Auto Growers Unite: A Community Thread

[greatwolf]

Merry Christmas!

A brief Introduction:

Long time lurker and a few posts in different threads. I just started transferring my offline journal online and will be caught up in a week or two. It's my first auto, but hardly my first grow. I've grown hundreds, if not over a thousand, plants beginning more than three and a half decades ago. And I've helped others grow far more than that. I was part of a group that developed growing and breeding techniques, as well as general knowledge, that I believe can be applied to autos and plan to test. In the process, I want to share that knowledge.

You see, I came and read many auto threads, looking for info. And there was much there to help me plan my grow. But there also seems to be some missing as well as some misunderstandings about growing cannabis. I nearly laughed out loud when I read that there was a time it was thought that autos could not be topped. Then sobered up as I realized that this was generally thought to be a good idea, instead of something to use where necessary...

Over the next couple of weeks I'll tell you what learned and how it can be applied to autos. I hope you'll find some useful info here as I have found much on this site. And I'll try to keep it it interesting and fun, if not always politically correct.

In some of my posts you may see a reference to 'Ernie'. Ernie is a composite character. When we would meet, in order to avoid embarrassing anyone by their mistakes, suggestions, etc., they would be attributed to 'Ernie'. Bonus points for the first person to correctly identify why we chose 'Ernie'.

For this first one one, we'll cover a light-hearted entry to wonderful world of weed growing, circa mid-1980's. This is not verbatim the lecture we would give to a wannabe grower, but it's damn close. [I'll cover the paranoia of the times later, but we generally spoke of hypotheticals. Still, you'll notice how nothing incriminating would be said in this manner...]

Imagine the following being delivered in a round-robin fashion, from between 3 and 10 people, usually in a Denny's at around 2 or 3 AM...

Cannabis is a weed. That's why we call it weed. It's easy to grow and hard to kill, you follow? You have to try to kill it.

Weed dies easy. Seems you look at it wrong and it it's dead. You have to take real good care of it.

Sound contradictory? It isn't. Weed is very easy to grow. IF you have a little understanding about plants.

And about their needs. And the growing method you're using.

The problem is, most new growers don't have a clue. They throw some seeds into dirt, often with a plant already there.

Then they put it on a windowsill or under a lightbulb and give it water, when they remember, usually too much. And say that weed is just too hard to grow.

[At this point we would explain about lighting requirements, soil options, watering and fertilizer. Since this is out of date for the most part, I'll leave that out. And now for the part I mentioned that may appear to be non-PC...]

Weed understands us, because it's the same; it's got girls and boys.

Boys got balls and girls spread their legs, that's how you tell them apart.

Gotta get rid of the boys.

Yep! The hornier the girl, the higher she'll get you.

If she gets laid, all she'll care about is the kids.

That means growing seeds.

Yeah, She'll still get you high. But she would have been better if she had stayed horny.

We know what you're thinking: What if I just cut the dudes balls off? We all thought that.

Many, probably most, tried it. It ain't worth it.

Guys are useless. Not even if you want kids. And they barely get you buzzed.

So take them out, quickly and permanently. And give all your love and attention to the girls.

Yeah, to the girls.

...

You get idea. We found that this stuck with beginners better than any other method we tried. Doesn't mean there isn't better, just that we did not find it at the time.

Cheers from the darkside

 

[greatwolf]

I want to be clear about something. I'm not saying that methods/techniques that I describe in these posts are the only only ones or even the best ones. There are many excellent contributors that have their own and deserve due consideration. I will, however, be presenting empirical evidence of ones that have been researched and applied in the past and that I am currently testing against autos and fully expect (or have already proven) to work.

But I'm still in the prologue stage, having to bring everyone to the same place. In reading the auto threads, it is obvious that there are a number of people that do not have a full background on cannabis cultivation basics and are primarily getting that info in these threads, so I'll fill in some more detail for them. For the rest of you, just consider this a refresher.

We are all adults here (or should be, considering topic), so I think it is time to talk about the elephant in the room:

SEX​

Yes, I know, it's one we try to avoid. It makes us uncomfortable. And this is all tongue in cheek, in case you can't tell.

Seriously though, how many of you know what causes flowers to form?

[Okay, even with my stylish foil hat on I can feel many of you thinking that I've been smoking too much of my product; this is an auto growers thread and flowering is triggered by the age of the plant. First, my product won't be ready for a few weeks yet and second I have not smoked any in more than 15 years. So may I continue?]

While it is true that the trigger for flowering is photoperiod for standard strains and, in general, age for autos, there is more detail to understand. Just like the birds and the bees, people and flowers (you knew I'd get there), cannabis flowering begins when hormones reach a tipping point. These hormones are primarily produced in the prominent growing tip(s) — the highest points of the plant. And when they reach a sufficient saturation level, those lovely little flowers that build our beautiful buds occurs.

In Indica and Sativa, the photoperiod does trigger flowering. This is because the hormones are produced primarily in darkness and are actually broken down in light. The components that the hormones are broken down into can be efficiently used by the plant for growth, so it is not wasted. With Ruderalis (the strain that makes autos auto), the hormones are produced at a far greater rate, even under bright light conditions. This is why you might see a lanky phenotype auto, although probably not from a reputable breeder (unless they sell F1 seeds); it's a throwback to its Ruderalis roots.

But stress can also cause the plant to consume these sex hormones, since the components can be used for building blocks for less energy (even counting the cost to break down the hormones) than creating new building blocks. This is Mother Nature at work. Think about this and about how you train your plants.

Cheers from the darkside

 

[greatwolf]

Okay, today's topic will be — TOPPING of Autos.

There is a lot of good info in these auto threads and I learned much reading through them prior to starting my own grow last month. One conclusion I came to, and have since verified, is that autos appear to grow similar to standard strains raised under 12/12 lights or given a bare minimum of 2-3 weeks of longer lighting before switching to 12/12, except growing a little larger. And this makes sense given the genetics and longer lighting periods that autos can have.

Topping, along with LST and cloning comments are what inspired these series of posts along with the way I am posting my grow journal. The fact that some once believed you couldn't top Autos, the methods that are called Low Stress Training (LST), and comments that cloning doesn't work because the cutting is on the same timeline as the donor plant. Another recurring comment, or complaint, is that breeders exaggerate claims, especially when it comes to flowering period. Now it is possible that some breeders do this. Or that it requires 'ideal' growing conditions. But go up and re-read my first post above. Cannabis is a weed. Ideal conditions are not difficult to achieve — light, nutrients, water, and temperature. And there is a range for all of this. So what does all of this have to do with topping of autos?

I'm glad you thought that question (penetrated the foil hat again, I really need a new design).

If you read my second post, the one about S-E-X, you will understand the importance of hormones to the flowering process. When you top any cannabis plant, you remove the primary growing tip. But you've also wounded the plant. Virtually all remaining hormones will be used to repair that damage. Hormone production will progress At a vastly reduced rate until a new primary growing tip is established. Then it will take a while to catch up to where it was, always being behind. If 2 (or more) branches are close enough to the same height, this further complicates things since they cannot grow at the same rate as a single growing tip. And that limits the hormone production for each.

So while topping an auto will give you more top bud sites, you probably already knew that they would be smaller than the single, main stem one would have been (although usually the total weight from topping will be greater). Now you should also understand that topping results in a delay of flowering, usually by several weeks (for standard strains, although I'd wager this amount of delay is similar for autos). So if you top an auto, I really wouldn't expect it flower on schedule.

Does this mean you shouldn't top an auto? Not at all There are probably many very good reasons to do so. One that comes to mind is the same we'd frequently use when growing standard strains decades ago — you expect a plant to grow taller than available grow height. And I am sure that others in this thread can come up with more valid reasons.

But if you want to have the plant flower more within the breeders specs, topping is not the way to go. You'll need a different option in order increase yield. And I'll be describing that sshortly, just as soon as I cover a couple more things. Something to look forward to.

Back to the darkside

 

[Pterostychus]

Ok a general question what time period for autos to start showing pistils generally. Have 2 autos of different strains which started showing pistils on day 35. Just wondering if environment can delay the onset of flowering. Most start at 21 days I thought.

my last grow i had Blue autoMazar from Dutch Passion she showed her first pistils on day 52 ... she was in pure cocos with a feed every two days she finished 50 days after first pistils appeared and yielded a nice 3.3 Oz.
I had a 18/6 shedule during flower with LED set on full agro (Veg+Bloom) and during preflower stage she was on 24/0 (24h cfl + 18/6 led veg setting)... the 24/0 setting for the cfl's was more for the heat they produced then for the light ... but in the end they didnt see any dark untill flower started

before that i had a HSO Blue Dream Auto it started at day 35 if i remember correct and a Purple Kush that started also around day 30-35

 

[Islandgrow]

my last grow i had Blue autoMazar from Dutch Passion she showed her first pistils on day 52 ... she was in pure cocos with a feed every two days she finished 50 days after first pistils appeared and yielded a nice 3.3 Oz.
I had a 18/6 shedule during flower with LED set on full agro (Veg+Bloom) and during preflower stage she was on 24/0 (24h cfl + 18/6 led veg setting)... the 24/0 setting for the cfl's was more for the heat they produced then for the light ... but in the end they didnt see any dark untill flower started

before that i had a HSO Blue Dream Auto it started at day 35 if i remember correct and a Purple Kush that started also around day 30-35

2oz + would be great per plant would be awesome . Doubt I will get it though. We'll see

 

[greatwolf]

My last post in this thread, for this year: LST (Low Stress Training).

[Don't worry, there is more to come in the New Year.]

Now, I believe that LST is actually a misnomer; it should actually be LPST (Low Physical Stress Training). This would be a more accurate description.

LST typically involves bending and tying down stems: Either the main stem if not topped, or tallest branch(es) if it has been topped. This is less stressful than topping, but it is not without stress. On the physical side, the bent stem needs to turn the growing tip so that it is once more growing vertically. During this time the next lower stems will grow, usually taking over as the primary growing tip(s). Often this process is repeated, sometimes multiple times. This results in more of a bush type growth. It is also a good technique to limit height or disguise the shape of a cannabis plant.

Be we are left with a similar situation, as far as sex hormones are concerned, as if the plant had been topped. So there is stress, it's just hormonal stress instead of physical (or a lesser degree of physical). In effect, the plant is going through the following:

I'm a teenager, with raging hormones!

No, you're not, your hormones have been stopped.

Now I'm a teenager!

Guess again, your hormones have been blocked up again.

This is what happens during each training. The more times the primary growing tip is changed, the more times this occurs. While the physical stress is low, this stress is quite high and results in delaying or slowing the flowering, depending when in the cycle it is done.

Again, there are valid reasons for doing LST (just as topping above), especially where height is a concern. And many growers do both topping and LST to the same plant. But realize that you cannot do this and expect that the plant will meet the breeder's flowering specs. It just can't work that way.

So that's it for LST. More coming next year.

Back to the darkside

 

[Vanisle420]

Congrats bud. I grew some crop kings early miss & NYCd. Have blueberry auto grow going from 420. Congrats!!! You're going to love this bro. Trust me! Drop by my 2nd journal if u wish....lots of good folks in there! Later...& you're goin a kill it! The grow!! Not the plant...lol.

How did your blueberry turn out? I am starting mine for a 3rd time . I grew 1 indoors and another 2 outdoors. Haven't had great success. They seemed like huge buds but were very airy and thin and had a funny look to them. Seemed like a giant waste of time growing them. Not sure if I just started the outdoor ones too early in the spring and they didn't get the proper light or what

 

[DemonicAngel]

My last post in this thread, for this year: LST (Low Stress Training).

[Don't worry, there is more to come in the New Year.]

Now, I believe that LST is actually a misnomer; it should actually be LPST (Low Physical Stress Training). This would be a more accurate description.

LST typically involves bending and tying down stems: Either the main stem if not topped, or tallest branch(es) if it has been topped. This is less stressful than topping, but it is not without stress. On the physical side, the bent stem needs to turn the growing tip so that it is once more growing vertically. During this time the next lower stems will grow, usually taking over as the primary growing tip(s). Often this process is repeated, sometimes multiple times. This results in more of a bush type growth. It is also a good technique to limit height or disguise the shape of a cannabis plant.

Be we are left with a similar situation, as far as sex hormones are concerned, as if the plant had been topped. So there is stress, it's just hormonal stress instead of physical (or a lesser degree of physical). In effect, the plant is going through the following:

I'm a teenager, with raging hormones!

No, you're not, your hormones have been stopped.

Now I'm a teenager!

Guess again, your hormones have been blocked up again.

This is what happens during each training. The more times the primary growing tip is changed, the more times this occurs. While the physical stress is low, this stress is quite high and results in delaying or slowing the flowering, depending when in the cycle it is done.

Again, there are valid reasons for doing LST (just as topping above), especially where height is a concern. And many growers do both topping and LST to the same plant. But realize that you cannot do this and expect that the plant will meet the breeder's flowering specs. It just can't work that way.

So that's it for LST. More coming next year.

Back to the darkside

I love your way of thinking but I'm sorry that you are mistaken. If you check out my journals you will see that I've topped my 4 autos and LSTed them all. Later on you will notice 2.35 lbs. Not sure what you were trying to say about topping and LST won't meet the breeders guidelines or yields. Last time I checked I was only supposed to grow 90 gram plants while my smallest one if my memory serves me right was 261 grams.... Not that you don't have a great argument but proof is in the pudding...

 

[greatwolf]

I love your way of thinking but I'm sorry that you are mistaken. If you check out my journals you will see that I've topped my 4 autos and LSTed them all. Later on you will notice 2.35 lbs. Not sure what you were trying to say about topping and LST won't meet the breeders guidelines or yields. Last time I checked I was only supposed to grow 90 gram plants while my smallest one if my memory serves me right was 261 grams.... Not that you don't have a great argument but proof is in the pudding...

Hi DA (may I call you that?), glad to see your reply. I've read many of your posts and your journals. VERY impressive yields.

I apologize for not being more clear in the post you quoted. What I meant by 'flowering specs', just as in the topping post above, was timelines, not yields. And this is in regards to some who have posted in the auto threads complaining about breeders exaggerating how many weeks to grow an auto when they are topping/LST or both.

Your grow, correct me if I am wrong, was of two varieties that the breeder(s) claim 7 and 8 weeks, respectively, if I remember correctly. And if memory serves me correct, which it occasionally does, you harvested 1 of 4 after just over 9 weeks and the other at about 12 weeks. But you were rewarded with a magnificent yield by trading time for yield. I never meant to imply that this could not be done.

[Yes, your grow is that memorable that the numbers stuck with me. Plus I'm very good with numbers.]

I could be wrong. Perhaps someone has topped/LST and harvested within the breeders flowering timeline. If so, I can admit it. But from what I know of growing and my own experience, I doubt it. Because when we screw with hormone production it delays things, just like any plant or animal.

Back to the darkside

 

[Pterostychus]

nobody shall harvest his auto on the time breeders give ... period ... my last autogrow only showed pistils at day 52 ... thats 23 days left for flowering if i believe the breeders ...

 

[DemonicAngel]

Hi DA (may I call you that?), glad to see your reply. I've read many of your posts and your journals. VERY impressive yields.

I apologize for not being more clear in the post you quoted. What I meant by 'flowering specs', just as in the topping post above, was timelines, not yields. And this is in regards to some who have posted in the auto threads complaining about breeders exaggerating how many weeks to grow an auto when they are topping/LST or both.

Your grow, correct me if I am wrong, was of two varieties that the breeder(s) claim 7 and 8 weeks, respectively, if I remember correctly. And if memory serves me correct, which it occasionally does, you harvested 1 of 4 after just over 9 weeks and the other at about 12 weeks. But you were rewarded with a magnificent yield by trading time for yield. I never meant to imply that this could not be done.

[Yes, your grow is that memorable that the numbers stuck with me. Plus I'm very good with numbers.]

I could be wrong. Perhaps someone has topped/LST and harvested within the breeders flowering timeline. If so, I can admit it. But from what I know of growing and my own experience, I doubt it. Because when we screw with hormone production it delays things, just like any plant or animal.

Back to the darkside

My last northern didn't want to finish. I was hoping it would finish bit never really did. Even Neil had the same situation happen with his northern. I've been growing for many many years. That was my first auto run. After my research I never go by what they say in terms of time. After my experience and the experience of others they are almost always incorrect

 

[greatwolf]

nobody shall harvest his auto on the time breeders give ... period ... my last autogrow only showed pistils at day 52 ... thats 23 days left for flowering if i believe the breeders ...

Hi PT (may I call you that?).

I have no idea why you experienced that. I do suspect that each topping/LST adds from a few day to a week or more to the grow. And there is the issue of phenotype, although good, reputable breeders should be back-breeding sufficiently to minimize this. Unless the seeds are clearly marked as F1 or experimental.

It is possible that all breeders exaggerate the flower time. Or that it depends on having ideal conditions. Then again, ideal conditions are actually a range and should be achievable.

When I started this grow (first auto, but more than 15 years with standard strains over the past 3+ decades), I estimated a range for pre-flower (first pistils) as 1/3 of grow time range. Both plants hit that within a day of the earliest date - 19 and 21 days respectively. No topping or LST, but a type of training we used to call twisted sister. I'll be covering this in a few days, but you can see it and a brief description in my journal.

Cheers from the darkside

 

[greatwolf]

My last northern didn't want to finish. I was hoping it would finish bit never really did. Even Neil had the same situation happen with his northern. I've been growing for many many years. That was my first auto run. After my research I never go by what they say in terms of time. After my experience and the experience of others they are almost always incorrect

You know, in re-reading my posts to ensure that I am trying to be clear, I realized something else.

I want to be clear, I am no apologist for breeders, any of them. If they are exaggerating their claims, or using only the best data, or (even worse) using a rare phenotype for the stats they post, they should be called out on that. Breeders need to realize that many growers depend upon that info when selecting strains, whether it's THC/CBD content for medicinal use or height/yield/flowering time because of constraints the grower has.

That said, in looking at standard strains from many breeders, particularly strains that contain landraces I'm familiar with, the numbers are in line with grows I've done decades ago. So they make sense to me. And I still say I could be wrong.

Check out my journal. I'll have it caught up to real-time in a couple more days. Even with a major screw-up early on (not paying close enough attention and catching a pH problem early as I should have), I suspect that my grow will be within a week or two of breeders' specs. Even though I'm providing less than ideal conditions (only 1 gallon of growing space for 2 plants to share). We'll see how close I am in my estimates, based on breeders' info and my experience. As I say, I can be wrong.

Back to the darkside

 

[DemonicAngel]

You know, in re-reading my posts to ensure that I am trying to be clear, I realized something else.

I want to be clear, I am no apologist for breeders, any of them. If they are exaggerating their claims, or using only the best data, or (even worse) using a rare phenotype for the stats they post, they should be called out on that. Breeders need to realize that many growers depend upon that info when selecting strains, whether it's THC/CBD content for medicinal use or height/yield/flowering time because of constraints the grower has.

That said, in looking at standard strains from many breeders, particularly strains that contain landraces I'm familiar with, the numbers are in line with grows I've done decades ago. So they make sense to me. And I still say I could be wrong.

Check out my journal. I'll have it caught up to real-time in a couple more days. Even with a major screw-up early on (not paying close enough attention and catching a pH problem early as I should have), I suspect that my grow will be within a week or two of breeders' specs. Even though I'm providing less than ideal conditions (only 1 gallon of growing space for 2 plants to share). We'll see how close I am in my estimates, based on breeders' info and my experience. As I say, I can be wrong.

Back to the darkside

I agree but I knew this type of thing would happen so I had planted 4 plants. The really crazy thing is I could have went further but didn't want to wait until god knows when it would have been finished to my liking. I mean great I had some huge yields but I would have liked them to finish a bit sooner myself. Just as you had mentioned the constraints and plans were set back

 

[greatwolf]

For my first post in this thread for the new year — DEFOLIATION.

Many, if not most, growers have practiced defoliation, just as I have done. As I have also done topping and what's called LST, although with standard strains, not autos. It is a common way to open up a plant so more light reaches the lower branches. And this seems to make a lot of sense.

A technique that I, and many others in our group, used more than 3 decades ago and I see others on these forums are doing today — removing 1 leaf per node in a spiral pattern. This results in in 1 branch per node growing very well, but the other barely growing. This is often combined with topping and maybe LST to produce multiple growing tips, sites for good sized buds.

I'm also sure that many of you have heard different numbers thrown out about defoliation. Some say 50, or 40, or 42. But is this leaves or percent? Do you take this many or leave this amount? How was this determined?

But there was always something that bothered me about this. If you owned a factory, would you fire half the workers? Yes, I know cannabis is a weed and loses leaves in the wild. This is normal. But should we be taking healthy fan leaves off the plant?

These leaves, among other things, are the source of energy production. They are the solar cells of the plant, so to speak. And I realize that the plant has a surplus of them to deal with loss from various sources. Older fan leaves have another purpose. Think of them as spare parts. In times of need, the plant will sacrifice older fan leaves for newer growth. But it doesn't just drop the leave; it uses everything inside it first, which is why they'll turn yellow, or develop brown spots, etc.

If we've taken many of the fan leaves off of the plant, this reserve is gone. And we can't put the leaves back if a problem develops and the reserve could help. It's too late then. So there has to be a better idea than defoliation.

Cheers from the darkside

 

[PhobosAnomaly]

This thread is lacking in bud porn lately. Here is something recent, to get some love going!

Rawr!

 

[greatwolf]

After all these negatives, it's time for TWISTED SISTER!

[I began this post a few days ago, but then that storm hit the Northeast. My back had been telling me it was coming since Monday. But the last few days have been miserable for me and I have been hardly even able to walk. So finishing this post has not been this highest priority, sorry. Especially since I want to get it right and clear. To make sure that others can follow and easily duplicate this if they want.]

Twisted sister is a Very Low Stress Training (VLST) method, or even no stress. The reason for this is that we don't cut or manipulate the growing tips at all. Neither do we defoliate the plant. We do manipulate the fan leaves, but they are still there, producing energy for the plant. And they can be released from bondage if necessary.

This is not something new or hypothetical. I first tried this more than 30 years ago and our group tested and refined it. We used clones and compared many different techniques. This had the least impact on early flowering. It was repeatable; in more than 80% of the grows, yields equaled or exceeded those using topping/LST/defoliation (or different combinations of them), but were ready for harvest weeks earlier. We eventually determined that the remaining less than 20% of the cases were anomalies. My current testing, under less than perfect conditions, proves it works with autos also:

2 autos (Blueberry and Tangerine Dream) growing in an Aerogarden extra (only 1 gallon — yes, only ½ gallon root space for each plant )
A cheap, Chinese 6 COB LED light
Average TDS — 453
Average water temperature — 61ºF
Average air temperature — 67ºF
Average humidity — 60%

The full grow details are in my journal — see my signature.

I documented an issue I had early on with phosphorous lockout because I didn't pay close enough attention or calibrate a cheap pH pen (let that be lesson to all growers). Another issue is that I believe I could grow the plants a bit more compact; since this was my first grow with autos and with COB LED's, I kept the lights 12" to 18" above the plants for most of the grow. I now believe that this could be reduced to 6" to 12", possibly less (the COB's are about 2" or 3" recessed inside the fixture). If anyone has any hard data or insight into this I'd be interested.

Now on to the technique itself:

Since the Aerogarden does not have any raised edges to drill holes through like a pot would, I used a 3D printer to print a ring with 8 columns that would fit around the grow pod. Each column was tall enough to have 2 large nuts on top for weight and a hole for a pipe cleaner or other tie down. A regular pot can have holes drilled around the circumference, DWC can use eyelet screws or something similar to what I did.

The first 2 nodes of serrated leaves are ignored; they do no block the light of the branches below so do not need manipulation. Start with the third node of serrated leaves. Each leaf should be pulled down to about a 45º angle and rotated 45º. You can go clockwise, or couter-clockwise, but whichever you choose you must remain consistent throughout the grow. We will assume clockwise for now. When the fan leaf grows out it should be below the lower leaf. Do not cut the pipe cleaner too short as it will need to adjusted during stretch.

Repeat this process on the 4th node, pulling the leaf down 45º relative to the leaf below and 45º down, again clockwise. This leaf should wind up below the last leaf as it grows out. You should also notice at this point that the stem itself is slightly twisted. This is something that becomes distinctive and is what gives the technique its name — twisted sister.

Continue this process on the 5th and 6th nodes. By now, lower stems are clearing the leaves and the advantages of this technique are becoming evident. The twist in the stem should be very clear. And all 8 holes have been used up. No problem. For the following nodes, just use the junction of the leaf below. This will be close enough and still allow the new branches to flourish.

As vegetative growth begins, you will have to adjust the tie-downs to maintain the approximate 45º angle (it doesn't have to be exact, especially at this point).

So what does all of this work give us? Here are the 2 plants at 46 days old:

And, given the info from the seed sellers website, they are probably on track for harvest around the breeders schedule. The Blueberry should be done between January 22 and February 2, while the Tangerine Dream should be done between January 28 (my birthday!) and February 7. Check back on my journal below to see how close it comes to being correct. But I should point out that I will be harvesting them piecemeal, as they ripen and lowering the light, so that I can maximize the yield. This is something else we learned decades ago.

Cheers from the darkside

 

[dom2mac]

I am running a blueberry kush auto and have been doing some LST and defoliation. She is a monster, I cant even count the number of tops but I am worried that I slowed her down too much I first noticed pistils on the 20th of Dec and am worried I didnt give her enough time to stretch height wise. How long do autos stretch after flowering? I really would like her to be at least 12 inches taller.

 

[greatwolf]

I am running a blueberry kush auto and have been doing some LST and defoliation. She is a monster, I cant even count the number of tops but I am worried that I slowed her down too much I first noticed pistils on the 20th of Dec and am worried I didnt give her enough time to stretch height wise. How long do autos stretch after flowering? I really would like her to be at least 12 inches taller.

My Blueberry Auto spent about 21 days in stretch but there was no defoliation or LST. I can't tell for sure, but it does not look like you are in full bloom yet. Hopefully someone who uses LST can comment.

Back to the darkside

 

[Islandgrow]

I am running a blueberry kush auto and have been doing some LST and defoliation. She is a monster, I cant even count the number of tops but I am worried that I slowed her down too much I first noticed pistils on the 20th of Dec and am worried I didnt give her enough time to stretch height wise. How long do autos stretch after flowering? I really would like her to be at least 12 inches taller.

She isn't fully in flower yet she still has the stretch to come . Good looking plant.
Day 60 for this dinamex