Ive been growing autos and ive seen people saying they have harvest up to 7ozs from one plant and i can barely get 2 1/2. Are you guys topping your autos and do you have any tips to improve my yields. I always LST my autoz but im to scared to top them. Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you
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I top and LST all my autos for increased yield. I’ve been fairly lucky with a little over 10 zips being my best and 2 zips being the smallest. I’ve been growing autos for a little over 2 years and have come to the conclusion that the first 2-3 weeks of growth are critical for a successful harvest, unlike the photo periods I grow and can let them veg longer when an issue pops up. The environmental conditions, nutrients and lighting are super critical that 2-3 weeks I mentioned and not a lot of wiggle room for 
to go sideways 
I’ll tag you on my journal if you’re interested. There’s always the genetically predetermined runts
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Yeah plz do and thanks for the reply . I think ill start topping my autos. When do you top yours ? At what week?
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Yeah tag me in your next grow journal. Id like to follow the first few weeks of your grow and maybe i can get some tips. Thank you @OGIncognito
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@Hodo420 what kind of lights are you using? That was a big factor for my grows. Ive gotten close to 7 but ive never had an auto produce what a photo does. Here is a Banana Kush Auto I grew, no topping or anything. I think i got 4 oz off her.
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Just curious, do you follow the start autos in their final pot rule? If so, that’s part of your issue. I’ve actually gotten over 10 ounces from an auto twice, but average is 6 to 9 or so depending on the strains and how the grow goes.
Starting in solo cups and then transplanting extremely carefully and gently into the final pots is a good start.
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I used 3 gallon bags, coco and jacks, on my last grow. Minimum training, 12ish oz from 2 autos. Would have been closer to 13, but a main snapped during transition.
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Agree with @Cap_Ron all of my auto grows i started in a burpee seedling tray then transplanted str8 to 5 gal pots forever. All of my plants are only transplanted once.
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I busted my phone a while back and lost all my pics from previous auto grows, but this is the largest cola ive produced from an auto.
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Like zoiks. That’s a fxxxin monster!
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Most of the people doing this are in hydroponic system, soilless using high frequency feeding (kind of like hydroponic system), or get plants that will stay in veg a little longer than normal. Each situation has it’s caveats, but having your grow space dialed in is extremely important.
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So why do you want to grow autos?
When I started growing I started with autos in soil. A couple of grows, maybe 10-12 plants, avg dry weight around 2.5 - 3.5 oz. Then tried an auto in a autopot with peat and perlite. Weight and quality improved to 6 - 7 oz.
OK that was fun. Switched to coco & perlite and Jacks and of course photoperiod strains. Weight and quality basically doubled. I think it is a better measure to use square feet or tent size for weight comparisons. Another is grams per watt. Using this measure, a gram per watt is generally considered successful.
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I have been growing photo period plants indoors since 2018. I added two autos to each of my last two grows. My first two autos produced 8 and 10 ounces each.
My latest auto was chopped 9 days ago and will get a final trim and go into jars tomorrow.
Here is a shot of the plant taken this morning:
And a shot of it sitting on the scale this morning:
After final trim this plant will have a final weight of over 7 ounces.
I grow in Roots Organic soil and use Roots Organic dry nutrients. This plant was grown in a 7 gallon bag and received LST until it was about a month old. I shoot for a DLI of 40 - 50 for all of my plants.
I hope that this (along with all of the other replies) gives you the information that you are seeking. Good luck and happy growing.
P.S. I normally get about a pound from each of my photo period plants that are flipped to flower when they are about 60 days old.
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Im not sure why I want to grow auto’s . Im on my 5th or 6th grow and they have all been auto grows except for my first grow. Which was from bag seeds . One was sativa and one was indica. I got 8 ozs per plant . Ive been thinking about going back to photoperiod plants. And i have a mars hydro fc8000 in a 4x4 . I know the light is over kill but i dial it down with my dimmer. I have a 2x2 tent also. I was thinking maybe i could veg my photo periods in the 2x2 just to get them started then move to my 4x4 to finish veg and flower. Then i could just repeat the cycle for faster harvests. Any body run a similar setup ? Juat curious .
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Oh and another idea i need opinions on. I actually have 2 - 2x2 grow tents and a 4x4. I use one of the 2x2 tents to hang my drying rake to dry my harvests . I have a small fan blowing in the bottom and a exhaust fan filtering air out . I also keep my harvested buds in jars at the bottom of the tent. And i got it setup with a lock which i like the security. Ive been thinking should i move my dry rack else where and use both 2x2 tents to feed my 4x4 ? Any thought ILGM COMMUNITY. And i just want to thank everybody who has chimed in on my posts. I grow my plants for self medication and ill you guys are helping me improve my well being thank you.
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Pictures of yals drying and bud storage setups would be appreciated 
Do you top your auto’s?
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I don’t top any of my plants whether they be photo period or auto. I did top when I first started but I get excellent results and the plant shape that I want from LST. I believe that most growers do top their photo period plants and it is a mixed bag on autos.
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My 2 cents worth…that light is just barely over kill for your space. I am not the usual, but I blast my plants with light…most would say that I should dial it back but I like my results and never have issues related to light or nutrients. I do occasionally have issues with pests and whatnot, but nothing light related.
How many photo periods should in run in my 4x4. I start a new grow in a couple months and im about to buy seeds from ILGM on their 420 sale. And do you grow all the same strain or do you mix strains?
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