Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas

[born2killspam]

It energizes you and makes you feel more alert/smarter kind of.. Its nothing like that heavy fog that indica casts over your brain..
When I smoke good sativa I want to go running, or climb trees etc..

 

[Uncle Ben]

Oh yea, I like sativa.. I grew up on weed ancestored from bag-seed my dad had when he was younger.. Back before indoor growing, when the vast majority was shipped in from the tropics, and sold by the lid..

$8 -10/lid back in my days, 60's.

Sativas can be a hassle in so many ways, but its so much better smoke for most situations IMO.. I can understand why alot of younger ppl shy away from it though, not only the scaggle, but most sativa that you might come across in a random bag is brutally premature, and infact schwag..

I agree and I've grown my share of mutts, errrr <cough> designer genetics. For example, my signature photo signoff shows me standing behind this massive, rock hard/dense main cola about 6" across at its widest point with a bunch of dense smaller side colas, it was a Positronic Jack Herer. Great smoke, fruity but I like sativa pot better too.

Not to take away from your topping technique Ben but if anyone here has an interest in this they would love to hear about LST (Low stress training), all the benefits of topping but easier on the plant due to not having to cause it an harm or stress.....

Not a problem friend, but what makes you think my topping approach is hard on (stresses) a plant? That's simply not true, quite the contrary. It's natural and the plant responds with new foliar output within 24 hours. You cut and don't fuss with it until harvest but since you brought it up, Low Stress Training is an oxymoron IMO. I'm not the one doing repetitive un-natural stuff to my ladies.......tieing 'em up with rubber bands, string and such. I have played games using dress ties and a brass headboard though.

the idea is that you bend over the plant once it's about 3 weeks old and tie it down which sends a signal to all the other branches telling them to take over vertical growth so as you keep tying them down you build a small bush that will produce WAY more than any topping technique will ever give you.

Uhhhhh, that's debatable, but whatever floats your boat. LST is just another technique to redistribute growth hormones. If you want alot of small budsites (and have the garden footprint to accommodate sprawling plants) then you do LST or top high on the plant. If you want 4 fat colas that can be every bit as bulked up as 1 (main) cola, then topping above the 2nd true node is a nice solution.

Maintenance issues - LST is also a helluvalot more trouble regarding maintenance than making a simple snip above your 2nd node and being done with it. I will not be a slave to my plants, reason why I diss such "high tech" techniques like SCROG.

Good luck,
UB

 

[born2killspam]

Yea, bushing out a plant is all about cutting off the supply of auxins (which promote upward growth) that are created in the apex shoot..
LST accomplishes this by forcing the growing shoot downward so the hormones have an uphill climb that they can't very well overcome before travelling downwards..
What many ppl will consider the benefit of topping for 2/4 colas is the cola size.. LST typically gives you buds like you'd expects if you topped at the 6th/7th node as UB described..
Lastly, LST can be VERY HST for the grower if they aren't very experienced with the technique and are trying to manage a canopy with multiple plants..

 

[6wayswinger]

has any 1 lst,d and then topped a plant iv done this to a mother plant iv had plenty of cuttings from her and i think shill give me good bud so has any 1 els trained topped and budded a plant

 

[merahoon]

So i have a question on where exactly you cut. Do you cut just underneath where the 3rd node forms, in between the 2nd and third, or just above the second? Also what would you suggest on when to cut? You said 5-6 six nodes but which is better? Or are you just saying when you have 5 nodes and the sixth is forming? I'm on my first grow and really don't want to screw this up, so I'm trying to make it perfect . Thanks!

 

[born2killspam]

Exactly when doesn't really matter.. Nor does exactly where, but don't cut right at/into the node since thats where your new outputs are currently hiding.. (UB's pics clearly show he cuts nowhere near the actual node..)
Best time to do it I suppose would be shortly after a good watering when they're roughly that size..

 

[Uncle Ben]

So i have a question on where exactly you cut. Do you cut just underneath where the 3rd node forms, in between the 2nd and third, or just above the second?

Yep.








Like the photo shows, 1/2" above the node is fine, no big deal.

Also what would you suggest on when to cut? You said 5-6 six nodes but which is better?

Doesn't matter, the effect will be the same. If you want to root the cutting, then cut above the 2nd node leaving 3 nodes (leafsets) for your clone. IOW, wait until you have 5,6, or 7 nodes.

Or are you just saying when you have 5 nodes and the sixth is forming? I'm on my first grow and really don't want to screw this up, so I'm trying to make it perfect . Thanks!

Again, it doesn't matter. What you want to do is to give the plant a good start, and sufficient foliage will insure that. Cut when you have 3 nodes if you want, but the plant will be stockier with a better developed root system if you wait a while. Does that make sense?

There is nothing to screw up, unless the plant isn't healthy in the first place which is a totally different issue. This is one of the easiest, most simple drills you can do to train a plant to a different profile. Pinch that sucker off above the 2nd node with your fingernails and be done with it. Then sit back and watch. I know your apprehensive being a first time grower but there isn't any mystique about this. See my first photo on page 1 for a refresher.....or shoot me a photo of your plants and I'll opine. See how fresh the cut is and how fast the plant responded? The nub will quickly callous over and sometimes shrivel up and drop off like the finished Zamal sativa I posted.

Lood Guck,
UB

 

[Uncle Ben]

Exactly when doesn't really matter.. Nor does exactly where, but don't cut right at/into the node since thats where your new outputs are currently hiding.. (UB's pics clearly show he cuts nowhere near the actual node..)
Best time to do it I suppose would be shortly after a good watering when they're roughly that size..

Ahhhhhh, I see you got me covered. Gracias. I think folks try to "fim" by cutting thru the node.

 

[born2killspam]

I had FIM on the brain when I saw your pics even though I read directly that wasn't the case.. (My mind wandered).. Its hard not to think FIM when you see the uniformity you have between the different nodal colas..
Cutting a developed node isn't even FIM though either.. FIM is about topping the very tip of the growing shoot (which contains more than one toppable terminating point)..
I don't know how lucky you'd need to be to successfully FIM new growth before its poked itself out of a developed node..

 

[Uncle Ben]

I had FIM on the brain when I saw your pics even though I read directly that wasn't the case.. (My mind wandered)..

I'm not sure anyone is in agreement on how to FIM or what it reliability produces like you said. It's one of those "advanced" techniques you never can quite put your finger on.

 

[born2killspam]

Reliability is so sketchy because the target is so small.. An unopened growing shoot contains the budlet that will form the next node within it.. So you've got 2 baby branches encasing 2 embryonic branches.. Cut them all perfectly and you get 4..
I've actually got 6 before (but 2 were retarded runts) and I've heard of as many as 8.. I don't know if that is due to embryonic embryonic budlets, or mangled redifferentiated tissue (kind of like how scarred up clone stems root better).. I do remember I FIM'd that one with my finger-nails though..

 

[Uncle Ben]

Reliability is so sketchy because the target is so small..

I hear that. It's another one of those cannabis forum "solutions" that carries more feelings than fact.

 

[born2killspam]

I wouldn't say that.. The facts are there, but execution is really tricky to make it predictable.. If you screw up entirely, then you're just topping the plant as per your method (except FIM is usually done at a higher node, so they'll be weaker as you described)..
I was always proud when I got 4 uniform shoots from FIM.. Usually one or two will dominate drastically.. (The result of a less than ideal cut through the particular foliar outputs I assume)..

 

[merahoon]

have you ever tried super cropping after topping acheiving 4 main branches? If you bent/pinched those four branches, wouldn't it increase your overall bud weight even more?

 

[Uncle Ben]

have you ever tried super cropping after topping acheiving 4 main branches? If you bent/pinched those four branches, wouldn't it increase your overall bud weight even more?

Not necessarily, plus I'm happy with my results. Do the experiment. Top 4 seedlings and take 2 and slowly train them (bend them over) to a prostrate position. Keep them in that position until harvest and draw your own conclusion. I think you'll see the same bud output as what I get cause it comes from the same node axis.

Good luck,
UB

 

[born2killspam]

You could supercrop or FIM the new branches it you like, but the beauty with UB's method is a concise, predictable, easy to manage format.. If you're good at arranging renegade growth, then knock yourself out..
Its also worth mentioning that genetics, and grow area are also a factor here.. UB's method leaves alot of room for adaptation after the fact since he chops it down so low, and ends up with multiple tops that can almost be considered single plants in a canopy situation..

 

[merahoon]

The main benefit I would think is that you can keep an even canopy and let the light hit more spots. Then just cut out the bottom thats not getting light to further increase bud size. I'll give it a go though and see what happens. I've got like a month left in veggin though.

 

[Uncle Ben]

I do two harvests as a workaround plus I make sure that my plants have reflective panels ALWAYS adjacent to them, they are mobile and moved according to the garden footprint.

I harvest the heavy colas which is about 1/2 down from the top and then move the plant back under the lights to bulk up the airy lower buds. You'd be surprised as to how much more bud you can get doing this, but, you have to have good healthy leaves left at the bottom too, and most "flush" their plants ruining the very unit that produces the buds! Quite funny really.

UB

 

[born2killspam]

I'll second the benefit of chopping the tops and letting the scraggle mature.. It is shockingly more worth it than I thought it would be..

 

[merahoon]

Hmm thats very interesting. I have never heard of that before. Great idea!