Hey - first time doing a controlled grow in a grow tent. I’ve read that I should focus on keeping the ladies alive and not worry about pruning until I have some experience. Wanted to throw it out to the experts here to see what you think. This is a CBD Kush autoflower about a month old. Definitely open to yes/no responses as well as ‘how to’ if that’s the consensus. Hopefully these two pics will upload:
Thanks!
The consensus is that auto flowers don’t like to be messed with very much. Apparently they stress easy.
I would spread her out a bit with some low stress training (LST) and go from there
Agree with @AfgVet on tieing those sides down, too late to top the main, myself and a few others top when it gets to the 6th node and top back to between 4th and 5th node. Good to see you AfgVet 
I tuck leaves as much as possible to open light to the canopy. As she enters flowering is the time to lollipop trim them. Getting rid of the stuff down low that won’t get much light.
that’s a great guide. thanks @AfgVet !
cool - i’ll look into lollipopping 
Lots of good basic info here. Read through anything you think might apply to you. Even if it doesn’t apply right now you’ll learn a bunch
Start a normal and ask all the questions. Plenty of good growers here willing to help out
I have a White Widow auto about the same age and looks almost identical. I tied her over to one side a couple of days ago and it was almost too late. The stalk was very stiff and I had to take care not to break the top.
Don’t lollipop an auto! Pruning stubborn leaves here and there are ok, unlike a photo plant, autos have extremely little time for healing and recovery.
That’s a big difference, I’ve got 2 like that now myself.
I just checked on mine. If 12:00 is her normal posture, I can bend to maybe 2:00 before it starts to feel really sketchy. Is that much worth it? Or just ride this one out and catch the next ones earlier on?
I am taking a bit of a different ‘tack’. As a new grower of Auto’s, I like to experiment to see exactly what wrks for me. I have tried topping, low stress training and defoliation. The cutting off of the main (topping) did not produce as big of a harvest for me as low stress training. For me, low stress training is a mult-step process. I train them and then undo it when and if they can hold their own ‘new shape’ on their own. So, it’s a process. Defoliation is something I also do ‘alot’ of. The goal of everything is to simply expose any and all “pre-flowering=soon-to-be-buds” to the light unobstructed.
So, I’m still experimenting…on my 3rd grow so I’m no expert, just sharing what works. I have not grown my first photo yet, I wanted to get good at growing autos first. Just my two cents
Prune that baby back to Stone Age
It would probably benefit from that much tilt. That is about how much I could bend mine. Go ahead and pull it over as much as you feel comfortable with and adjust daily. As the side branches emerge, move them around as well to expose as many tops as possible to direct light.
She went a bit farther than I though. This look about right? And should i start training some of the others also at this point?
Looks good. Yes if there are any branches that you can expose, now is a good time. Over the next few days you can tuck leaves under to keep the light directly on the tops.
