Hi all,
I’m just starting my second grow, this time 4 Lambs Breath Autos.
I have read some excellent advice and have seen some amazing journals on here as to how to train photo plants to do just about anything.
Now, I’ve read that auto plants, because of their internal clock on speed, it is best to leave them alone and let them grow on their own.
I’ve read topping and fiming should be avoided as this slows their growth in an already short life span.
My question is… can I still LST and bend them to maximize light exposure without stunting their growth, providing of course I don’t break anything, or just let them do their thing?
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I think screwauger grows the biggest autos on here and he does lst. You might check out his thread on growing them as there’s lots of info on it. I’ll add the link for you.
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Yes u can train an auto just like a photo. Timing is everything with them. I have topped and fimmed them as well but don’t suggest it until U have a few under your belt.
Getting the feel for them is key. And LST is fine it’s HST u have to time just right.
Good luck growing
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This grow, I followed that auto life cycle/nutrient timeline he shared. The girls are going to take a bit longer to mature, but the extra couple weeks of forced veg (so to speak) via nute manipulation really added a lot of heft to the plants. LSTing them helped, too.
There was one girl that started blooming fast & furious at 3 weeks, so I started her on transition nutes for 2 weeks, then moved to bloom.
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Thanks for the link @Screwauger, that answered a lot of my questions.
@anon95385719 my first grow a few months ago, I had 3 different strains and learned very soon that each had their own characteristics, so I decided just to stick to one for the moment. I don’t plan on topping these but wanted to spread them a bit so the light can penetrate. LST is where I will limit my torturing this round.
@blackthumbbetty I did find his nutrient schedule very intriguing and I think I’ll try to mimic this to keep them vegging as long as possible.
Also watching closely @raustin and some others with this round of scrogs going on. When these autos are ready I’m going to drop another Hash plant seed and see if I can fill my 4X4 and scrog the hell out of it.
Thanks all for the advice, much appreciated.
Matt
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I don’t like the way my no LSTed or FIMed plants grew. I can tell a HUGE difference in yield, same strain (WW). Wife wanted me to do these 5 as a test since it is my first year growing.
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I scrogged (kinda sorta) 2 autos this grow. No topping/fimmimg. I only kept the screen on for 10 days, though, then supplemented with the string tie-down method for another week. At 52 days, Sour Melon looks like this:
At the beginning of the scrog, she looked like this:
I had planned on leaving the screen on til harvest, but she was starting to shoot out pistils & I didn’t want to damage them. All in all, I’m actually very happy with the screen/tie-down hybrid method of lst-ing autos.
Did it on a super auto, too, but the canopy didn’t turn out nearly as even, but she still looks pretty bad-ass, compared to all the breeder pics showing a single cola & a bunch of low side branches (typical fir tree type cannabis structure). Jamaican Berry is an almost pure sativa super-auto:
. I think next grow, I’ll keep her screened longer.
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im a newbee myself. I saw you say something about a nutrient timeline. Could you share some insight on auto nutrient timelines and water cycle. trying to figure out if 20-4 cycle is best or go with a 24 hr cycle, but I cant figure out how to water when, and what nutes to use when… to new lol
If you look above to post #2, there’s a link to another post that talks about the life cycle of an auto, and gives some guidelines on when to switch from grow nutes to bloom nutes.
A lot of people switch from grow to bloom nutes at the first sign of pistils. This post recommends otherwise. I tried it this grow, and so far I am very happy. It’s almost another training method for autos.
Lightwise, starting out for a week or so at 24/0 is great. Plants complete a lot of vital processes when it’s dark, though, so 20/4 or 18/6 is a good schedule to move to.
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No. you change timelines. Seedlings 24, veg 20, then 18 or someway you think. I think like su. Is best 24/22/20/18 but who had time to do such graphic.
You dont go 24, underside growing is happen ING when lights off.
I have best results 18/6 veg. Seedlings 20/4, flowering 20/4 and 18/6 changing like summer goes autumn. This is my seven cents.
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I saw this guy on YouTube he bent the stalk as soon as it flowered and tied it down with wire against the pot it was interesting to watch he didn’t bend it from the base but about three internodes down from the top.
It looks like the same size as the trees in the background.
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Damn man. Without being too specific how far south do you live? I live in North NV and the last frost day prediction maps are staying June 1, so I don’t think I will ever get a chance to grow outdoors even though I’m dying to. That is beautiful! I’m jealous. 
So this is my first grow ever so I’m more posting a reply to give my experience so don’t take it as bonafide knowledge. lol. I’m growing Northern Lights Auto, I had an extra seed that didn’t sprout so instead of tossing it I tossed it in my pot with the other seed with a decent tap root. Didn’t think it would take but was worth a shot. Well It popped up 15 almost 16 days after my first one. So its been a battle with one tall plant and one shorty. I wasn’t going to train or do anything crazy on my first grow but out of desperation to keep the canopy and light problems to a minimum I trained the larger one.
Now its hard to see but I did LST on the right one and its worked great. I’ve had difficulty with training due to my fabric pot (can’t tie to it, it pulls and rips eventually plus you can’t pick it up and move it) but I built a wire screen underneath to tie down to and its worked really good.
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I live on the East Coast, there is an old country song that says The Devil Went Down to____________.
Fill in the blank 
.
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If it would quit dipping into the 30’s at night, I would have already planted outdoors. This year is 10 WWA and 1 Fem LSD.