I train mine but not everytime….this run i got going is natural lol tucked a few fans but it’s strains I’ve not had before so getting feel for structure….height width ect. So what im saying is just grow and dont do much maybe tuck here n there if needed but being new just feel it out and get other important stuff down pat first then after a couple more grows then get the feel for training.
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Basically I open them up with lst once I think they need it. I just spread the branches down low and tie them to the edge of the pot or use steaks. I don’t super crop, and definitely no topping or fim. I do slight defoliation over a 4 day period, just a few leaves at a time, but only after it starts preflower and I’ll do this a few times during flower. I’ve also lollypopped one but I think it produced less then the ones I didn’t. I’m going to try a trellis next time to get an even canopy.
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Big worm, im mentally defunct. Could ya tell me more or the process so I can find the i for myself. This is the greatest thing ive ever heard i believe
Are you asking about opening them up by tying them to the pot? Or about opening them up all around?
If you click on your name in his post it opens the comment he is replying to. He wants to know more about STS/plant reversal to make female pollen.
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I’ll try my best to explain it. I’m not good at teaching lol.
So using Silver Thiosulfate or STS spray is basically stopping the plant from producing the hormone called ethylene it needs to produce flowers and it stresses it out causing it to produce pollen sacks as a last ditch effort to save it’s genetics. Because the plant is female, it only produces pollen with the female chromosomes. Using this pollen to pollinate a female plant will give you only female seeds.
You can buy STS spray kits that you mix yourself(easiest but more expensive) or, buy the 2 chemicals you need on the open market and mix them yourself as needed (cheaper in the long run). STS breaks down quickly when exposed to light. So keep it in a black bottle and in a dark space. Best bet store in a fridge between uses for about 3 weeks.
Spray every 2 to 3 days for photos and every other day for autos, until pollen sacs are formed and stop spraying before pollen sacs begin opening. It takes approximately 21 - 27 days to start getting pollen.
For autos I would start spraying 2-3 weeks after germination, or around the first sign of preflower.
For photos I would start when you flip your lights to 12/12. (I’ve never grown photos so this is information I found online but felt the need to include it)
Some say to do it before the lights go out, some say immediately after they go out. I do it after but that’s because I grow autos so I don’t mind them getting an extra few minutes of light. It may mess with photos so my guess would be do it just before the lights go out with them.
Also a biggie, if you are spraying 1 plant but have multiple plants in the tent, remove the one you are spraying or cover the others with plastic. If you spray any of the other plants, even one time or only a little, you risk reversing that one and you can’t smoke it! So, take it out and spray it at every node you want to reverse until it’s soaked. I recommend the whole plant but I hear a few branches is fine too. Supposably the sacks will only show up on those ones you spray, but you have to keep track. I would let it dry out after spraying then put it back in the tent, or use a separate tent.
Now the plant you reverse can produce seeds itself, but you can take the pollen and pollinate another plant with it too. You can do this to the same strain or another strain and create your own F1 cross. I might be wrong on the “F1” thing which I never understood. I’m sure if I am wrong it will get corrected by someone on here. But never the less you will have a cross of the 2 and they will be female seeds at a rate of 99.9% but I’ve never had a male from fem seeds so…. Yeah. You can smoke the other plant that did not get any spray on it, but it will be seedy, and that’s good but it also reduces potency.
The reversed plant won’t produce as much pollen as a male plant will do take that into account. Also this is not a guaranteed success either! Some are harder to reverse, some just don’t, but it is very possible to do this.
Remember be safe, use proper protection and don’t smoke any part of any plant that comes in contact with the spray it’s poison!
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Aloha All!
I could use some help diagnosing my current grow.
Background & Issues-
Vivosun 2.7’x2.7’ tent & Aerolight 150w. Autopot XL
FastBuds random autoflower from a mix pack.
Steady EC last few days of 1.4, PH maintained at 5.8-6.1. VPD 1.0/1 for about a week.
Week 5, just started preflower stretch.
My EC meter started giving contradictory readings starting 2 weeks ago so I was kind of running blind before my Truncheon came in, and since I’ve been maintaining an EC of 1.4. the striping started at the beginning of veg, but started to fade before coming back on a big way the last 2 weeks or so, with the leaves getting paler, now almost yellow. The plant has been like from the start. I’ve been doing my best to maintain while I get used to using the Autopot. Yesterday I added about 1/8 tsp of Epsom Salt as I was thinking it looks closest to a MG deficiency. If anyone could verify or offer their thoughts that’d be great! If I’m missing any critical info please lmk. Thanks in advance all! 
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Here’s some of the autos we grew from 420 Fast Buds
Purple Apricot
She got really big!
Green Crack auto
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What nutrients u feeding and how many ml per liter or gallon? U in soil or coco? Looks like nitro deficiency
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We were running auto pots for the first time. We probably had a lot of issues. Perlite coco mix running cronks Bonnie Clyde but then switched to organic at the end to finish flowering for better flavor.
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Running 50/50 coco and perlite & the full Canna Coco nutrient line + CalMag.
I can’t really give accurate measurements as I started with a full reservoir in veg and have been adjusting EC by topping off in gallon increments based on the EC at the time. On that note I’ve only been adding Canna A & B to adjust EC. I haven’t added Cannazym, Rhizotonic or other boosters since the first time I mixed the res.
Since my EC meter died out I found that I was running everything on the higher end EC-wise, but the plant seems to not get enough. Even now it’s at 1.4 which is I believe the higher end for the first week of flower. I was thinking of dialing to 1.6 soon.
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U dont get runoff? Need to look at that too! I use canna but im hand watering so alil different from auto pots…mine just started pre flower and im at 2ml a/b 1ml calmag @5.9/6ph
No runoff with Autopots! It’s a bottom feed system, so no runoff, just EC testing from the reservoir.
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U could look at lowering ph and ml per or upping feed and lower ph since u said it seems hungry
Dumb question but was your coco buffered? I had issues with unbuffered coco during my first coco grow and it caused issues the whole time. Also I think your ph is a little alkaline for coco. I believe it should be 5.8-6.3.
Also organic ferts take time to work. If you start with salts just stick with salts. If you do living soil with organics it take a couple months for the organics to get broken down by the microbes and be plant ready. So even if you are adding organics they might not be ready for some time.
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Are you running air pots with them? Do you give them a dry back?
I think with running the auto pot you want the air domes for better airflow with bottom wicking also turn off the valve and dry back. It also helps so you don’t get fungus knats. We learned that the hard way. Still battling them!
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I have heard lots of people say not to top or train autos…..that they don’t have time it stunts em etc. However I just about always top mine. I have a little experiment going where I have two plants same strain one topped the other left alone. I’ll post Pic of results in a min. What’s yalls feelings on this?
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