Too many tops? / Ideal # of tops?

Hi all, as the title suggests...do you think there's an ideal amount of tops an autoflower should have before yield diminishes? For example, the reasons I ask is because I have never been able to achieve those big long 'donkey' colas that I see from so many growers on here, despite following the same regimes etc.

Lighting is not my issue, nor is nutrients. Could be unstable temperatures (ranges from 22-26c), could be too much training, which I suspect...

I have always trained (ponytailed from day 14, LST, leaf tucking, lollipopping) etc and have always endeavoured to get the maximum amount of tops per plant - sometimes this results in up to 12-18 small to medium 'dominant' colas - but none of these colas exceed, say, 4-5 inches in length and don't get very swollen.
Some are only 1-2 inches on the top cola. I have seen people like autobeast growing 8-10 dominant colas that are complete donkeys! I would love to be able to do something similar.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[hecno]

You have just answered you own question . -- To many tops . -- Temp is fine -- 8 to 10 will give you big colas .

 

[Autobeast]

Hi all, as the title suggests...do you think there's an ideal amount of tops an autoflower should have before yield diminishes? For example, the reasons I ask is because I have never been able to achieve those big long 'donkey' colas that I see from so many growers on here, despite following the same regimes etc.

Lighting is not my issue, nor is nutrients. Could be unstable temperatures (ranges from 22-26c), could be too much training, which I suspect...

I have always trained (ponytailed from day 14, LST, leaf tucking, lollipopping) etc and have always endeavoured to get the maximum amount of tops per plant - sometimes this results in up to 12-18 small to medium 'dominant' colas - but none of these colas exceed, say, 4-5 inches in length and don't get very swollen.
Some are only 1-2 inches on the top cola. I have seen people like autobeast growing 8-10 dominant colas that are complete donkeys! I would love to be able to do something similar.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

what is your light cycle?

 

[milkmann]

You have just answered you own question . -- To many tops . -- Temp is fine -- 8 to 10 will give you big colas .

Haha! I thought as much, just wanted to get others opinions, could be doing something else wrong!

what is your light cycle?

Light cycle is 20/4 for the whole grow

 

[BII]

But you should ask yourself why you want big colas. I recently started a thread asking whether, all things being equal (same plant, same distance of buds from light, etc.), are big buds/colas better (potency, quality-wise) than more smaller buds. The response was that all well-formed buds are comparable in quality. This suggests, that other than being impressive, big colas are not at all needed; need not be a goal; and that growers need not feel they are failing or missing something by growing lots of smaller buds.

Also, theoretically, one might presume that bigger colas have lower potency and result in lower yields, since proportionately much less of the bud is exposed to light (which most everyone presumes is critical in building-up potency).

I do LST and leaf tucking, and typically average 20-30 branches or visible-from-top end/apical buds or branches per plant. Obviously, I never get big colas; and I don't think I'm missing anything by not having them. I more think in terms of, "Oh boy, I hope each branch gives me just 5 grams on average [to get me in 4 oz./plant range]."

 

[Autobeast]

Haha! I thought as much, just wanted to get others opinions, could be doing something else wrong!



Light cycle is 20/4 for the whole grow

drop the light cycle to 18/6.ul see alot more stretch and overall growth happen.happy growing

 

[milkmann]

But you should ask yourself why you want big colas. I recently started a thread asking whether, all things being equal (same plant, same distance of buds from light, etc.), are big buds/colas better (potency, quality-wise) than more smaller buds. The response was that all well-formed buds are comparable in quality. This suggests, that other than being impressive, big colas are not at all needed; need not be a goal; and that growers need not feel they are failing or missing something by growing lots of smaller buds.

Also, theoretically, one might presume that bigger colas have lower potency and result in lower yields, since proportionately much less of the bud is exposed to light (which most everyone presumes is critical in building-up potency).

I do LST and leaf tucking, and typically average 20-30 branches or visible-from-top end/apical buds or branches per plant. Obviously, I never get big colas; and I don't think I'm missing anything by not having them. I more think in terms of, "Oh boy, I hope each branch gives me just 5 grams on average [to get me in 4 oz./plant range]."

You speak a lot of sense. I don't get great yields though, probably 1-2oz a plant of good bud when I know the plants can do more. I think I was just wondering if there was such thing as the plant having more stems/tops than she has energy or nutrients for to maximise each top to it's full potential. I'll attach some pictures later to show you what I mean. Some top buds won't even exceed a gram probably and will go in the trim pile. There are quite a few tops like that, only about 4 or 5 that have anything decently formed on them.

drop the light cycle to 18/6.ul see alot more stretch and overall growth happen.happy growing

Okay great thanks mate I'm going to try this out on the new grow and see how things go. Also going to try topping and using a grow-through grid to manage height and cola spacing

 

[BII]

You speak a lot of sense. I don't get great yields though, probably 1-2oz a plant of good bud when I know the plants can do more. I think I was just wondering if there was such thing as the plant having more stems/tops than she has energy or nutrients for to maximise each top to it's full potential. I'll attach some pictures later to show you what I mean. Some top buds won't even exceed a gram probably and will go in the trim pile. There are quite a few tops like that, only about 4 or 5 that have anything decently formed on them.

It sounds like you probably have some type of systemic problem restricting proper bud growth, whether nutrients, pH, environment - something is not right to consistently get just 1--2 oz./plant. Consider posting your inquiry in the plant hospital/clinic for sick plants (whatever they call it) section; and/or tell us here all about your setup, nutes and feeding patterns, how/whether you measure pH, etc.

 

[McDee]

You speak a lot of sense. I don't get great yields though, probably 1-2oz a plant of good bud when I know the plants can do more. I think I was just wondering if there was such thing as the plant having more stems/tops than she has energy or nutrients for to maximise each top to it's full potential. I'll attach some pictures later to show you what I mean. Some top buds won't even exceed a gram probably and will go in the trim pile. There are quite a few tops like that, only about 4 or 5 that have anything decently formed on them.




Okay great thanks mate I'm going to try this out on the new grow and see how things go. Also going to try topping and using a grow-through grid to manage height and cola spacing

Topping will give you more tops which will be smaller. If you're training you should be getting more than 1-2oz. I train the shit out of mine and my range for the past 5 grows is average 3-5oz per plant. That is 1 of the main reason to train, more yield. Why are you sure it isnt nutrients, what do you use? 1 of my favorite hst is supercropping, as long as its before flower. Will increase nutrient flow to buds. What medium, size of pot, any other info you have? Are your plants leafy, more airy buds than solid?