Auto flower topped vs not topped

Q Banger

Member
As this was brought up in another thread ……

the “advantage “ is creating a early root mass then transplant into larger or final container. The solo cup start as @twentyeight.threefive showed , allows root mass to throw roots in multiple directions instead of taproot racing to bottom as with straight to pot plantings.

Autos are always overthought …. you can’t do this or you can’t do that. All bro science bullshit .
You can transplant them , top , FIM and even. Super crop them. I have run more autos than i can remember and do these things constantly with no issues.

This diagram should explain it …..

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When do weed plants transplant in nature? That's bro science
 

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
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Multiple toppings, just fine. Only 3 kinds of people say you can't top autos. New growers that repeat what they read when they haven't even harvested a single plant. Growers that topped and stunted their plants due to bad lighys, nutes or just plain cheap ass genetics(those $20 for 5 seeds shit). 3rd are the old growers that think they are some sort of horticultural god and a plant needs to grow in it's natural state. All clowns if you ask me.
There really isn't a reason you cant top.. .some strains don't like it but they are few and far between. Ive topped/LST every plant ive ever grown with no ill affect. ive even snapped and split some branches with minimal issues. tape it up and move on.

love that the aero pots have gotten to be so popular. I remember using them for the first time and they are IMHO clearly superior to ALL other pots for the most part. YMMV
 

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
And ….. you can Supercrop them too. Autos are much more resilient than the early days.

Pinched and partially supported til a knuckle forms ( i already have it unsupported and its fine ). No stoppage- bud end already pointing up.

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I use the same method here. pinch it till it softens and droops . give a bit of support till it bulges back out. plants today are SUPER resilient compared to even 10 years ago.
 

Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
He believes final pot is bro science and I believe uppotting is bro science
Oh,well I like both... I never really thought about the growth difference, but I can cee the advantage in uppotting because I've ceen the results from the people who show them doing said transplanting... I'm going to get some solo cups and try it out for myself...
 

MATTYMATT726

Well-Known Member
There really isn't a reason you cant top.. .some strains don't like it but they are few and far between. Ive topped/LST every plant ive ever grown with no ill affect. ive even snapped and split some branches with minimal issues. tape it up and move on.

love that the aero pots have gotten to be so popular. I remember using them for the first time and they are IMHO clearly superior to ALL other pots for the most part. YMMV
Absolutely. I just can't believe there are so many stereotypes on autos. Crazy.
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
As this was brought up in another thread ……

the “advantage “ is creating a early root mass then transplant into larger or final container. The solo cup start as @twentyeight.threefive showed , allows root mass to throw roots in multiple directions instead of taproot racing to bottom as with straight to pot plantings.

Autos are always overthought …. you can’t do this or you can’t do that. All bro science bullshit .
You can transplant them , top , FIM and even. Super crop them. I have run more autos than i can remember and do these things constantly with no issues.

This diagram should explain it …..

View attachment 5042519View attachment 5042526View attachment 5042527View attachment 5042528
Where has that diagram been hiding. Should be a sticky in the auto section
 

Zogs

Well-Known Member
This has turned into a big circle jerk of who can throw the most salt out wins. I said earlier "in my experience" letting the tap root bottom out restricts the over all size of the plant. I still transplant, I just do it very early. I don't have any proof of it and I was kind of looking forward to a open discussion. Some dude quotes me and gets bashed for it. It turns into a e-peen comp to bash any open dialog on the matter. Some dude throws up a pic of some nice roots like that must mean for sure it's the way to go right ? Followed up with some more salt to any conversation of the contrary. For those interested there is a discussion on "dude grows" with Jordan from AFN on this very subject. He seems pretty well versed with auto flowers and offers some insight that I think is definitely worth consideration.
 

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
This has turned into a big circle jerk of who can throw the most salt out wins. I said earlier "in my experience" letting the tap root bottom out restricts the over all size of the plant. I still transplant, I just do it very early. I don't have any proof of it and I was kind of looking forward to a open discussion. Some dude quotes me and gets bashed for it. It turns into a e-peen comp to bash any open dialog on the matter. Some dude throws up a pic of some nice roots like that must mean for sure it's the way to go right ? Followed up with some more salt to any conversation of the contrary. For those interested there is a discussion on "dude grows" with Jordan from AFN on this very subject. He seems pretty well versed with auto flowers and offers some insight that I think is definitely worth consideration.
The root picture wasn't proof that it's the only way to do things. It was more to the point that there are many misconceptions regarding autoflowers which are due to the fact that the vast majority of people are terrible growers. It's not a slight, but just the truth.
 
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pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
Absolutely. I just can't believe there are so many stereotypes on autos. Crazy.
Ya, Being an old timer when many strains were sensitive to stress some strains would not recover well. But now days as long as the plants are being fed properly and are disease free you can do anything you like to them really.

Ive been playing with grafting clones to different mothers with pretty good success.
And im trying to use an old tree grafting method to get roots on the clones BEFORE you prune them, to guarantee viability.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Basically that illustration was to show one benefit of transplant …. Autos are not that fragile.

You can do more now to them then the early examples of autoflowers from years ago.

Transplanting and up potting works with ANY plant .

You can even start an autoflower in a coco solo then pick either hydro OR soil for up potting. Really doesn’t need to be overthought.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Its really surprising how many growers will up pot the shit out of photos but when it comes to autos .. it becomes taboo.

FYI the ruderalis portion of an autoflowers genetics are quite resilient . Its a feral strain able to adapt pretty much any climate and conditions. So why get all sketch about it ?
 

Autodoctor

Well-Known Member
I think the earth has a solid piece of plastic 18 inches under the top layer like a pot does so if you don’t have to transplant plants right in the ground it’s best not to do it in pots either? Is that what he meant. I’m confused
 
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