Topping Autos?

Jack Kilgore

Well-Known Member
So the last time I topped my Bubba's, they did very well. They weren't autos. Now, on one of them I left a bit of the meristem intact when I cut it, so I basically left a small stub there on accident about a quarter inch in length or so.

It produced a third main stem that grew up to be one of my biggest and healthiest plants. I wonder if I can do the same thing again--leave a main stem intact but promote the two new ones by topping--and get a similar result on an Auto like Critical Purple or Tangie?

Thoughts?
 

Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
Sure, you can top your auto's...and they'll probably do fine...but the vast majority of auto's I've seen stand to gain far more benefits from just doing a little bit of leaf tucking and a touch of LST, if any at all. You're going to hurt your yields trying to top auto's because they've a predetermined period of vegetative growth. If you stunt them during this stage, even if only for a week, then you will have lost out on some major foilage growth that would have worked to supply your plant with more energy, which would in turn, produce more bud-weight.
 

Retardid_greenthumb

Active Member
So the last time I topped my Bubba's, they did very well. They weren't autos. Now, on one of them I left a bit of the meristem intact when I cut it, so I basically left a small stub there on accident about a quarter inch in length or so.

It produced a third main stem that grew up to be one of my biggest and healthiest plants. I wonder if I can do the same thing again--leave a main stem intact but promote the two new ones by topping--and get a similar result on an Auto like Critical Purple or Tangie?

Thoughts?
Risky to top a auto. Not big fan of autto. Only think differeentt from dp
 

grilledcheese101

Well-Known Member
Looking great! :)
thanks! This is it today, you can tell the main nug will still be the biggest but all the side braches deff have bulked up more than they would have otherwise. Also you can see my seeds starting to come thru. Bagseed regular male indica x ??lemon auto?? Should be some strange offspring.20180906_181748.jpg 20180906_181430.jpg 20180906_181723.jpg
 

Jack Kilgore

Well-Known Member
Due to the limit veg time the general rule of thumb is not to top autos however certain strains react pretty good to topping. I have found the sativa dominate strains are best due to the slightly extended grow / flowering period.
Interesting. . . I'm thinking of topping one or two as experiments, out of 4.
 

Jack Kilgore

Well-Known Member
Sure, you can top your auto's...and they'll probably do fine...but the vast majority of auto's I've seen stand to gain far more benefits from just doing a little bit of leaf tucking and a touch of LST, if any at all. You're going to hurt your yields trying to top auto's because they've a predetermined period of vegetative growth. If you stunt them during this stage, even if only for a week, then you will have lost out on some major foilage growth that would have worked to supply your plant with more energy, which would in turn, produce more bud-weight.
Very good point. I like to use the LST method, and I really learned a lot this season with the Bubba. I feel like I ought to let them grow naturally because like I mentioned in my post, I got a very good cola off of that plant, I believe in part because she was topped but then still grew a main stem vertically. Thanks! Oh hey btw my middle name is Logan lol. Rare to meet another male with the name.
 

Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
You are so right about that...every other Logan but one I've known has been a female lmao.And I actually know exactly what you mean about the vertical main stem being left; I did this unintentionally with a regular photoperiod plant, and it gave me a lot of flexibility in regards to LST'ing because I could tie heavy buds to it to help support the bud weight!
 

Pistil Kid

Well-Known Member
Interesting. . . I'm thinking of topping one or two as experiments, out of 4.
I did an experiment with two mephisto samsquanch og one I topped and the other I let go. I applied LST on both. I got the same yield from both plants but the topped one was a lot more compact in statue as were the buds. Another thing I noticed was a branch I nearly broke off ( say 70% removed from the main stem) yielded the biggest bud out of the crown which comprised of about 13 buds so stress on a plant did show increased output. I am only a novice so the difference in bud structure could be attributed to the different pheno of one parent vs the other . I will try and upload a few photos if you are interested?
 

grilledcheese101

Well-Known Member
I noticed with my male every time i cut 6-8 inches of flower off. It comes back like 4" in 3 days or less with more pollen. I think stress deff attributes to more flower in my case lol, its starting to go purple on the tops too
 

Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
I noticed with my male every time i cut 6-8 inches of flower off. It comes back like 4" in 3 days or less with more pollen. I think stress deff attributes to more flower in my case lol, its starting to go purple on the tops too
Yes most definitely, while not so much with autos (or at least not to the same extent), certian stresses actually stimulate flower and trichome production...like interpreted UVA/UVB stress, to protect from damage from the UV, they produce extra trichomes as a layer of 'sunscreen', so to speak. Even with auto's I use UV bulbs made for reptiles and/or cheap-O LEDs with UV diodes.
 

Jack Kilgore

Well-Known Member
I did an experiment with two mephisto samsquanch og one I topped and the other I let go. I applied LST on both. I got the same yield from both plants but the topped one was a lot more compact in statue as were the buds. Another thing I noticed was a branch I nearly broke off ( say 70% removed from the main stem) yielded the biggest bud out of the crown which comprised of about 13 buds so stress on a plant did show increased output. I am only a novice so the difference in bud structure could be attributed to the different pheno of one parent vs the other . I will try and upload a few photos if you are interested?
Thats fascinating because mine did the same thing. I broke the SHIT outta one of my main stalks and she just took right off. Turns out to be my biggest holder of buds.
 
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