Partial harvest?

You could harvest autos in parts, as well as photos. But it relays pretty much on the genetics and plant overall health. If your plant looks to be still kickin and she eats and drinks properly then you could harvest the top nugs, if theyre ready to harvest. So then back to lower 3/4 of your plant — you may be looking for a better light penetration now and more overall light for lower popcorns. They MAY continue to ripen normally. But it also could stunt/stress that much so it basicly does nothing. Best way is to try out!

It's too soon! wait more.

Thats something I've been wondering , being I'm running my first auto , that thought had crossed my mind , and my thought and or concern , would be that by removing the top colas , that's gonna Stress the plant alot , which would stunt it , there by decreasing its function , Auto's unlike photoperoids have an expire date so I guess there's only one way to find out if and how that would work is to try it and see what happens .....

I do like Stix and use my big "prime quality" buds for smoking and save the popcorn and lower stuff for extracts. Still, the level of ripeness affects the effect. If it is a pronounced difference in ripeness I would split the harvest but if they are close I'd harvest all at once. I've never noticed a difference between flushed and not flushed weed. I notice a dramatic difference with curing but nothing I've been able to say "that's unflushed fertilizer". I'm preparing a side-by-side experiment but it will be another 6-8 weeks before I can do my taste test. I grow in soil so I'm not relying on added nutrients like someone growing in hydro.

If you're running organic fertilizer then it's fine to harvest part of the plant, but if you're using chemical fertilizers then it's hard to do that because harvesting without flushing the plant will affect the flavor of your final product. I harvest the whole plant when my tops are in their prime since those are the best quality buds. I use my lower buds that arent quite mature for extracts, edibles, etc.

If your trichomes say they are ready then go for it. Gives the lower parts of the plant time to ripen up. One down side is different drying times and environments. I like to use my tent as the dry room after the harvest. Good Luck