DavesNotHere

First grows are scary, but exciting! Liked and followed! You may have wanted to make sure their main stems were a bit bent out, both for crowding themselves and the other plants. That time has passed, and you're sure to yield quite a bit with this setup... but crowding may become a pain in your butt as the grow progresses. If it doesn't, it still might cost you potential yield. That being said, your autos are exceedingly healthy and I look forward to how your setup yields =) If you have any other questions, let us know =)

@Jaindoh, Agreed! 👍

@DudeGrowsWeed, Same except that I find as long as you start light with defoliation and increase more at a time in waves, you can be a little more aggressive with it and none of the autos I've had cared; same benefit to photos. It's all weird with autos. Best to start light and increase incrementally either way.

wow! cannabis plants are so resilient. thank you for your grow diary! your ladies look lovely. i am scacred with light distance with LED. But you helped me break out of my fear. thanks and I will continue to follow your grow journey!

I’m not opposed to topping autos, I’ve done it myself with good results. But I’ve become a bigger fan of FIM pinching rather than topping. I wait until there are at least 4 nodes, then give a good pinch on the new growth at the top - I don’t remove any plant material at all, just pinch it together firmly. In my experience this causes a lot less stress on the plant and still promotes more colas and outward growth. With defoliation I wait until the plant gets very bushy first, then remove the fan leaves that are blocking light penetration. I try to leave as many leaves on as possible while creating better light penetration. I usually wind up defoliating twice, once around the end of veg, then again a few weeks into flower. The first set of leaves I leave on until the start yellowing. Hope this helps.