Autos

[MagicMike66]

Auto growers:
Currently doing my first run of autos. They’re growing vigorously and very bushy, no issues so far. My question is, would you defoliate when the plants start to flower to expose lower bud sites or will this stunt the plants?

[Eliot Pryor]

I've grown a few auto's. Its all in the genetics. I grew a couple that didn't reach 18 inches high. Then others that reached 48 inches. I had better luck defoliating and pruning. The short ones especially needed pruning. They grew stiff and had very close nodes, I kind of prefer the photo-periods but had to try a few autos. Mostly disappointed in them. Good Growing to You !!

[Going2fast]

I prefer to defoliate sparingly after 3 weeks of flower. By then the stretch is about done. And that's only if I can't tuck the leaves. Check out my Memphisto run. I'm at day 64 now.

[SoOrbudgal]

Big hand size leaf sitting near the bottoms or touching soil yes i remove on my autos i've grown short an stretchy ones. I won't remove leaf until they have at least 6 sets/nodes. I tend to just LST an top them, if they stretch really good make long branches then i decide what i want to remove. Yes i've looked at others how they will remove leaf on there autos. I do remove leaf from older autos in healthy condition. Hope this helps as it's still a growers choice just make sure they are healthy growing.

[dilvish]

LST should be the first option and defoliate only the lower fan leaves that aren't getting much light

[MagicMike66]

Thanks for the comments 👍🏻 I’ve just removed a few lower leaves then plan to pretty much leave these plants alone. I’ve another seedling the same strain as these that I plan to top and lst

[MagicMike66]

Plants into week 5 and now just starting to flower. Gave them a top dressing of Ecothrive charge (mealworm castings). Should be ready just in time for a nice festive treat. If they stretch like a photo, these are going to be some beasts!

[Going2fast]

MagicMike66 what strain are you running?

[MagicMike66]

These are frosty gelato from growers choice my friend

[MagicMike66]

Amazed at the growth of these in a week. One of them is much bushier than the other so I’ve had to do a light defol on it. Would you guys remove more or just leave them be? *they’re a bit droopy cos they were due a feed* apart from that no issues at all. Topped and removed the first set of nodes from the small late starter at the back.

[Puglover1]

Those are some nice, big autos. I like gelato, a lot. All of my gelato auto seeds were duds.

[MagicMike66]

Thanks. I lost 3 of these myself

[Going2fast]

Let them finish their stretch. Then you can remove a few if you want. It doesn't take much to stunt autos so go slow. Looking awesome btw.

[MagicMike66]

Here’s my 3rd auto seed that’s slowly catching up with her sisters. I topped it a wee while ago and now it’s starting to grow some weird (but hopefully) good growth. I’ll be happy if I get 3 colas for the price of 1 on each node! I was going to train and LST this one but with how well the others have grown I’m just going to leave it at topping.

[MagicMike66]

This grow has also got me really thinking about how I’ll grow in future, in terms of defoliation anyway. I’ve always been pretty heavy with it on my photos previously, thinking I’ve been increasing yield when in reality I’ve been hurting it by taking off too many fans and also the wrong fans at the wrong time. I realise these are autos and completely different but i will be going back to basics in my next photo grow and learning more from there. Growing the weed has by far and away become more of a habit than smoking ever has been!

[MagicMike66]

Two main plants seem to have finished their stretch and are now focusing on bud growth. I took a big handful of leaves from the plant on the left, she’s still very bushy in comparison but don’t want to get carried away. The other is looking like it’ll be a decent yielder. I tried some LST on the 3rd plant at the back… geez the stems on an auto sure do get firm really quick, queue a snapped stem! So I’ve taped it up and that’ll be the last of my training on this one haha. Early signs are that topping this will result in a smaller plant than the others.

[Puglover1]

Massive autos, did you count the bud sites? Nice strain to be blessed with a big yield. Those colas in pic #4 sure are purdy.

[MagicMike66]

I’ve been amazed at these myself. If the bud quality is as good, I’ll be doing autos more in future. Too many bud sites to count but easy 30+ per plant

[Eliot Pryor]

Those are very nice plants !! I will be interested in your smoke report . Outstanding grow !!

[MagicMike66]

Thanks very much

[MagicMike66]

Decided I had to do some very light LST on the bushiest plant to try and open her up and get some light down inside the plant. Also took off a large handful of fans from each plant. The 3rd auto definitely looks like it’ll be considerably smaller and less yield, so topping it certainly seems to have stunted the growth.