can you top too early?

[Suh_dude]

Fimming is done on the very top node. You CAN fim them while they're small. I didn't care for fimming personally. Especially when fimming multiple tops.
Like lets say you top it and 2 colas form. You fim both of those. One cola shoots out 4 branches, the other shoots 3. Or if you didn't do it right. They start getting kinda wonky then and grow completely uneven.
Since it's a Triploid you'll get 3 nice even colas. If it were me I'd top it for 3 branches. Then LST those down. When the 3 branches start alternating then top them where they're still shooting out 2 branches/node. Veg all those branches that are going to shoot from THOSE nodes and flower when you're comfortable. You'll have a short and super bushy beast after your last topping in 2 weeks.

You aren't lying, that's for sure

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

From my experience, I've topped early and two of my plants took around two weeks to start growing again while the others were fine after a few days. Some strains will respond positively, some won't. Good luck and nice plants.

 

[MonkeyGrinder]

You aren't lying, that's for sure

This is how I've been doing them for scrogging purposes. But I have yet to get a triploid.
Veg until the side branches are formed and elongate a bit. Takes roughly 10-14 days. Top em down to 2nd node. Think Uncle Bens topping method. 4 main tops start growing. I chop the bottom 2 when they get a few inches and toss em in the cloner.
Then top the top 2 so the 2 secondary start growing on each side. LST those suckers down. Pretty much makes an X pattern if you look at it from above. Secondary shoots from all 4 start growing up on all 4 of them. Chop the ends of the X when they start alternating and putting out 1 node at a time. Plant then just focuses on all the branches growing up. Slap it under a net and it fills out quick.

 

[Josh33]

I have never ever toped a plant bit after reading this thread I have 5 femanized white banners I’m gonna do this too I wonder how many times you can do it assuming you account in how long it stayes in veg

 

[budman111]

I have never ever toped a plant bit after reading this thread I have 5 femanized white banners I’m gonna do this too I wonder how many times you can do it assuming you account in how long it stayes in veg

As much as you want, more the better usually.

 

[gr865]

From growing Manifold style I always wait till the plant has 6 nodes then top at the 4th node. Then wait till the new set of tops reach 6 and top to 4, so on and so forth.

 

[Josh33]

Alrighty so I would clip of any new growth growing from a v shape and that will put all its growth into the v now and I can do it a bunch of times? How long between clipping should I wait how long do the plants take to recover?

 

[budman111]

Alrighty so I would clip of any new growth growing from a v shape and that will put all its growth into the v now and I can do it a bunch of times? How long between clipping should I wait how long do the plants take to recover?

usually leave a few weeks between clipping.

 

[Josh33]

usually leave a few weeks between clipping.

Alrighty so essentially the plant will be needing to veg for another month if I would like to top twice?

 

[budman111]

Alrighty so essentially the plant will be needing to veg for another month if I would like to top twice?

Depends how fast they grow and that's determined by environment and grower skill, usually every few weeks is good.

 

[gr865]

Alrighty so I would clip of any new growth growing from a v shape and that will put all its growth into the v now and I can do it a bunch of times? How long between clipping should I wait how long do the plants take to recover?

Look up Mainfolding (Mainlining) I top 3 times giving me 8 mainstems. You can do more, next would be 16 mains then 32 mains so on and so forth.
Just wait till the two new mains reach 6 nodes then clip at the 4th node, you want time for the roots system to develope, the key to manifolds success, powerful rooting system. I would say your looking at about 6 to 8 weeks veg. depending on your experience and grow method.

1.) Create “Base”

• Let young plant grow 6 nodes
• Top to 3rd node and clean all extra growth except top 2 growth tips and their fan leaves
• Now you have 2 main colas – these form the “base” of your cannabis manifold

2.) Create 8 main colas

• Let each side grow 4 nodes
• Top to 3rd node on each side
• Instead of cleaning all other growth like in the last step, just remove all the growth from the 2nd node on each side, leaving growth from node 1 & 3 on each side
• Now you have 8 colas!

3.) Vegetative Stage

• In addition to regular plant care, specifically check plants at least twice a week to make sure everything is growing flat like a table. Older stems start getting hard and woody and are more difficult to train, so if you check plants at least twice a week you’ll be able to bend stems while they’re still young and flexible. Getting used to checking on your plants regularly is a great habit that will serve you well in your cannabis growing adventures!
• Try to fill every “space” under the grow light with colas that are a few inches away from each other, and all the same height. If at any point you can see a cola is growing taller than the others, gently bend it down and away from other colas.
• Use twisty tie to secure stems so everything stays in place, otherwise your stems will turn back up overnight!
• Keeping up with this process throughout the vegetative stage gives you a flat, even canopy with many evenly spaced bud sites.

4.) Flowering Stage

• Switch to the flowering stage when the plant has reached half the final desired height.
• Continue to arrange colas to fill up your space under the light for first 2-3 weeks after the flip to 12/12.
• If any colas are growing much taller than the others, make sure to bend them down and away during the first few weeks, securing them just like before. This is especially important for colas growing directly under the grow light since they are most likely to grow too close to the light and get burned!
• That’s pretty much it!

Although I use the 6/4 method, again I believe I get better growth this way.
This was my last manifold in 2015 I think, did not really trim as much bottom growth but still worked great.,
6 plants shared tent with 6 other plants kind of cramped, got over 3 zips per plant. You can see the size of the plants. Hard packed buds.
Thinking of doing this again on my next grow but do 8 plants in my 4x4 letting them get a bit bigger. I believe Indica's work best for this method. IMHO

 

[Josh33]

Look up Mainfolding (Mainlining) I top 3 times giving me 8 mainstems. You can do more, next would be 16 mains then 32 mains so on and so forth.
Just wait till the two new mains reach 6 nodes then clip at the 4th node, you want time for the roots system to develope, the key to manifolds success, powerful rooting system. I would say your looking at about 6 to 8 weeks veg. depending on your experience and grow method.
View attachment 4329058
1.) Create “Base”

• Let young plant grow 6 nodes
• Top to 3rd node and clean all extra growth except top 2 growth tips and their fan leaves
• Now you have 2 main colas – these form the “base” of your cannabis manifold

2.) Create 8 main colas

• Let each side grow 4 nodes
• Top to 3rd node on each side
• Instead of cleaning all other growth like in the last step, just remove all the growth from the 2nd node on each side, leaving growth from node 1 & 3 on each side
• Now you have 8 colas!

3.) Vegetative Stage

• In addition to regular plant care, specifically check plants at least twice a week to make sure everything is growing flat like a table. Older stems start getting hard and woody and are more difficult to train, so if you check plants at least twice a week you’ll be able to bend stems while they’re still young and flexible. Getting used to checking on your plants regularly is a great habit that will serve you well in your cannabis growing adventures!
• Try to fill every “space” under the grow light with colas that are a few inches away from each other, and all the same height. If at any point you can see a cola is growing taller than the others, gently bend it down and away from other colas.
• Use twisty tie to secure stems so everything stays in place, otherwise your stems will turn back up overnight!
• Keeping up with this process throughout the vegetative stage gives you a flat, even canopy with many evenly spaced bud sites.

4.) Flowering Stage

• Switch to the flowering stage when the plant has reached half the final desired height.
• Continue to arrange colas to fill up your space under the light for first 2-3 weeks after the flip to 12/12.
• If any colas are growing much taller than the others, make sure to bend them down and away during the first few weeks, securing them just like before. This is especially important for colas growing directly under the grow light since they are most likely to grow too close to the light and get burned!
• That’s pretty much it!

Although I use the 6/4 method, again I believe I get better growth this way.
This was my last manifold in 2015 I think, did not really trim as much bottom growth but still worked great.,
6 plants shared tent with 6 other plants kind of cramped, got over 3 zips per plant. You can see the size of the plants. Hard packed buds.View attachment 4329063 View attachment 4329064 View attachment 4329065
Thinking of doing this again on my next grow but do 8 plants in my 4x4 letting them get a bit bigger. I believe Indica's work best for this method. IMHO

Hmm very interesting. Only getting 3 ounces per plant?? That seems very low I get 4 ounces per plant or more with very simple tie down (lst) methods I wonder if the extra stress on the plant and wait time is even really worth it ...

 

[Josh33]

Look up Mainfolding (Mainlining) I top 3 times giving me 8 mainstems. You can do more, next would be 16 mains then 32 mains so on and so forth.
Just wait till the two new mains reach 6 nodes then clip at the 4th node, you want time for the roots system to develope, the key to manifolds success, powerful rooting system. I would say your looking at about 6 to 8 weeks veg. depending on your experience and grow method.
View attachment 4329058
1.) Create “Base”

• Let young plant grow 6 nodes
• Top to 3rd node and clean all extra growth except top 2 growth tips and their fan leaves
• Now you have 2 main colas – these form the “base” of your cannabis manifold

2.) Create 8 main colas

• Let each side grow 4 nodes
• Top to 3rd node on each side
• Instead of cleaning all other growth like in the last step, just remove all the growth from the 2nd node on each side, leaving growth from node 1 & 3 on each side
• Now you have 8 colas!

3.) Vegetative Stage

• In addition to regular plant care, specifically check plants at least twice a week to make sure everything is growing flat like a table. Older stems start getting hard and woody and are more difficult to train, so if you check plants at least twice a week you’ll be able to bend stems while they’re still young and flexible. Getting used to checking on your plants regularly is a great habit that will serve you well in your cannabis growing adventures!
• Try to fill every “space” under the grow light with colas that are a few inches away from each other, and all the same height. If at any point you can see a cola is growing taller than the others, gently bend it down and away from other colas.
• Use twisty tie to secure stems so everything stays in place, otherwise your stems will turn back up overnight!
• Keeping up with this process throughout the vegetative stage gives you a flat, even canopy with many evenly spaced bud sites.

4.) Flowering Stage

• Switch to the flowering stage when the plant has reached half the final desired height.
• Continue to arrange colas to fill up your space under the light for first 2-3 weeks after the flip to 12/12.
• If any colas are growing much taller than the others, make sure to bend them down and away during the first few weeks, securing them just like before. This is especially important for colas growing directly under the grow light since they are most likely to grow too close to the light and get burned!
• That’s pretty much it!

Although I use the 6/4 method, again I believe I get better growth this way.
This was my last manifold in 2015 I think, did not really trim as much bottom growth but still worked great.,
6 plants shared tent with 6 other plants kind of cramped, got over 3 zips per plant. You can see the size of the plants. Hard packed buds.View attachment 4329063 View attachment 4329064 View attachment 4329065
Thinking of doing this again on my next grow but do 8 plants in my 4x4 letting them get a bit bigger. I believe Indica's work best for this method. IMHO

Very nice plants by the way very beautiful and dense looking absolute props from me

 

[gr865]

Hmm very interesting. Only getting 3 ounces per plant?? That seems very low I get 4 ounces per plant or more with very simple tie down (lst) methods I wonder if the extra stress on the plant and wait time is even really worth it ...

I have been running vertical grows for the past 3 yrs and doing over 6 zips per plant.
The difference is the size I wanted to keep the plants, I always wanted short. If I do manifolds this winter I will allow them more veg time and get some size.
I am debating vertical or manifolds, I have about 3 lbs but will be making oil and dab with a lot of it soon. As long as I can get at least a lb per grow at two grows a yr then I am good. Enough to smoke and enough to make some meds.
You can see my vertical grows in my Big Buddha Cheese signature.

 

[Josh33]

I have been running vertical grows for the past 3 yrs and doing over 6 zips per plant.
The difference is the size I wanted to keep the plants, I always wanted short. If I do manifolds this winter I will allow them more veg time and get some size.
I am debating vertical or manifolds, I have about 3 lbs but will be making oil and dab with a lot of it soon. As long as I can get at least a lb per grow at two grows a yr then I am good. Enough to smoke and enough to make some meds.
You can see my vertical grows in my Big Buddha Cheese signature.

Nice yeah 6 is more like it I actually was just talking to a guy that told me if your not pulling 8 ounces of a plant throw it out or quit growing, so lately I’m trying to find ways to increase my yield that’s why I’m thinking about toping or manifold or main lining with my already used techniques or lollipoping and lst tieing down I’m definitely gonna try some of these other methods and see if anything helps thanks so much for your info man it definitely helped me

 

[gr865]

Hmm very interesting. Only getting 3 ounces per plant?? That seems very low I get 4 ounces per plant or more with very simple tie down (lst) methods I wonder if the extra stress on the plant and wait time is even really worth it ...

If I do the manifold grow it will be in 3 gallon smart pots in coco, I use 2 gallon for my verticals. Those pics are White Rhino, 1 gallon Folgers plastic coffee cans, grown Hempy style. That is probably the biggest difference in size of plants. I got Fungal Gnats at about week 4 of flower, so battled those fuckers the rest of the grow.
I believe growing 6 manifold plants in 3 gallons Smart Pot with coco and my irrigation system I can do equally as well.

 

[gr865]

Nice yeah 6 is more like it I actually was just talking to a guy that told me if your not pulling 8 ounces of a plant throw it out or quit growing, so lately I’m trying to find ways to increase my yield that’s why I’m thinking about toping or manifold or main lining with my already used techniques or lollipoping and lst tieing down I’m definitely gonna try some of these other methods and see if anything helps thanks so much for your info man it definitely helped me

Most ever thing depends on the strain you choose, if I do a vert or manifold this winter I plan on using an Indica.
Check out vertical growing.

How many plants is your friend growing, indoors or outdoors, what is his grow tech. and medium.
I did a Monster Crop with Barneys Farm LSD, one plant 19 zips in a 4x4 but don't want to do it again, too much work.

 

[Josh33]

Have you ever tried 5 gallon pots or even 7 gallon pots and just tied them down in a spiral motion to help with height? It’s loke having a 6 foot tall plant but it’s only 14 inches from the pot it’s in ? Always works well for me all the new growths grow right through the fan leaves and everything and your left with just the new growths poking through and they all become colas. I did one plant in a 8 gallon pot and filled a 5 foot long grow tent by tieing it down and let it grow horizontally across the whole tent everyone would ask me if I had 4 or 5 plants in there and I was like nope just 1 lol

 

[Josh33]

Most ever thing depends on the strain you choose, if I do a vert or manifold this winter I plan on using an Indica.
Check out vertical growing.
How many plants is your friend growing, indoors or outdoors, what is his grow tech. and medium.
I did a Monster Crop with Barneys Farm LSD, one plant 19 zips in a 4x4 but don't want to do it again, too much work.
View attachment 4329090

Nice man that grow looks great and 19 zips wow that’s great but I know what you mean it’s nice to simplify things keep them simple and quick if you can

 

[gr865]

My Monster Crop branches, yes I tie them down.