Autoflowers Height Control

cjmade

Active Member
Hey, I'm growing an autoflower for the second time and as the space available to me is very limited, I looked around a bit for the ways to keep my plant "small".
So here are some of my (not surprising) findings:
1) smaller pot
2) lst/scrog
3) choosing the right strain

If we were talking about 12\12 strains - i hear about a couple more ways(like shortening light hours, topping, supercropping etc.) for the height control, but since I personally don't yet have any expirience with those - I won't talk abot those.

And now to expand a bit:
Smaller pot - will cause your plant to become rootbound! In my previous grow I used 1 liter = 1/4 gallon pot. The plant grew to only about 40cm = 15' which was great! But still a bit too high(there's no such thing!) and was fast aproaching the light fixture, so I resorted to lst
*a bit of a disclaimer here - in the third week the plant nearely stopped growing - clearely stunned by the rootbound. It got over the stress in about a week or so, but still grew very slow. Remember - rootbound will stress your plant very much! Don't panic, go easy on the nutes, let it breath - it'll be cool :)

LST - is a low stress traing, basically just bending the main stem to the side. It is usually done in attemt to increase the yields by allowing more light to the lower branches, which would usually only get indirect light(reflected or shadowed). It is best done in vegetative stage, but I did it rather late, while my plant was already begining to flower. It didn't seem to stress it, at least compared to the rootbound.
ScrOG - reads as screen of green, refering to the way it is done - by putting a screen(like a chickenwire) between the plant and the lights. It works pretty much just like lst - every time plant gets above the screen you bend it and stick back below.

And now is the time to speak about genetics. The seedbank I purchase from has an option to sort available seeds by their aproximate height, so go for a strain which would fill your growspace all the way and maybe just a little extra. Bigger plants tend to yield more, but it is NOT a rule. Generally it is best to read about any particular strain in advance to know exactly what are you working with.
Also! Most seed companies have the same strain names(like northern lights) which can be very different or just flat out not the same strain at all.

Hope it helps to enyone who is interested. Bear in mind, it is just my mind and my expirience. Would be happy to hear if there are any other options!
 

cjmade

Active Member
I'm not 100% sure how to super crop. Is it when you slightly break the stem under a main cola?

Nice pics btw!
 

cjmade

Active Member
bf80255 - I read somewhere that less light will cause it to stretch more which is the opposite of what I want :/

tekdc - thanks for the info will definetily try that! When should I do this? At like 5-6th node, right when I see first helixes or when she'll be about to outgrow the space? Also - will in not harm final yield, it's an AK Auto I'm growing.
 
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NorthernHize

Well-Known Member
I don't give a shit what a seedbank says about the heights their plants grow to. We all know the reality of how high and wide sativas and idicas grow. Auto flowers are no exception some of those plants grow as big as or bigger than a photo plant. Ive seen better genetics in a random weed growing out of a pile of shit than most Auto's. might just be my experience and I've grown about five from different seed banks. but your on the right track with some of the methods you wrote down to keep plants "smaller"
 

tekdc911

Well-Known Member
bf80255 - I read somewhere that less light will cause it to stretch more which is the opposite of what I want :/

tekdc - thanks for the info will definetily try that! When should I do this? At like 5-6th node, right when I see first helixes or when she'll be about to outgrow the space? Also - will in not harm final yield, it's an AK Auto I'm growing.
i lst at around the 5th node , and you do it before it starts outgrowing the space , lst helps final yield , pinching i havent really noticed a difference , but do it early flower or before flower the stems will be to brittle to do it during flower ,
the bigger plant was a AK too well a akr same difference
 

ServingSize1oz

Active Member
I don't give a shit what a seedbank says about the heights their plants grow to. We all know the reality of how high and wide sativas and idicas grow. Auto flowers are no exception some of those plants grow as big as or bigger than a photo plant. Ive seen better genetics in a random weed growing out of a pile of shit than most Auto's. might just be my experience and I've grown about five from different seed banks. but your on the right track with some of the methods you wrote down to keep plants "smaller"
I want to live where you can find weed better than autos growing out of piles of shit. Sign me the fuck up.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
I want to live where you can find weed better than autos growing out of piles of shit. Sign me the fuck up.
Well you got to live in the country. Then when you clean horse stalls pile the shit up. Then when your hanging out rolling you flick your seeds out. Then you forget til one day you walk around the barn you see a beautiful plant(s).
 

porrista

Well-Known Member
I'm finishing a badge of AF seeds I bought last year and I'm on my last AK47.

This particular AK47 has Accidental FIM + LST + Accidental SupperCropping.

I was FIMing 2 other regular plants I was vegging for a friend and I accidentally took my AK and fimmed it as well. This has also not been the first time it happens on the AKs, I remember having another one very short and dense AK that was about 8" tall and covered and area of 15"x15 inches.

On this AK I released some of the lower branches todays so they can catch up with one of the 3 main colas product of the fimming, this is because I have one cola that breaks/snaps everytime I try to LST it. Today I was again trying to lower it down and it snapped again, so I had to leave it alone and level up the other branches. Also, the other plant in the tent is a white widow that has grown a lot more than this one ( no FIM on the WW) and it as been more difficult to keep the WW to a low height, I thought of having the 2 plants at the same height as possible would be better.
 

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TheHermit

Well-Known Member
Using full spectrum or veg lights for the first few weeks of flowering will cause them to stretch less.
 

porrista

Well-Known Member
Thanks man, as you can see I got 3 colas, and the most left cola is the one that has been snapped 2-3 times by accident. Total height of this one is 10.5" from the border of the pot to the top cola.
 
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