Skunk Auto - First time topping

Laxzeus32 150w light on a stand from Amazon - very close (8in) and constant. Grow baby grow. The goal for me is to get her ready for topping ASAP. This is week 2, days 8-14.

Laxzeus32 This was the week to top. It reacted beautifully by bushing almost immediately. Lots of water it feels like with minimal run off. no nutes yet. I realize some of my decisions on light distance, nutrients and topping an auto are oftentimes debated...just trying to document what this approach might bring about.

Laxzeus32 Week 4 - days 28-35. She probably started pre flowering at day 30. Marking this as veg because of the heavy LST being done in veg. Added cal mag

Laxzeus32 Continued LST - camping trip so only one pic. Good growth. Added a small amount of Fox Farm products. 1tsp of the Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom and Grow Big. Just one gallon of that mix over the week and some plain water, ph’d.

Laxzeus32 Boring - still growing. Humidity is starting to be a problem, poor ventilation. Otherwise, all is well.

Laxzeus32 Started trimming a few leaves blocking bud sites and continued to tie down tallest growth. I’ve never used LST to this extent, but I’m a disciple now. Tremendous shape creating space for new growth still. At this point, I learned about the importance of dark hours for bud growth. In case it helps someone: flower growth and later, thc, is boosted and triggered by dark time. During veg for an auto, go full blast with lights. But those flowers boost at night to protect themselves from harsh UV daylight. Swear to God, after months of reading journals and articles, I didn’t realize that until recently.

Laxzeus32 First attempt at defoliating today to expose additional bud sites. I’ve seen mixed thoughts on the topic, and in the spirit of trying things out I pulled the trigger. I anticipate a bit of stunting in the short term, but hoping for increased bud density down the line. Increasing dark time in hopes of increased florine, or whatever the flowering hormone is. Again, trying things out. She’s looking great though.

Laxzeus32 After defoliating, the nute burn started. Coinciding with defoliation, I also switched light schedule from 20/4 to 14/10 because of working in the office. My theory on this: with full leaves and lots of daylight hours to process nutrients, my nute levels were fine. The double whammy of less light and fewer leaves caused nute burn. To help remedy, I flushed twice two days apart and run off ph was 6.3. Now I have spotting and continued leaf damage, but this time apparently due to either lockout, or a lack of nutes in flushed soil. Adding cal mag back into the waterings now, hoping it’s enough. Should I also add the Tiger bloom back at this point? Half of leaves are curling at the tip. Only a fraction of leaves show the lockout damage so far.

Laxzeus32 My impression is that the upper fan leaves yellowed and curled as they boosted bud development. I cut them off only as the last bit of green faded back towards the stem. Nearly all buds measuring 1.5in wide. Tons of leaf growth within the Coronas...any consideration or concern with that? Shields buds from direct light, but maybe supercharges the bud growth? Haven’t deciliter anything but fan leaves thus far.

Laxzeus32 Plant is continuing to transfer nutes from leaves to buds. Experimenting with removal of deteriorating upper fan leaves at different stages of fade/curl. If buds with fan leaves left on longer continue to fatten while trimmed colas stagnate...I’ll know what to do next time. Based on darkness of lower leaves and sugar leaves, she has plenty of life left in her today. Trichomes appear mostly clear as well as anticipated.