Can I top my Auto? I’ve heard never top your auto s and I’ve heard others doing it…
3 Likes
IMHO, there is no benefit in doing so. It won’t kill your plant or have disastrous consequences but it simply won’t result in a bigger yield, more likely in a smaller yield.
Autoflowers are more sensitive to stress, and topping is a high stress action which could potentially trigger your plant to start flowering even earlier than it already does. An earlier flower response = a shorter vegetative state = smaller plant and thus a smaller yield.
A plant needs to recover from topping, so even if the plant doesn’t start flowering instantly it doesn’t have enough time to recover well enough to benefit from it.
Topping really only is good with photos is my experience, you need that prolonged vegetative state to let the plant recover and pick up its vigour again.
Low Stress Training (LST) for autoflower all day! You can get some great results with LST if you start early by the way.
13 Likes
I Topped 2 of my Auto’s, and they both went into flower. I did it accidentally. So i would agree with @MrMonkey420 they stress to easy.
12 Likes
@MrMonkey420 response 
Stan from Mephisto Genetics changed my grow style for autos…during veg LITFA…just leaf tuck if anything, let the plant figure itself out. The week during transition (first sign of pistils and next week or so) decide if you need to do any LST to give side branching more room. In my small tent this is when I decide if any branches that are too unruly need supercropping. Light defol lowers and poor performing branches early flower. Defol as needed to improve airflow during flower. 
10 Likes
Absolutely! (insert caveat here: experienced growers only beyond this point)
If you want a bigger plant, timeline is much different, accelerated. So do your business at 5 nodes or so back to 3. Then top the remaining arms back to double those budsites in the 21-25days ish window…also fuck these clowns that say put em in the forever pot from get go. You can up-pot and if you are strategic…the roots will grow in a similar rate as the top side. In fact check out “coco for cannabis” he too has changed his tune.
9 Likes
Just remember the “stress” on the auto plant - consider 1week to re-coup from any method used being that the flower times are “set” for autos. If any thing LST method with a little defoliation thru grow
8 Likes
I see other advice and worked for a couple months with a Dutch Passion fundi and did my own research. Personally I would not top an auto due to its inferior genetics ( herming ) and also because of the slowed growth. Dont forget autos have a very limited flowering time, and slowing it down by 1 week could reduce your final yielf significantly.
8 Likes
I will disagree on the autos being topped and or trained. I know a guy who tops fims and trains all plants and all he basically grows is autos and he can average close to a pound per plant. If u hit an auto at a good time while they r throwing down roots and not working on the top stuff is a big plus for training or topping autos at node 5 or 6 and top down to the 4th set train and all I average 5 to 9ish oz on autos and that’s with doing training or topping. If I leave them alone to grow on their own I average 3 to 7 so to me training atleast helps. Don’t get all crazy with it bending and breaking stems and all should be fine. I believe when stems r broke is what is the major downfall on training autos. @not2sureyet is a great auto grower and had some awesome tips on growing autos for anyone who might wanna chat his ear. He is pretty much an auto grower and learned me a lot on autos and how not to be scared to play with them
7 Likes
I pinch 
all branches no one is safe , auto regulars Female, truly it does miracles for stem growth but that is just my own experience again hope it helps grow well!
7 Likes
what size pot does he use ? Also if one clones you will find that plant size is smaller when one clones - this is because of the auto time frame. a clone from a clone mother - that clone will be a smaller plant
6 Likes
Thanks @Mark0427 I know this is an old thread. But I top every thing. And the yields have been better for me with autos. Well, for the couple I let go with no top. I wait till about week 4. So about the fifth node. I have yet to have any thing low down. I think the only place you really have to watch an auto over a photo id for the first 10 days. It is easy to drown them up to a week old. I am in coco. So soil may be another deal. I always use 5 gallon pots my self for autos. And do better for the most part top feeding them. My biggest auto was in a 5 gallon pot and in an auto pot. I super crop alot also since I am in a scrog 95% of the time 
This is a Critical Purple auto I am currently doing. And she was topped. This is only week 6 for her. it is a 10 - 12 week flower
6 Likes
ive topped my auto gmo cookies, i had 4 plants, topped one, and did exactly what you expect out of topping. i could have gotten lucky tho.
4 Likes
@not2sureyet tops his autos all the time. Its not that its not doable its jus t qhen to hit them at the right time as to not stall the plants growth i struggle with autos big time i either over feed under feed or too much light all the time so i give on autos atleast while i jabe photo type growing. Photos i can hit hard and autos dont like the light as hard as i can give it to a photo
2 Likes
U have reg photo type and fem photo type then u have reg auto and fem auto. Most auto u see r fem auto on occasion u catch reg autos photo type are the plants that u jave to switch times to 12 on 12 off for the plant to flower where as autos can grow on pretty much any light schedule.
2 Likes
I topped one auto about 8 times. Trying to see if I could do it the same as a photo. It did come out. How ever. The buds were smaller than what I would have gotten only topping it once. I do enough plants at a time that I can play with them. And if I loose most of one. It is no big deal. So I got to learn a lot quick Now if i can just remember it all 
4 Likes
@Mark0427 thank you for clearing that up. That being said mine were reg auto. At the time I didn’t know what auto meant so I just flipped them along with my fem blue dream plant.
4 Likes
Well règ auto dtill glups on their own just may jave a chance of being a male. Autos reg or fem will auto flip to glower on their own setting usually between 35 and 50ish days from sprout
2 Likes
here is the autoplant grow cycle:
vegation stage weeks 1-3
flower stage weeks 4-12
they grow like this NO MATTER what you do to them - it’s genetics of the plant --NO slowing down a plant when it’s an auto - if one messes with them you will get small yields check out this Autoflower Network.com
2 Likes
The link doesn’t work. I am not trying to bag on you here. I don’t think the info you are sharing is close to right here though. Veg can go as long as 8 weeks for some strains. most I do average 5 - 6 weeks. Very few are 4 or under. I have done a lot of autos over the years. And the only one I have found that will do a 3 week veg is the Red Poison auto. It will finish seed to start in 8 - 9 weeks total. As for messing with them. I am not sure just what you consider for that. I super crop a lot and they love it. All get topped. Some more than once. I think it is more of a timing issue for some. Little things like over watering young can cause issues for some strains. Most of the info you see on line any more is super out dated. Other than the forums where people are actually growing. All the so called grow bibles are the worse. They need a real up grade. All focus only on soil. When more and more are in coco or hydro. That changes things a lot. I am always willing to admit I am wrong if show so. I got a lot of miss info shared with me when I started growing. I started with autos my self. I found that about 80% of what I was being told was not actually true. other than on a few grows i had seen before. I am no expert. But have done a lot of autos over the years. And have journals for every plant I have grown to back up what I say. Whether it is right or wrong. Autos are their own little beast. I don’t have any journals in here since I am mainly on a different forum. I do have some over on ILGMs. My first grow though my last. I use the same name over here. Other than that. I am here to learn as much as I can. I love growing these things
3 Likes