I grow a few cannabis plants outdoors every summer, but first time with autoflowers. Blue cheese seeds germinated in 20 hours, seedlings grew well under lights, and then looked great after transplanting. But, plants didn’t get bushy and are now flowering when only 15 inches tall (see bucket photo for perspective). I learned from reading here that I can’t pinch off the buds to encourage more growth. So, asking what I can do differently next year. The cannabis plants in the background (not autoflower) are big and lush in the same soil. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Wish I could help… autos do what they want. I think if you want to top or fim them it has to be very early on. I just did my first auto and she had 4 colas… huge colas but nonetheless only 4 and she was about 12 inches tall. I have another one that is still going that I didn’t do anything to and she’s about 2 feet tall and has 12 huge colas.
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how did you end up with LESS colas than the one NOT fimmed/topped? and how big are the ones on the 12 sites, compared to the ones on the 4 sites?
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Low stress training would of made it get more full I’m sure it ,I done lst on my auto and its bushy as and it has a stem that is rounder than Ur thumb and it has alot of colas I’m sure it has over 13 colas
Here’s a picture of mine don’t mind the nutrient burn I’m currently fixing this problem
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Opinionated little things, aren’t they?
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Nothing you can do for autos as they really don’t have the time to recover from the abuse. Photos are a better way to go I feel. Good luck and happy growing! 
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Yah they are I’m using coco coir and I’ve been using canna nutrients ive been following the instructions on the bottles and it turns out its much nutrients
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I didn’t fim or top either of them… Just some LST
Strawberry Cheesecake Auto… yes that’s the whole plant. From what I understand some of them just turn out the be runts. Usually people cut their losses but Wanted to grow her out and see what she could become.
Purple Punch Auto (still going but getting close). Don’t have pic of the entire plant but there are 12 colas in all.
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Wow! That’s impressive. Maybe I’ll get more off my tiny two than I thought!
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Here’s a better picture I just took off her so you could actually see her tops. Auto flowers are completely different and just do their funky dance while growing. All I did was defoliate in the center to get more light penetration.
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…might be suffering a bit of jealousy a.t.m…lol 
enjoy those beautiful buds 
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What strain is the photo period?
Auto’s are miss understood by the majority of growers… So alot of statements above are not fair.
Each genetic and each breeder of a strain is different but generally you have 4-6 weeks of growth before they flower.
Anything you do to stress them should be well thought out before committing to.
Soil grows plants slower so if you plan to grow outdoor in soil either don’t do any training or FIM early on at the 4th/5th node.
Growing at 75% humidty and 78*F is ideal, anything other than that will falter your growth as with any plant so picking the right strain is KEY to your environment.
What’s your latitude and climate?
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Original poster here. My blue cheese autos weren’t stressed. We live in the far NW corner of Wa state where it’s been high 70s to low 80s since they were planted. Good soil with appropriate amendments–compost with a bit of bat guano and bone meal. 18 hours of sunlight (although that is starting to shorten now). Five weeks since they were planted, so the timing for flowering is right on. Am using the ILGM fertilizers diluted as per the label. Just am surprised that they didn’t get a bit taller and bushier. I mainly wondered if I did something wrong. Thanks for the input!
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The biggest thing would be what your soil PH is. You can find out if you have a PH meter and some distilled water.
Look up soil slurry sample on YouTube.
Your soil in the future should be amended to have a PH of 6.5, you may need to add Dolomite lime or other options to get your soil PH right…
So next year I would dig a hole then mix soil in a big wheelbarrow or bin and amend it doilg a soil slurry test. This will help you shoot for a nice tds and PH.
Your PH is probably off a bit and that’s causing slow growth.
Also it would be key to layer the soil, a lighter center plug for it grow for the first two weeks or three weeks followed by a rich outer layer.
Often people do this with two bagged soils from fox farms, happy frog being the light and ocean forests being the rich soil.
I’ll have to look at the strain specifically but I’m north west Canada so I know of strong strains for your area but I’m not familiar with that one.
Update seems blue cheese enjoys cooler Temps so above 80f it’s gonna be hurt and it prefers night cool downs of 20f
So maybe just to warm for it
So check your soil and try a different auto strain.
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Thank you so much! I appreciate the info.
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Most welcome.
When growing outdoors strain selection is Soooooo pop important! I’ve been growing outside 3 years only and every year I try different strains + last years winner.
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@newbieWA autos are a finicky female!! In my personal experience they grow better indoors with strictly monitored environmental conditions… Gave friend couple seedlings for outside he used same dirt and nutrients 4 plants , 12g. - 17g. - 22g. 23 1/2g. Dry.I ran same 4 and got , 69g. - 98g. - 109g. - 123g. . I fim mine he didn’t. Even with perfect conditions your going to get different sizes and weights and different smells and tastes. You will also have those finish at different times. I have one I chopped today at 10 weeks and her one sister didn’t start buding till week 8? ?? They can drive you CRAZY.
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