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This magnificent plant bless me. These plants were grown germinated in December. These plants did the best job with 30% sunlight for the duration of their growth. The weather was so bad here that maybe once a week was full sun. The other was full cloudy we recently just received sun For four days straight for the first time since December so growing these outdoors was a huge challenge dealing with the wind, the weather conditions I had to bring the plants inside numerous times because of the weather even in the greenhouse covering the wind was so crazy but these plants held up like champ. They did their job Beautifully.
Yes, you can absolutely top autoflowers, and plenty of growers do it successfully. If you search through growdiaries, you’ll find 7k+ examples where autos have been topped and still produced great yields with big, dense buds.
That said, it’s important to understand the risks. Unlike photoperiod plants, autos are on a fixed timeline—you don’t get to extend veg time to let them recover. Topping is a stressful process, and if the plant isn’t strong enough or if it’s done too late, it can slow growth significantly. Since plant growth is exponential, any delay in development can have a direct impact on your final yield. In some cases, the stress from topping can even trigger early flowering, cutting down the plant’s size before it has a chance to bulk up.
The key is timing and plant health. If you top a healthy autoflower at the right stage—usually around the 4th or 5th node—it can recover quickly with minimal setbacks. Pairing it with low-stress training (LST) can help shape the plant for better light penetration and improve yields even further. If you’re growing a fast-finishing auto, though, or if the plant is already struggling, skipping topping and just focusing on LST might be the better call.
You can, but not the best option, you lose a lot a veg time while it recovers and with autos, any loss of veg growth will affect final yields adversely.
Much better to train your plant with no loss of veg growth and uniterrupted yields.
GrowingWithDoubleRR
