Is it ok to top Auto's

please excuse my lack of knowledge... but untill i ask i guess i wont know
is it the done thing to top auto flowering plants?... or should they be left to do there magic unmolested?... types im interested in are (pineapple express Barneys farm, northern lights and blue mystic both nirvana)

if it is fine to top them will it set them back in terms of seed to harvest time?, will take more time due to shock and recovery i think i mean

any help would be super-dooper!

Auto flowers have a genetic predetermined flower time. Just like non auto strains you cant flower from seed because the plant wont do it. Usually takes around 3 weeks for a plant to mature but I've had strains like tangerine dream that needed more than 6 weeks to start budding even though I stared 12/12 after about 4. So If you top you wont ruin them in theory but you have to do it early enough for the plant to recover before flowering. They need a week to recover at least, 10 days to be safe before they start showing any signs of flowering. Why not LST them. They dont need recover time like a top and you get more main tops just the same. Just stop bending them at first sign of pistil, if not it will stretch and effect yield and I've seen it even delay flowering with my last clones.

cheers... maybe as its my first stab at it i might not try to be too clever... i will however look into this "LST" thing you mention. sounds like a neat trick if it stresses less
i'm a total greenhorn as i'm sure you can guess

thanks for your reply

I like the LST idea.

LST is great for autos, I've never seen a topped auto that didn't turn out to be a disaster, if someone can prove me wrong, I'd like to see it, cuz I've thought about testing it but I don't run that many autos anymore.

I topped for four very early got 4 bad assed colas and twoo small ones (oops)