@George
Good question 
I want to stimulate the production of strigolactone so that I can get nice looking clones 
Strigolactone prevents branching so the plant will push vertically towards the sun and not grow horizontal. Which in practice means abit more node spacing, which is a good thing on clones. Third and forth node are the only nodes thatās going to be present.
Pz 
A huge greeting from Italy.
I am a small grower and passionate about this wonderful plant.
Congratulations @LonelyOC for your excellent work.
My group of growers and I are at your disposal
I finally found your thread,nice,I Will follow along
Wow thank you so much! I just have to tell you that Iām a huge fan of Italian food. Iām a bit of a food nerd aswell and a real carbonara from Luciano Monosilio recipe are the best dish Iāve tried!
Pz
You are very welcome to the show. Sit tight, this will take awhile 
Pz
I am tracking the thread,so yes,I Will follow every post.I really trust your skill and politeness.Following you Brotherā¤ļø
Thanks for the reply, so youāre going to top them? I always wanted to try a technique @Papalag has that differs from yours, he lets the plant grow several nodes and then cut them above the second or third (hope he will refresh me, not easy to find again that post). That way, stems are stronger and bigger roots help the plant for a healthy and vigorous recovery ā¦ 
Sure, you can go about how ever you want. When you cut branches or shoots off, especially from the main stem. A growth hormone(strigolactone) is released from the roots which tells the plant to get taller, this is thought of being a response to critters, so they wonāt eat the whole plant. The hormone strigolactone also helps the root zone to develop even further at a higher pace. It attracts fungi and bacteria to the root zone to produce more nutrition for the plant. It helps the mycelium to penetrate the roots for a better uptake of nutrition. So triggering this response early will give you a abit more stretched plant from node 1-5, but it will help you with stronger roots and a longer stem for taking good cuts of.
Im doing it to make clones, i would probably wait another week if this is a plant i want to grow perfectly.
Pz
Hi @George thanks for the tag
Yes definitely let the plant grow 7 nodes or more then cut back to the 3 rd node
I mainline my plants mostly and this is Essential for a very hearty healthy trunk to support all that weight above it
Thanks for the tip, I searched for Blackened Oranges in your thread but didnāt find the recipe 
, willing to try it without mainlining. I topped at the 7th node and lollipopped below the 4th and found out itās a completely waste of time and energy 
, thatās why I didnāt understand what @LonelyOC was trying to do ā¦
I can see @Papalag technique being used if you donāt want to scrog or trellis your plants. Itās not that crazy, and you would get a big nice clone which is a awesome bonus
Pz
I normally end up with more clones then I know what to do with lol
The main reason I mainline
It helps for me to control vegetation
In a small tent it means the difference between mold and or bud rot sometimes , or not
Less vegetation more air circulation
Much better for the plant
Thatās also true. It got alot of benefits. I think the stretching effect and the strengthed root will also help the plant fight of mold and bud rot.
Pz
That is such useful information!
I cut/top/prune plants to encourage side growth but had no idea it also had an effect at root level.
That leaves me with 2 questions:
1- Does the plant react with stigolactone production when any section of it gets cut off or only when you remove the top?
2- Is it ever too early to do that?
Obviously I know better than to decapitate a seedling, but letās say Iām not particularly bothered about the shape of the plant and my priority is to force the plant to develope itās root structure at a faster than normal pace. Would topping when it has only 2 or 3 nodes be too extreme or acceptable?
Iām happy to share! Well strigolactone blocks the plant from side growth actually. What it does is promoting stretch and height. So what you see when you top and the strigolactone production in the roots kick in, is that the top shoots will start to stretch and the node spacing is growing faster. A good example of this is when you top side branches not at the top node on the main branch, youāll notice that your top node branches start to stretch and grow.
1: Strigolactone production levels are the highest, the closer to the main branch you go and lowest the further down the side branches. Strigolactone is not a reaction from defoliation, but from removing shoots or branches.
So what I did now is to remove shoots from the first 2 nodes to get more stretch so I can get a good stem for a clone.
2: I have to look for an answer for this. But I have a suspicion that the plant atleast need some shoots to get a good effect from this. Since removing more shoots gives you higher levels of strigolactone.
The root effect of strigolactone is interacting with bacteria and fungi in the soil. So it wonāt have an dramatic effect on hydro. The most noticable effect on the root system is using organic. Just something to remember.
Pz
Man thereās some great info being shared by you in this thread, glad I found it to follow along!
Thank you so much for your follow In the future you will be able to observe this by yourself when you are tinkering with your plants. Sometimes you only need some information to put your finger on what actually happens when you grow. Keep it real 
Pz
Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough explanation on that!
Donāt trouble yourself any further on my account mate, your explanation was great and has already given me a good understanding of both the possibilities and limitations of this technique.
Donāt I feel educated now 
I feel like I should be paying tuition fees or something!
Iāll just go back to my seat and keep watching 
Cheers
Hehe, i love to educate and I love to learn. So its my pleasure and if you got any questions in the future, donāt hesitate to cement here or pm me 
Pz