Jon's Sneak It In Auto Grow

Thank you for a thorough response Jon.

Thank you for the list. I've saved it for reference and will see what I can get in SA. I can get RQS but not sure about the others.

I'm swicking (sub-irrigating a soil grow in a cloth bag), and I up-pot as soon as the roots start invading the perlite wick. I don't have any up-pot shock if I do it this way.

What do you mean by minimal training and topping?

I need to become more familiar with autos before I start topping side branches. I'd like a tutorial on that if you feel up to writing a blog?
I waited until I saw first pistils before topping these two because that's what BooWho2 does very well at. I wanted to try it and so far I feel it has worked nicely I feel.
I can treat the third plant differently but that is already at node 7 and no flower yet. Where would you top that now?

What do you mean by shape of a ring? I know that's round but what would I do differently?

Yes, thank you very much but now I have more :)
Ha! Okay @Carmen Ray -

What do you mean by minimal training and topping?
The Sombrero training I do is one form of this. Just letting the plant go natural is another. In Sombrero training, all you do is top above node four and let it grow up from there. Do not do anything else to affect the top. On the bottom, you’ll have branch pairs at nodes 1, 2, and 3. Think of a clock face and pull them out as evenly around the dial as you can. Pull them as flat as you can too. You’re looking to create a ring that when it’s done will clear the top of the plant. As you pull those out, they will develop side branching. Use the best of those to fill in the empty spots of your ring. When they have a node or two, if you want, you can top side branches too and generate more colas for the ring. So think in terms of completing that clock face evenly 1 to 12. If you can do that you will have an awesome lower ring that’s wide and low, and then the tops grow only up. That allows them to develop lots of stem length and therefore lots of side branching. That will fill out the top. The Apple Fritter is trained in this style, but lost her shape due to the top exploding. (Lol - nice problem to have).

But also letting them go is sometimes good too. The pink Rozay is 100% untrained. She just grew that way. And she’s amazing. Maybe the most productive of all eight despite the monster AF. HUGE buds. And letting them go with minimal training would mean just pulling branches out a little to create space and let light hit everything. Not flat, just out so everything isn’t going right up the middle. The Gorilla Zkittlez is trained like this. Natural except for separating branches.

I feel strongly that more stem = more buds. The colas are bigger and the side branches are more voluminous. With autos that give you 35-45 days of veg you can get a really tall plant after the stretch. So letting them go gives you longer stems.

If you wish to canopy, still top above node four, only then flatten out and pull out the two shoots from the topping. Establish the canopy right there. Then just do what you’re currently doing to keep it flat and all.

What do you mean by shape of a ring? I know that's round but what would I do differently?

This was sort of answered in the above info. Think of the central stem as your spoke and the ring you’re making as the wheel. That’s the shape I’m talking about. A ring works whether you canopy, Sombreo, or just pull out branches. If you always even out around the plant the lower branches, they will form a ring automatically and you’ll easily see where you want to fill in.

I hope that’s helpful, it’s a start. If you look back through the journal all of this is in there in pieces. Lol. And here’s a few pictures of rings and Sombrero training, the easiest training way I use.

IMG_0515.jpeg


IMG_0397.jpeg
 
My mate did 4000 autos earlier in the year. Full outdoor in LOS. Saw pictures from the same spot in one of the fields fields at seedling, early flower and end of flower. Amazing

The majority were White Widow. (Serious) They got to about 80-100cm. I haven’t tried it yet but there’s a nug I have. Poorly trimmed, jeez!

Nick

IMG_4913.jpeg
Did you say 4000?????!!!!!?????

OMG. That takes a bit of land. Jesus.
 
Ha! Okay @Carmen Ray -

What do you mean by minimal training and topping?
The Sombrero training I do is one form of this. Just letting the plant go natural is another. In Sombrero training, all you do is top above node four and let it grow up from there. Do not do anything else to affect the top. On the bottom, you’ll have branch pairs at nodes 1, 2, and 3. Think of a clock face and pull them out as evenly around the dial as you can. Pull them as flat as you can too. You’re looking to create a ring that when it’s done will clear the top of the plant. As you pull those out, they will develop side branching. Use the best of those to fill in the empty spots of your ring. When they have a node or two, if you want, you can top side branches too and generate more colas for the ring. So think in terms of completing that clock face evenly 1 to 12. If you can do that you will have an awesome lower ring that’s wide and low, and then the tops grow only up. That allows them to develop lots of stem length and therefore lots of side branching. That will fill out the top. The Apple Fritter is trained in this style, but lost her shape due to the top exploding. (Lol - nice problem to have).

But also letting them go is sometimes good too. The pink Rozay is 100% untrained. She just grew that way. And she’s amazing. Maybe the most productive of all eight despite the monster AF. HUGE buds. And letting them go with minimal training would mean just pulling branches out a little to create space and let light hit everything. Not flat, just out so everything isn’t going right up the middle. The Gorilla Zkittlez is trained like this. Natural except for separating branches.

I feel strongly that more stem = more buds. The colas are bigger and the side branches are more voluminous. With autos that give you 35-45 days of veg you can get a really tall plant after the stretch. So letting them go gives you longer stems.

If you wish to canopy, still top above node four, only then flatten out and pull out the two shoots from the topping. Establish the canopy right there. Then just do what you’re currently doing to keep it flat and all.

What do you mean by shape of a ring? I know that's round but what would I do differently?

This was sort of answered in the above info. Think of the central stem as your spoke and the ring you’re making as the wheel. That’s the shape I’m talking about. A ring works whether you canopy, Sombreo, or just pull out branches. If you always even out around the plant the lower branches, they will form a ring automatically and you’ll easily see where you want to fill in.

I hope that’s helpful, it’s a start. If you look back through the journal all of this is in there in pieces. Lol. And here’s a few pictures of rings and Sombrero training, the easiest training way I use.

IMG_0515.jpeg


IMG_0397.jpeg
@Carmen Ray - the Wookie Girl auto that won PLOTM last month is another excellent example of minimal training and what it can produce.
 
@Carmen Ray - the Wookie Girl auto that won PLOTM last month is another excellent example of minimal training and what it can produce.
Hey last thing @Carmen Ray - this is what I tell everybody. Think of an auto as the same as a photo…only it has a fuse. Anything you would do to a photo you can do to an auto - just gotta do it asap. In terms of training that’s the only difference - you can only train an auto til it’s flowering. Other than that it’s identical.
 
Hey last thing @Carmen Ray - this is what I tell everybody. Think of an auto as the same as a photo…only it has a fuse. Anything you would do to a photo you can do to an auto - just gotta do it asap. In terms of training that’s the only difference - you can only train an auto til it’s flowering. Other than that it’s identical.
Thanks Jon. I am not good at translating verbal instruction to practice without detailed visuals to get it right. I'm still not sure what you mean with the Sombrero and circle training, I'm sorry :( My current autos both went 40 days before producing flowers and I am still training them apart. You've grown a lot of autos and I still consider myself an auto noob. I am undecided what I will do with the second Gelato. It's at 31 days without a single pistil. It's a lovely looking plant and I don't want to stuff it up.
 
Thanks Jon. I am not good at translating verbal instruction to practice without detailed visuals to get it right. I'm still not sure what you mean with the Sombrero and circle training, I'm sorry :( My current autos both went 40 days before producing flowers and I am still training them apart. You've grown a lot of autos and I still consider myself an auto noob. I am undecided what I will do with the second Gelato. It's at 31 days without a single pistil. It's a lovely looking plant and I don't want to stuff it up.
Ok @Carmen Ray, I get that. Gimme a few hours and I’ll put together a pictorial tutorial on Sombrero training.
 
Ok @Carmen Ray, I get that. Gimme a few hours and I’ll put together a pictorial tutorial on Sombrero training.
Omg you're a super star! Thank you so much!
 
Pink Rozay

I know you guys are sick of seeing this plant. Sorry. She’s so damn gorgeous I can’t stop taking pictures of her. Rearranged the plants a little to bring the PR up front and away from the Blurple, as it tosses out a bunch of heat. She already has curled leaf tips from the second application of PK 13/14, I don’t need to start losing fans. This also gives her the max air from the big fan, as she needs it the most.

IMG_0917.jpeg


IMG_0918.jpeg
 
Ok @Carmen Ray - let’s give this a shot. As I am putting this together, I’m realizing it’s not quite as easy as I thought. I’m likely to miss something. If you have questions just ask and I’ll try to fill in the blanks.

Sombrero Training & Pictorial Reference

1.
The first step is to simply let the plant grow, untouched, until the 5th node is emerging. I don’t think you need a picture for that, lol. I grow in coco, so it doesn’t take that long to get to that point. Growing autos in soil one might want to let the plant grow untouched but top a node or two lower, depending on rate of growth. You want to perform this main stem topping by day 21 or so. This will leave you a 10-20 day window in which all your training gets done.

2. Top the plant above node 4. This will give you two shoots at the topping and you’ll have emerging side branches at nodes 1, 2 and 3. Here’s that process:

With those pictures I’m trying to show you the topping, the natural quad you have right at the topping from nodes 2 and 3, and the first node side branches. Note that they actually have a bit of length and aren’t just impossible to train little shoots. This is because you let the plant go untouched until now.

3. Pull out all side branches out as flatly and as evenly in a circle as you can. All but the two little emerging shoots at the main topping, those leave alone. Anchor however you like. I use BBQ skewers and plastic plant tie. All you do is twist a knot at the skewer side, and make a hook at the plant end. These pictures show the pulling out of branches and the skewer setup.
And here’s one of @Grand Daddy Black (‘s) plants where he is doing the same exact thing. Pulling his branches to the side in a circle as flat as possible and as wide as possible.
This is eventually going to produce a ring. You simply keep the colas at the same height and continue to spread them wider and wider. This is creating all sorts of new growth along the now horizontal stems. That growth will fill in the middle of the ring.

4. Let the two tops at the main stem topping just grow up untouched for the rest of the grow. They will get tall and big. They will generate tons of side branching. All that is going to be your top.

5. Continue to pull the lower ring out wider and wider, and keep the colas at the ends at the same height. You are creating a canopy basically at the lower level below the tops. But you have to have the main colas of it pulled out wide enough that they aren’t light blocked from the tops above.
Here’s pictures to display both 4 and 5 above:

See how you formed a lower ring? And see how it’s outside of the two mains in the middle? Now you have two towers of power growing up the middle and a fledgling canopy below.

6. Now you just let it go, do your defoliation as required, and watch it grow. Eventually the ring will fill in and you will have a nice round wide canopy below and two tall and getting wider towers up top. It ends up looking something like a Sombrero, thus the name.
Here’s a few examples of the classic shape:
This shape is going to generate a ton of side branching. You’ll have to decide what to keep and what not to as you go.

So that’s your basic Sombrero Training primer. It’s that easy. It creates a ton of yield. And it looks cool as hell. Questions just ask.

Then I also included a picture to display what I meant by minimal training and just gently pulling branches to the side, but not flat, and no topping. This is basically letting a plant go naturally. This is the Pink Rozay. Note how the branches are simply separated from the main stem a little and the main cola is growing sweetly up the center.

There you go Carmen. Hope that makes it easier for you. Lemme know if I missed something. And thanks for your interest!
 
Ok @Carmen Ray - let’s give this a shot. As I am putting this together, I’m realizing it’s not quite as easy as I thought. I’m likely to miss something. If you have questions just ask and I’ll try to fill in the blanks.

Sombrero Training & Pictorial Reference

1.
The first step is to simply let the plant grow, untouched, until the 5th node is emerging. I don’t think you need a picture for that, lol. I grow in coco, so it doesn’t take that long to get to that point. Growing autos in soil one might want to let the plant grow untouched but top a node or two lower, depending on rate of growth. You want to perform this main stem topping by day 21 or so. This will leave you a 10-20 day window in which all your training gets done.

2. Top the plant above node 4. This will give you two shoots at the topping and you’ll have emerging side branches at nodes 1, 2 and 3. Here’s that process:

With those pictures I’m trying to show you the topping, the natural quad you have right at the topping from nodes 2 and 3, and the first node side branches. Note that they actually have a bit of length and aren’t just impossible to train little shoots. This is because you let the plant go untouched until now.

3. Pull out all side branches out as flatly and as evenly in a circle as you can. All but the two little emerging shoots at the main topping, those leave alone. Anchor however you like. I use BBQ skewers and plastic plant tie. All you do is twist a knot at the skewer side, and make a hook at the plant end. These pictures show the pulling out of branches and the skewer setup.
And here’s one of @Grand Daddy Black (‘s) plants where he is doing the same exact thing. Pulling his branches to the side in a circle as flat as possible and as wide as possible.
This is eventually going to produce a ring. You simply keep the colas at the same height and continue to spread them wider and wider. This is creating all sorts of new growth along the now horizontal stems. That growth will fill in the middle of the ring.

4. Let the two tops at the main stem topping just grow up untouched for the rest of the grow. They will get tall and big. They will generate tons of side branching. All that is going to be your top.

5. Continue to pull the lower ring out wider and wider, and keep the colas at the ends at the same height. You are creating a canopy basically at the lower level below the tops. But you have to have the main colas of it pulled out wide enough that they aren’t light blocked from the tops above.
Here’s pictures to display both 4 and 5 above:

See how you formed a lower ring? And see how it’s outside of the two mains in the middle? Now you have two towers of power growing up the middle and a fledgling canopy below.

6. Now you just let it go, do your defoliation as required, and watch it grow. Eventually the ring will fill in and you will have a nice round wide canopy below and two tall and getting wider towers up top. It ends up looking something like a Sombrero, thus the name.
Here’s a few examples of the classic shape:
This shape is going to generate a ton of side branching. You’ll have to decide what to keep and what not to as you go.

So that’s your basic Sombrero Training primer. It’s that easy. It creates a ton of yield. And it looks cool as hell. Questions just ask.

Then I also included a picture to display what I meant by minimal training and just gently pulling branches to the side, but not flat, and no topping. This is basically letting a plant go naturally. This is the Pink Rozay. Note how the branches are simply separated from the main stem a little and the main cola is growing sweetly up the center.

There you go Carmen. Hope that makes it easier for you. Lemme know if I missed something. And thanks for your interest!
Beautiful simply put. Jon you grow excellent plants. :circle-of-love:
 
Awesome - I have a Slurricane in need!

Nick
Hey @NickHardy - regarding the primer - that was designed for autos. With photos you can adjust what nodes you use and what side branches you choose to make the ring, and you can therefore affect the height of the ring. With autos they gotta be low just due to the impending fuse.
 
Hey @NickHardy - regarding the primer - that was designed for autos. With photos you can adjust what nodes you use and what side branches you choose to make the ring, and you can therefore affect the height of the ring. With autos they gotta be low just due to the impending fuse.
Yeah they have the nodes there already but waiting for them to get a little more vertical before topping anything (The Gorilla Glue/Royal are already over 12” so they got done. The rest need another week I reckon.

Nick
 
Ok @Carmen Ray - let’s give this a shot. As I am putting this together, I’m realizing it’s not quite as easy as I thought. I’m likely to miss something. If you have questions just ask and I’ll try to fill in the blanks.

Sombrero Training & Pictorial Reference

1.
The first step is to simply let the plant grow, untouched, until the 5th node is emerging. I don’t think you need a picture for that, lol. I grow in coco, so it doesn’t take that long to get to that point. Growing autos in soil one might want to let the plant grow untouched but top a node or two lower, depending on rate of growth. You want to perform this main stem topping by day 21 or so. This will leave you a 10-20 day window in which all your training gets done.

2. Top the plant above node 4. This will give you two shoots at the topping and you’ll have emerging side branches at nodes 1, 2 and 3. Here’s that process:

With those pictures I’m trying to show you the topping, the natural quad you have right at the topping from nodes 2 and 3, and the first node side branches. Note that they actually have a bit of length and aren’t just impossible to train little shoots. This is because you let the plant go untouched until now.

3. Pull out all side branches out as flatly and as evenly in a circle as you can. All but the two little emerging shoots at the main topping, those leave alone. Anchor however you like. I use BBQ skewers and plastic plant tie. All you do is twist a knot at the skewer side, and make a hook at the plant end. These pictures show the pulling out of branches and the skewer setup.
And here’s one of @Grand Daddy Black (‘s) plants where he is doing the same exact thing. Pulling his branches to the side in a circle as flat as possible and as wide as possible.
This is eventually going to produce a ring. You simply keep the colas at the same height and continue to spread them wider and wider. This is creating all sorts of new growth along the now horizontal stems. That growth will fill in the middle of the ring.

4. Let the two tops at the main stem topping just grow up untouched for the rest of the grow. They will get tall and big. They will generate tons of side branching. All that is going to be your top.

5. Continue to pull the lower ring out wider and wider, and keep the colas at the ends at the same height. You are creating a canopy basically at the lower level below the tops. But you have to have the main colas of it pulled out wide enough that they aren’t light blocked from the tops above.
Here’s pictures to display both 4 and 5 above:

See how you formed a lower ring? And see how it’s outside of the two mains in the middle? Now you have two towers of power growing up the middle and a fledgling canopy below.

6. Now you just let it go, do your defoliation as required, and watch it grow. Eventually the ring will fill in and you will have a nice round wide canopy below and two tall and getting wider towers up top. It ends up looking something like a Sombrero, thus the name.
Here’s a few examples of the classic shape:
This shape is going to generate a ton of side branching. You’ll have to decide what to keep and what not to as you go.

So that’s your basic Sombrero Training primer. It’s that easy. It creates a ton of yield. And it looks cool as hell. Questions just ask.

Then I also included a picture to display what I meant by minimal training and just gently pulling branches to the side, but not flat, and no topping. This is basically letting a plant go naturally. This is the Pink Rozay. Note how the branches are simply separated from the main stem a little and the main cola is growing sweetly up the center.

There you go Carmen. Hope that makes it easier for you. Lemme know if I missed something. And thanks for your interest!
@Carmen Ray - sometimes when you do the main topping you’ll find the two branches from node three are as tall already as the shoots from the topping. In that case you can just pull out flat the first two nodes, and let the node three and new shoots all four grow up. That’s Sombrero Quad.
 
Yeah they have the nodes there already but waiting for them to get a little more vertical before topping anything (The Gorilla Glue/Royal are already over 12” so they got done. The rest need another week I reckon.

Nick
You can obviously see that everything I do is about increasing bud sites and making sure they all get light. That’s my basic thing. Lol.
 
Garden
Watermelon Wedding Cake #1


This is the girl in the center. She’s getting loud and rather rude. Impudent. Thinks she’s all big….

Lol. But seriously. This is an auto for god’s sake. Her canopy and bud production is off the charts. I love this strain so much. An auto that may as well be a photo - each and every time. This plant yields like mad. Obviously.

Here’s a twisted canopy shot and a closeup on a thunderous cola.

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IMG_0933.jpeg
 
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