Autos flowering stage tiny branches and tiny leaves defoliation

[Goblin]

Hello
I noticed some small growth on my autos which are on flowering stage, most of it close to the bottom of the stem. would you advise me to cut them off? i was thinking that maybe it not doing much photosynthesis since it small.

[Eliot Pryor]

I think auto's grow that way. I've actually got a couple oz's of tiny flowers from a White Widow auto I grew, I also had a lot of nice buds from the same plant. Auto's are new to me and I am really hesitant to remove any growth consequently I sometimes get a lot of tiny buds. Surprisingly they dry out and make excellent smoke. Someone said *waste not, want not*.After they become actual flowers I mostly let them grow. I've also grown a couple of them where I removed everything below the top two or three nodes on main branches. I got huge dense buds that way and lots of them. Shoot every grow is a new adventure for me. Have a great grow !!

[Goblin]

Thanks! i'll cut some of the tiny ones..hoping it will be ok. removing everything below the 2-3 nods seems bit drastic wouldnt it shock the plant?

[Eliot Pryor]

That's the scary part. If you do it as they first come out the plant will be fine. That is really hard on an auto thats growing like a tiny pine tree. Had an ak-27 that did that. Lollipopping and defoliation are key ton getting big tops. I am currently on my 2nd grow of a blue mammoth auto. The 1st one I pruned a lot better and it had big cola's .The one I have going now kinda got away on me . It has dozens of branches and lots of buds. These are not the airy buds like I got with other auto's I've done.(Ak-27 and White Widow) So I'll find out. lol

[Eliot Pryor]

I had an AK-27 auto that had branches about every 1/2 inch and I wish I would have cut off a bunch of them. Auto's are all over the place with some breeders selling strains that not really worth growing.