Anyone have much experience topping autos? I have heard cloning is pointless but have also heard both sides of the fence for topping.
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Just flop them instead.
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Excuse me for being behind on some of the lingo, what would flopping be?
Bad Joke: What is a NBA move that LeBron James excels at? Flopping.
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Instead of cutting off the top just tie it down so the other shoots have a chance to sprout.
Same outcome less stress.
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I’d never top just heavy train. If you start early and supplement with monosilic acid you can almost make the plant grow sideways forcing it to grow vertical budsites from horizontal branches. 
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I’ve topped almost all my autos. To do it successfully you need to know when your strain is supposed to begin flowering. Normally I top when the 5th node comes in and I have at LEAST 7 days till flower. If those conditions aren’t met then I don’t top.
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Do you have a grow log showing this @Habitt ? I’m super interested in seeing how this turns out!
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Check out the info under my name, there’s a link to my past grows. I even mistimed topping my ManBearAlienPig and still pulled a little over 7 ounces from her. I fully support topping autos.
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Quadlined Tangerine Dream from Grower’s Choice. The training slowed the plant growth down a little which was actually beneficial. So yeah you can top if you’d like 
EDIT - jus looked at other pics and realized I mainlined, not quadlined.
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I have seen someone clone an auto successfully, but the result wasn’t worth the trouble. I also would not suggest topping unless you know the strain well. Yes, you can top an auto, but you can easily mess it up as well, so it’s up to you if you wish to take that chance. It’s absolutely possible. I supercroped my last auto and was happy with it.
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Topped/not topped
Go where you’re heart takes you, lol.
I’d only top once and
and only if the plant displays early vigor.
I prefer to pinch/crush the main stem a few times during stretch:
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Clear as mud! Just kidding. Sounds like do it at growers expression based on lineage data. All in the name of science! Thanks y’all!
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You might want to run three of them side by side by side top one of them, and use LST on one of them, and let the other one alone to see what the difference is.
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I forgot where I read this, but I read that you can successfully clone autos via tissue culture. Take a piece of meristem, and you can regenerate the plant much the same as any photoperiod plant
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I think if you started 6 and took the three most similar to test with would give you a more clear idea, since these would be seeds not clones.
I also think as long as you’re enjoying some of your time alive doing fun stuff you’re winning. Satisfaction comes from the process as well as the results.
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If you should come across that article I would be interested in reading 
it. 
just remember suto’s have a genetics time frame - no matter what - so any “re-coup” time could influence yields ? defoliation is the only thing (a must for indoor cultivation) to consider
I flop tops, and tuck leaves to allow the sides to develop, i top if things are getting out of hand but that’s about it.
Do what works for you, everyone has methods and its fun to try things.
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My overall favorite so far has been pinching off the fan leaves on the main leader. It slows its growth and keeps it from shading the lower branches so they catch up. I think the plant structure stays very pretty that way.
Bending the top over sideways seems to give me the most total plant growth, which makes sense since nothing has been removed. If I have space and feel like training I do that in veg.
If I’m tired and neglectful and it’s flower time and one or a few colas are way too tall then I supercrop to bend them over. That works great.
I’ve never topped on on purpose, I really don’t like snipping my plants.
Some of the autos I’ve grown could certainly have been topped without any ill effects. Others were such primadonnas I wrecked my yield with hardly any stress on them at all.
Like others have said, try things out, have fun, and please do share pictures. 
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you can top autos in general if you’d like. i do find a topping along with some leaf defol will encourage further branching and widening of the plant. i dont find it triggers earlier flowering like some claim, but that may be genetic dependent.
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