58 to 100 days for completion. Enjoy watching the transformation as your autos grow. In the budding stage....they change daily!

Instead of hurry up and wait, why not sit back, take notes, watch the transformation.

Generally, finishing time is sometimes skewed by breeders expectations/labels. Not always, but I have found from experience, most are stating lower maturity days to finish.I usually add anywhere from 5 to 10 days to their projected finish time. Depends on several variables: light, container size, and nutrients. Just watch and keep an eye on trichome changes for the optimum harvest.

Hope this eases your mind.

 

[Fruitilicious]

full autos finish in around 60. if you top you will just stress the plant and dramatically reduce your harvest. as they will start flowering AUTOMATICALLY usually as quick as two weeks.

That is if they are proper autos, there are some strains around called semi autos which ive not had much experience with but they could potentially be topped depending on the individual plant

Short answer, No!

 

[BoB_Gnarley]

I'm running dna genetics 60 day lemon wonder. I'm not sure how I can post an image from my iPhone while my laptop is being fixed but 3 were planted 07/11 and 3 on7/17.

 

[Fruitilicious]

thats a full auto so no need to top! u should have sum bud by 09/11!

 

[TheSmellOfGreen]

I had a severe burn issue on the one autoflower I ran and topping it caused it to stop all growth and finish from there. Only experience with autoflowers but definitely stick with the advice above, no topping.

 

[W89]

Ive had some autos self top, turned into some funky lookin things they remained in veg longer than usual too and ended up being the bigger ones out the bunch

 

[BoB_Gnarley]

Nice also they're still in 18/6, will I need to switch to 12/12 at some point and should I flush on day 41 with a 55-60 day harvest?

 

[Jhhnn]

Nice also they're still in 18/6, will I need to switch to 12/12 at some point and should I flush on day 41 with a 55-60 day harvest?

Leave the photoperiod alone. You could probably increase it to maximize yield. True autoflowers will finish their life cycle w/o experiencing any night time whatsoever.

Dunno what your growth medium happens to be, but flushing in organic soil doesn't make any difference, near as I can tell. I tried it both ways on plants in one batch only to have indistiguishable results.

As with most varieties, sellers tend to provide minimum harvest time windows for autos. The real truth can be determined with an inexpensive 30X magnifier from Ebay, and also from the plants themselves. Autos wear themselves out in flower, pulling saved nutrients out of the fan leaves & dropping them, showing brownish pistils & ceasing to put on flowering mass. It happens pretty quickly. If you're attuned to them much at all, they'll tell you when they're ready.

 

[FirstTracks]

Bump light to 20/4 unless you're trying to conserve water or power.
everything Jhhnn said.

 

[BoB_Gnarley]

Thanks guys really appreciate. I'm growing hydroponically with Rockwell as my medium.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If the top nodes have a good amount of space between each other, the plant will benefit from topping. If the nodes are close together it will hurt your yield by topping. Make sure you do it when the plant is young so it has plenty of time to fully heal itself.

 

[Jhhnn]

If the top nodes have a good amount of space between each other, the plant will benefit from topping. If the nodes are close together it will hurt your yield by topping. Make sure you do it when the plant is young so it has plenty of time to fully heal itself.

I'm having trouble seeing that as true. Problem is, the plant has a tremendous investment in the growing tip, investment that autos don't really have the time to recoup if lost.

Photoperiod strains are different, indoors or out. Indoors, growers can extend veg so the plant have time to reinvest. Outdoors, there's plenty of time for that to happen if topping is done when plants are young & photoperiod is increasing.

Just one guy's opinion.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I've done it many times. The plants that get topped have much more weight to them than the ones with the main stem kept. Having 4-6 big colas instead of one is much better in my opinion. It really depends on whether your using shitty genetics or not. Spyder is a great strain to top.

 

[BoB_Gnarley]

Another quick question. If they're labeled as having a 60 day harvest time should I start flushing g day 46? Also is there anyway I can post pics from my iPhone. It just keeps asking for my URL

 

[Kustom_ax]

Hey guys!

I ran into the same problem. I have got a Candy Kush Auto (dont know if it is true auto or "semi-auto") at day 25. And, man, this gal in 2 day shot up like crazy!! From a mere 25cm, more or less, to almost 50 cm !

Now, im growing on my balcony and I have a safe maximum height limit of about 1.5/1.6m.
Now i'm worried she'll grow over that limit. I've been told some strains develop a pre-flower stretch...but I dunno.

What do you guys think? Has a last resort, I was thinking about topping her.

Cheerz

 

[Kustom_ax]

@BoB Gnarley

hey man, try going to your "my ic" section and uploading the pics there, in the picture/albums section. Then, when you wanna post a pic in a thread, it becomes wayyyyy easier, simple click in add picture, and choose one!

ps: they have to be .pdf to upload!