So this is my first experience with autoflower. I am growing 3 plants in 7 gal. buckets. The plants are 6 to 5 inches tall and are very bushy. I need to know if I should top them and when to trim the old leaves off. The new branches from the main stem are growing will. The plants are on a 15 hour cycle. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will try and get pictures soon.
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I would do lst before topping. The cycle of autflower is so fast it may not have enough time to recover from topping.
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I’m doing an autoflower grow for the first time myself too. Going good so far. They Just started flowering this week
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LST, don’t top.
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Agree with the rest but there are growers who have good luck with topping
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@Nicky @Not2SureYet @GreenSnek here are some good auto growers who one tops one fims and one i believe is all hydro maybe
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Switch to a 20hr cycle of on
I suggest Fiming:
Don’t cut any other leafy material until your buds form into what look like clover flowers a little further along than this:
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I see your guard cat is on duty there @Nicky Weyland, are you in soil or some thing like coco. That makes a big difference I think, for how you may want to grow your auto. What lights are you running with these? A lot of little things to consider for what direction might be best for you. 
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They are now three weeks old and I can see how structurally different the plant is from feminized. I see why they shouldn’t be topped or the large foliage removed until they start flowering. Thanks for the reply.
They are now three weeks old and I can see how structurally different the plant is from feminized. I see why they shouldn’t be topped or the large foliage removed until they start flowering.
Hey thanks for the info, I will check it out.
Soil is Foxfarm Ocean Forest. I grew some feminized last year with it. I acquired more this year for this season’s crop. From what I have read this is the correct soil to use, is it not?
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FF works great
Wow lots of information thanks. This is my setup.
I bought 2 of the Arknoah 2400W Timing LED Grow Lights from Amazon. When I received them I couldn’t help but notice they were made in China. So I won’t buy those lights again and I killed my Amazon account. Can’t stand sending money to a country that is determined to undermine and control us in the future. Anyways, enough of that.
I built a tent using 3/4 inch PVC and emergency blankets. See I am retired and on a fixed income. Maybe next year I can buy one. I have three plants in 7 gal buckets. Three weeks old now and growing like crazy.
Soil is Foxfarm Ocean Forest. Hope that is a good soil. Grew autoflower last year in two 5 gal buckets and it lasted me until the fall.
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Sorry to say but just about every light u buy has parts made in china buddy lol. I do feel u on keeping our money here tho. Hard to do when everything made is made in china lol. On the tent deal.u can do it however u jave to as long as if photos u keep any loght out at dark autos are not the same they dont exactly need full dark like a photo does but total dark does help alot ive noticed. Ffof is a great soil for cannabis thats what i ised prior to switching over to coco.
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I have never used soil 
Only coco. I did get enough soil from a friend to do one plant in so I can see how it works. I will do the same strain in soil and coco when I get to it. I think I got the Happy frog from my friend.
That’s good soil.
The emergency blankers will work but be aware they could create hot spots, we suggest a flat white (a tarp?).
Many here are on tight fixed income, a little investment over time and some good friends may give you a bit of a bigger fixed income down the road lol.
Or at least friends coming over wanting to trade things
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So what is coco? This is only my second season growing so I have never heard of this term. I will search for it see if I can find out exactly what coco is.
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Hey I only grow enough to get me by from year to year. So will any flat white tarp work. My tent is 4x4 and has a fan in it to avoid over heating. I think next year I will by a commercial tent to grow in. Any suggestions where I should get one.
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Yea a flat white tarp would work great.
Where to get a grow tent? Where ever you can find it the cheapest they are all mass imported from China, local hydro store if you want to support your local guy or Amazon if not.
Coco is coco husks shaved into a growing medium, it has no nutrients but hold water well and when mixed with perlite or vermiculite makes an amazing growing medium. Then you add nutrients be they synthetic or organic, this way the plant doesn’t have to process dirt to get energy and your plant will grow bigger stronger faster.
With soil no pot is generally big enough or soil rich enough to provide enough energy in order to grow quality buds without adding nutrients.
So if you already have to add nutrients many growers decide to just add it from day 1 and get more yeild with coco.
There is very affordable nutrients out there, you can add to your coco to grow much better yeilds compared to soil.
If you don’t mind mixing your own little medium then you can simply go start to finish with 20-10-20 nutrients that’s available in bulk dry forms from your local store or from online.
Here is a video you may enjoy, the full thing is great but if you want to skip to 22:40 you can.
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