Who does topping and/or heavy training and who just lets them run? Why?

Yep! I did that on a couple of plants, but I found it really hard to manage the plant because it becomes lopsided. Yours definitely looks better than mine did though :+1: @blowdout2269

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You just gotta be diligent. Sometimes making adjustments daily. Bring the bottom branches back over to the opposite direction of the initial bend. If you didn’t see what’s left, you’d have thought they were topped. I’ll post some pics of the skeletal remains later today when I’m home trimming. You’ll see what I mean. :+1:

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I mix it up depending on the plant in question. I tried a new method where I plant it at the edge of the pot, and as soon as it is big enough to reach the other side, I bend it over and fasten it, and the side branches all start to grow vertically and more vigorously. Works well as a compromise .

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It’s already in veg. If you follow my topping ditty you’ll see there is no set back, or time difference, in plant development.

If you top during flowering the remaining sites just keep on keeping on.

Uncle Ben

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I do them all.
HST, LST, topping etc. are just different tools depending what you are doing with the plant.

For me, HST is the only way to go (but modified for BOG’s strains) for breeding. It works the best for pollen collection and best for selective pollination.
LST for bud production and just topping for pheno hunting (min space)
Experiment and see.

Cheers
G

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Anyone do fimming? Its never given great results for me, I prefer topping.

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I’ve tried and tried. …I’m useless at it and just top now.

Cheers
G

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Ideally, I do nothing & get free weed :joy_cat: but how I abuse the plant depends on the situation.

I hate to admit I just hacked 2/3 of a plant that was flipped 2 days ago, because I just want nice top buds for this one plant & am sacrificing about 1/2 potential weight but saving a lot of annoying trimming & making spraying easier, improving airflow.

Larger plants I try to bend & knuckle as much as possible; it seems to reduce the need for staking, usually.

So I have no rule but do what the condition tells me to do. :om: :pensive:

This pruning was inspired by a jungle boyz “SOP” interview, I also hate to admit.

:evergreen_tree:

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I prefer to FIM my first topping. It’s all about getting shoots to do what I want. If I top its because the strain is a vertical grower.

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I’ve recently changed from HID to LED I’ve got quite a lot of space here. I’m trying to achieve a shallow flat surface from my canopy. …………I don’t know if I’m supposed to do this but I get my lights as close as I can to the canopy and turns the power down quite a bit. I do this to conserve power. Also I’m thinking I don’t want to burn my LED s out I have plenty of extra space and plenty of extra lights .

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I’ve gone from mainlining, to topping 5 or 6 times, to now I barely too and just do a heavy heavy defoliation early on in veg. It slows them down about a week, but each plant that recovers (I’ll also cull the ones that can’t take this stress) almost always looks like a Christmas tree when fully recovered. I’ll see if I can find pictures but basically I just take all big fans off that are still connected to the main trunk. Leaving all premature side branches and leaves open to full light and ready to party. Idk I’ve come to love it.

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That is interesting
I would love to read it more! Can you tell me a little more detail, please? Because if no set back and I can use short veg, I would always prefer to top over non-top🤩

p.s. Yesyes, already in mostly veg
But i meant closer to veg in terms of circadian rhythm.

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Interesting comment. I’ve been growing in a small Ikea cabinet for stealth and my primary issue as far as I can tell is that I can’t get them lights far enough away from the plants. I may be 100% wrong but I’m not sure it’s just as simple as “lower the height, reduce the light” because it’s as if the plant “knows” the light is close. In my completely uninformed opinion there’s a difference between 1000ppfd @ 1 meter and 1000ppfd at 1 inch. Again, this is a completely unfounded opinion from a total rookie.

How’s your stretching going? Seeing a lot of stacking? That’s what happened to me.

Help me out, what’s your topping ditty?

Quoting @OldUncleBen from another forum

To get 4 main colas, let your seedling or cutting (clone) grow to about 5-6 nodes and pinch out (cut) the stem just above the 2nd true node. The node where the cotyledons attach doesn’t count. The result will be a redistribution of the auxins and other hormones that normally collect in the tissue of the terminal leader’s tip. These ho moans will be redistributed to dormant buds that reside in the nodal axis where the leaf petiole attaches to the “trunk”, below the cut. The new foliar output response will be quick (within 24 hrs., see photo below) if you have a healthy growing seedling and will be your future main colas - 4 instead of the usual 1:

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FIM, “Fuck I Missed”

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Tbh, description just sound like more vegetative action.
But for sure perfect way to do when one have enough veg time i guess🤔
Cuz with short veg time, one doesn’t have time to veg after topping. You gotta flip right away then it’s gonna slow down for flowering. Tho again…non topping, i’m regarding, is for short veg.

Tbf haven’t tried this method but another interesting way without slowing down in terms of triggering circadian rhythm towards generative phase.

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I’ve grown just about every way. I even left some autos to grow on their own last winter. I’ve learned that chiropracty (sp), just twisting and cracking branches until the canopy is level, is probably the easiest thing to do and I’ve been doing it more and more.

But I also do a lot of tie-down and I always top at least once. To newer growers I always recommend topping three times. Because it’s easy to explain, easy to learn, always works and low-risk. You can’t go wrong with eight colas.

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Hi Beak, I am running a side by side right now.
X2 screened areas & X1 area that was topped but never trained.

The plants left un screened have so much stretch and unused space between bud sites.

I’m assuming they will become massive colas tho.

Only up to week 3 in flower but going by the amount of bud sites, I can already see the screened areas are going to shit all over the ones I just let do their thing. Check my grow out if u wanna see how it unfolds. Cheers

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top, supercrop, lst. both indoors and out.
indoors is an issue of space.
outdoors is an issue of discretion.

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