My 3.5 week old AK47 auto is only 7 inches tall and 13 inch diameter but looks fine

This little girl is very bushy. I'm using multiple CFLs plus some LED side lighting but imagine some areas are not getting much light penetration due to bushiness. Should I be doing something? LST, topping, SCROG, etc?

lst,topping and scrog are all good choises. How much light do you have? and how close to the plants are your lights?

How about a picture?

pirate43a said:

This little girl is very bushy. I'm using multiple CFLs plus some LED side lighting but imagine some areas are not getting much light penetration due to bushiness. Should I be doing something? LST, topping, SCROG, etc?

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It should start shooting upwards in the next couple of weeks,then the light will get into it.
Dont top your plant,autos wont reveg so new growth will be poor or non existant.
I LST my autos when the branches are long enough and strong enough.They can snap off
if you pull them down too far,so be careful.Gently does it.
Thats all i do to mine,then let them grow.
Ive never SCROGGED an auto,so not sure how they like it.If you have height restrictions,
or just wanna try it,go for it.
Good luck with your grow pirate.

Woops sorry! did not see it was an auto. Yeah don't do any of those things... Just keep those cfl's close to the plant and it should grow just fine.

Here are a few pics. My lights are 10 CFLs - two (68w/4200 lumens/ 2700k each), three (19w/1300 lumens/ 5000k each), and three (26w/1600 lumens/6500k each) all affixed to an inverted 24 inch diameter round alumium pan which is hung above the plant. I also have a panel of red & blue LEDs as side lights and just today I added two 30w/2100 lumens/3500k each CFLs which light the side areas also. This is my first grow so I have no clue where I should be to compare it against. I appreciate any guidance.

So far so good! keep it up

bushy is good man your plant looks nice. would you rather have a non-bushy stretchy runt or that soon to be beast you've got growin' there? keep it up.

Thats a nice looking plant pirate.When it gets above the pot sides,it will be easier for you to LST it.

For now just tuck some of the fan leaves down,to allow light to the bud branches.
Should grow into a nice plant.
What medium are you using?
Nutes,etc?

I'm using 50% promix mixed with 50% perlite. Very light and drains great so I don't believe there will ever be a chance of me overwatering. I'm embarrassed to say but I started plant out on Miracle Grow for Tomatoes starting at 13 days and then switched over to Foxfarm nutes at 20 days. Aside from foxfarm I've only added a small amount of earthworm castings. I do keep a close watch on the water pH and keep it at 6.4 or 6.5. Thanks for the advice about tucking the fan leaves. The new growth is coming fast and furious so tucking is a multiple-time-per-day task. In the future I'm going to fill pots to almost to top. Have you ever tried using pipe cleaners as LST anchors? It's always reassuring to hear from you experienced growers so keep 'em coming. Smoke on!

looks good man,keep the good work

I forgot to add a few pics of my setup. It's pretty basic and I didn't put much thought into it but so far it seems to be working out as I expected. 3 sides made of pvc framing with mylar attached. All 3 sides connected together by zip ties so breakdown is a snap (or snip in this case). I found a 24" diameter aluminum pan at Home Depot used for hot water tank leaks. It's very lightweight but rigid, easy to drill through and somewhat reflective so that filled my needs. I again zip tied a plethora of Y adapters to the pan, added cfl bulbs, inverted the pan and now can adjust height over plant by means of a chain (2 hooks attached to pan). Side lighting is provided by an LED panel but recently I found parts to a telescoping camera tripod so I attached several more CFLs. All side lighting can be easily repositioned and is adjustable up/down closer/further. Since I'm a newbie to this it forces me to think "out of the box". Has anyone ever tried putting plants on one of those powered rotating Christmas tree stands? Seems to me that would somewhat simulate movement of sun across sky and expose leaves (even some shaded ones) and provide fan exposure from different directions. Just a thought. Here a few pics.

Well Miracle Grow sure worked for your plant.Ive never used it,but might give it a go if thats the result.
Be careful not to overfeed,autos in general dont need as many nutes as photos.
I usually use half the dose that you would for photos,then keep an eye on the plant to see if it needs more.
Overfeeding now could stunt your plant.
Have you got a TDS meter,they are a handy tool.Takes any guess work out of feeding.
Pipe cleaners are great for LSTing,i use them all the time.
Good luck pirate.

They look excellent. Maybe your strong side lighting is encouraging more horizontal growth. Whatever your doing keep doing it, until your plants tells you something different.

Just seen the pics of your set up.Loving the reflector.
All put together its doing its business,so well done.

The rotary thing would prolly work.I just turn them thro 90 degrees each day.
GL.

Hey robro, I do have a TDS meter but haven't used it much. I'll take your advice and check the ppm of nutes. Should I be doing half rations to plant even when using Fox Farm?

pirate43a said:

Hey robro, I do have a TDS meter but haven't used it much. I'll take your advice and check the ppm of nutes. Should I be doing half rations to plant even when using Fox Farm?

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As autos in general dont need as many nuts as regulars its very easy to overfeed your plant at this stage.
If you start feeding at an eighth strength recommended dose stated on bottle,and then your plant will tell you
if your feeding in the right field.
Ive stunted one or two myself by overfeeding at this stage.
Always better to underfeed than overfeed,until you find out how much your plant can take
Good luck pirate.

Thanks again. From my log it looks like I've been averaging about 1/2 inch to an inch horizontal growth each day lately and height has gone up 3 inches in the last week. I didn't give the girl full strength nutes today but it was more than an eighth ration. I'll cut back the next feeding. Reading between the lines I guess as long as the plant is gaining height and width to not increase nutes. Is that a fair assumption?

pirate43a said:

Thanks again. From my log it looks like I've been averaging about 1/2 inch to an inch horizontal growth each day lately and height has gone up 3 inches in the last week. I didn't give the girl full strength nutes today but it was more than an eighth ration. I'll cut back the next feeding. Reading between the lines I guess as long as the plant is gaining height and width to not increase nutes. Is that a fair assumption?

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Not really a fair assumption pirate.
To get bigger,your plant needs food,and more of it as it gets older.Just like a baby.
And just like babies,some like more to eat than others.
So you need to find out how much it likes/doesnt like.Its best to start with low ppm.
The EC value of your nutes should be on the bottle,from this you can work out the ppm
you should be feeding at.Say your nutes EC(electro conductivity)is 1600.Your ppm,on the 0.5 scale(US i think)
is 800 at full strength.The rule of thumb for regular plants is to start feeding @ 1/4 strength.
To be on the safe side with autos(not needing as many nutes) i start feeding @1/8th strength
and watch how the plant reacts.Its easier to add more nutes than flush and possibly stunt your plant.
How much did you feed her?
Your plant is a good size and might be ok with what youve given her.
But if it gets more Nitrogen than it can handle,it will possibly stunt.
Keep an eye on your leaves,if they start going dark green and yellowing at the tips,
wash those nutes out with a couple of litres of ph`d water.that should dilute them at least.
GL.