[frogslayer]

Myself personally I would just start it in the final pot but you just have to be careful with watering. I personally wouldn’t top either just lst. A million ways to grow this plant though so you do you man…

[CaptenKush]

I have been running autos and i have tried the repotting method on them and it never works out. As for topping i have found it is to much stress and triggers them in to flower but they do become very very beefy after topping. Thats just been in my experience so far.

[HeavyZakuCustom]

I dont top autos, I follow some great manifold auto guys on instagram but I wont as I dont buy fancy breeder seeds so its kind of a crap shoot for if they will respond well and their number 1 tip is to know what your genetics can handle when topping autos

same with repotting, I dont, not worth shocking the autoflowers. final pot always. I do 5 gal coco/perlite/manure potting soil. it has given me the best results so far in the last 14+ months of growing

[oilfarmerinhiding]

my two cents, no to topping unless height is an issue. like there tent is 3 foot tall. coco and grow dots for the win here. small amount of dots into a solo, plant and move 1 time to final container with grow dots in there. maybe 1 to 2 weeks in cup and move it. from there its water only to finish line give or take. Cortez the conqueror has a great vid on transplanting autos from solo, worth finding. cut the bottom out of one cup and cut i line from top to bottom. slip it into another cut, once you see it it is golden

[Dude]

Great tips here! Thanks DGC. Keep em coming want to feature this on the show

[ohigrow]

I’ve ran a bunch of autos this year with good results. In general this is how it goes.. I plant directly in the soil in a 5 gallon fabric pot with a misted cup on top. 47/47 have popped so far. They get only 8 Oz of water every other day for a week. Then 16 and 24 the next 2 weeks. After that I spit a gallon between 3 plants for the rest of the grow every 2 days. After week 3 (5 or 6 nodes) I usually start some Lst and regular defoliation. I do as much research as possible beforehand to see what a particular strain likes (lots of grow journals out there). I don’t top any of mine. Some don’t even want to be tied down, I’ve had a few that were stunted immediately and started flowering very early resulting in a plant that was only 12 inches tall…. When defoliating I usually take a few off every 3-4 days right up until flower. Then let them have a week or two to finish stretching. A good trim after that to make sure all bud sites are getting enough light and that’s it. Maybe some LLst during flower just to open things up on the tall ones. I run my lights 18-6 from sprout to harvest starting at 10% and increase 10% every week until I hit 900-950 ppfd. That’s usually week 6-7 if they aren’t responding negatively. I’m still learning but this is what’s working for me. I’m in Happy Frog soil and using GH Flora nutrients. Also Recharge every week until mid flower.

[Kloink]

Thank you all for your great answers!

i am still a bit confused, but i am getting it… sooner or later ^^

another thing that came to my mind is that what i use is due to the market over here, and my budget, very low grade.

but the clock in the plant is ticking to bloom, so the question is:

On what exactly is the clock in the plant ticking?

Even if that auto plant theoreticly would grow naturaly without any training or stress, is it the energy amount and the growth that the plant has to reach before, or is it only bound to the time before it starts blooming? or a bit of both maybe?

(not that i plan to do so, but it would be nice to better understand the “not stress related” mechanism behind that autoflower.)

And should i maybe go for more light hours, like 20/4?

To give it more power and maybe compensate the small cocolila lamp, the tomatosoil, and the hardware store fertilizer? xD

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 3 days ago by  Kloink.

[ohigrow]

Some grow great with no training (those with a large central cola and few branches). I think it just slows them down if you do. Which is the last thing you want. Yes, the clock is ticking. How fast seems to vary between strains and even phenotypes of the same strain. I’ve had some that were in flower after 3 weeks of veg and a few that vegged for 6+ weeks. Those were from the same 5 pack…

[flowerpower]

I grow auto’s in an earth box. I start with a good quality “super soil,” My first grow was “ocean forrest”. I plant directly into the soil and cover with a 2lt pop bottle with three holes in the bottom. This comes off when the first set of true leaves are developed. Better keep some cal-mag on hand. After the fifth node I pour water down the pipe and watch for 4 weeks. Top dress with craft blend at 4 weeks, some compost/worm castings. When I look down the pipe and see no reflection; That is the time to add some recharge, (1/2 gal worth) and fill the res after the next day or two. I don’t top autos. Shave her legs, plenty of air, defoliate for light penatration. Before you know it BAM!…milky trikes.

[flowerpower]

Next is follow Scotty, Cococouir, grow dots in sip buckets. I’d still keep a little cal-mag just in case.

[Bizzy]

I have always topped my plants . Recently I germinate and put autos in there forever home then I top around day 14-21 . Then I lst I have had some go great and some not so great . At this point it’s all about genetics and keeping an eye on them .

That’s a Green Poison auto turned out great even after a few hail storms .