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

[LuSiFeRsBuDz]

just a question did i do it right on my plant its bin about 3 days since i did it please let me know

 

[NietzscheKeen]

Uncle Ben, may I ask you a question unrelated to topping? It's regarding fungicides and insecticides. If there is somewhere else you'd rather me ask, just let me know; I don't want to derail any threads.

 

[mycomaster]

I like to top at the 5th node. It leaves you the options of taking clones from lower nodes later, and after you do take out the low stuff you can bury the stem some and get a larger root system later before you flower her and Xplant a couple of times. It's all personal preference and adapting to your grow room and tech. Peace out

 

[LuSiFeRsBuDz]

just a question did i do it right on my plant its bin about 3 days since i did it please let me know
View attachment 2711803

 

[LuSiFeRsBuDz]

so sorry i posted that twice

 

[bogglegum]

Glad to hear of so many happy campers!



Are the nodes opposite of each other, or alternating?

Here's the FAQ, again, from another website:




FAQ

Q - Is your technique effective with a clone?

A - Only if the cutting (clone) has opposing nodes. Don't expect to get 2 or 4 main colas if the nodes are alternating. You're manipulating the plant's hormonal processes aka "apical dominance". The plant will redistribute the auxins equally to dormant foliar buds.

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Q - Will this work on a landrace, indica OR sativa, and what about hybrids?

A - The hormonal processes, redistribution of auxins, work the same whether you have a sativa, afghan (indica) or your typical mutt.

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Q - Can I cut above the 3rd or 4th node?

A - You can, but you won't get the same effect regarding bulked up main colas. I came up with this simple technique in order to increase main cola production from 1..... to 2 or 4. If you want alot of bud sites and a bushier plant, then top at say.....the 8th node, but, that's not my technique as described.

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Q - I don't want to stress my plants. How long will this set my plants back?

A - There is no stress involved like underwatering a plant or giving it too much heat or light. They will respond with new output where the leaf petiole attaches to the "trunk" within 24 hours. If not, you have a cultural issue that you need to address.

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Q - You say to wait until the plant has 5-6 nodes before topping. Why?

A - That is only a guide to insure you have an established, well growing plant with a good root system. 3, 6 or 8 nodes, it's your call.

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Q - Can I root the cutting?

A - Of course.

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Q - What's a node??

A - Get outta here!

Haha, just ask me and ill answer

all my mothers are clones of kept strains/phenos.
Most alternate.
So you are saying.. About 10 leads?

Good?

 

[hydrogreen65]

I can see the advantage of performing the cuts early in growth and at the second node to produce those 4 main stems. These were topped a week ago. Real happy with the results UB, thx compadre!

Blue O.G. 4 main stems

White Lavender with three branches. Topped her to see what would happen. Six mains!

Are you gonna lst her too?

 

[Uncle Ben]

Uncle Ben, may I ask you a question unrelated to topping? It's regarding fungicides and insecticides. If there is somewhere else you'd rather me ask, just let me know; I don't want to derail any threads.

Fire away. If you want to start a thread in another area and link us, go fer it.

 

[Uncle Ben]

just a question did i do it right on my plant its bin about 3 days since i did it please let me know
View attachment 2711803

Looks good

 

[NietzscheKeen]

Fire away. If you want to start a thread in another area and link us, go fer it.

It's just a real quick question that can probably be answered in one post. Have you ever used wettable sulphur as an insecticide and fungicide spray on cannabis plants? I'm currently in flower and have been using a half strength application of Captan and Malathion with a full strength Neem oil spray. I've used Captan and Malathion on food crops and as long as you wait 7 days before harvest, there is no sign of it in or on the fruit. I'm betting that this will be the case for cannabis as well. I have an issue with powdery mildew in my area due to the high humidity and low winds, which is why I use Captan in addition to Neem, but I am slowly phasing it out as I approach harvest time.

I guess to clarify, what are your thoughts on Sprayable sulphur?
What are your thoughts on Captan and Malathion during flower?

 

[socaljoe]

You rock UB.

I'm a rookie to growing cannabis, and I've learned a heck of a lot from your two threads here in the advanced section. Even though I know it's a plant like any other, nevertheless I found myself falling into the thought process, forum paradigm as you put it, that we need to treat pot plants differently. I've got you and a handful of other posters to thank for helping me pull my head out of my ass on that one.

Oh, and the topping technique is great, tried it and, wouldn't you know, it worked like a charm.

 

[LuSiFeRsBuDz]

Looks good

alright thank you for your reply i will also stay tuned to anything u may have available

 

[Uncle Ben]

It's just a real quick question that can probably be answered in one post. Have you ever used wettable sulphur as an insecticide and fungicide spray on cannabis plants? I'm currently in flower and have been using a half strength application of Captan and Malathion with a full strength Neem oil spray. I've used Captan and Malathion on food crops and as long as you wait 7 days before harvest, there is no sign of it in or on the fruit. I'm betting that this will be the case for cannabis as well. I have an issue with powdery mildew in my area due to the high humidity and low winds, which is why I use Captan in addition to Neem, but I am slowly phasing it out as I approach harvest time.

I guess to clarify, what are your thoughts on Sprayable sulphur?
What are your thoughts on Captan and Malathion during flower?

PM is not a problem once temps reach 90F +.

Sulphur - fine if your temps stay below 90F. O days pre-harvest wait.

Captan - I'm now looking at a highly refined, carefully scripted list of fungicides done for professional grape growers and it does not list Captan for PM control. It does list it for Downy Mildew control. It lists sulfur or oil like Stylet for good PM control. Rally (myclobutanil) is an excellent fungicide but has a 14 day pre-harvest interval. It (myclobutanil) is found at hardware stores and big box stores under various labels. It's a very popular, broad spectrum fungicide. I'd Google products listed for use on tobacco if I was you. Rally is a systemic, cheap, very effective. No phytotoxic issues.

Malathion - good organophosphate for aphids, mites, mealybugs, etc. and it breaks down quickly into a phosphate from which it was made.

Imidacloprid, a systemic and contact insecticide, is THE silver bullet for all things consumable but unfortunately it also kills mite predators. If you don't have a mite issue, go for it. This product used to be sky high in price. Now that the patent has expired its very cheap. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adonis-75-WSP-Imidacloprid-75-Makes-100-Gallons-Packed-4-x-2-25oz-White-Fly-/271026091106?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1a69f462

Whatever you do, spray the product with an non-ionic surfactant added to the mix and TEST it on a few branches. I just had a major outbreak of mites on tropicals in my greenhouse (this after drenching them with imidacloprid about 2 months prior), followed label directions using some old Kelthane and basically screwed up 6 months growth on some avocado trees that were beautiful and lush with foliage, now looking like they were hit with napalm. So - spray a marked branch first, wait 2 days, and see if you get leaf burn.

Good luck,
UB

 

[Uncle Ben]

You rock UB.

I'm a rookie to growing cannabis, and I've learned a heck of a lot from your two threads here in the advanced section. Even though I know it's a plant like any other, nevertheless I found myself falling into the thought process, forum paradigm as you put it, that we need to treat pot plants differently. I've got you and a handful of other posters to thank for helping me pull my head out of my ass on that one.

Oh, and the topping technique is great, tried it and, wouldn't you know, it worked like a charm.

Thanks! Once you come back to reality........push aside the forum insatiable drive to totally confuse and complicate growing a weed....... and grow the damn thing *conventionally* like you would a tomato plant, your production will greatly increase while your apprehension decreases. BTW, that includes using a high N food from start to finish. Now there's a tough paradigm to personally sluff off!

UB

 

[Sir.Ganga]

when you remove fan leaves or any shoots, it is counter productive. why remove a source of starch for the plants to get more light on another piece? you have stored energy in the leaf, when you cut you are removing that source of energy from the plant, you lose the starches and and the stomatas that respirate and to uptake co2. you are also stressing the plant. basically, look for leaves that are all brown and add a slight tension even less than the tension used to pull a paper towel slowly off the roll. . if it doesnt come off the plant is still using it. and in response to kite high i have an intake and an exhaust fan with the exhaust on the top and the intake on the bottom so that it pulls cold co2 rich air from the floor to the ceiling.

Well that's one way of thinking, I guess? These plants have been bombarded and raped by mother nature over the last....forever now, don't ya think they are prepared for anything? They were until we(humans) decided to grow them inside. Removing leaves just to get light to the lowers is just stupid, you will gain dick by doing this. Removing the suckers and leaves from the lower parts will. You can't just rip off leaves and expect to benefits the plants but if using correct techniques removal will not stress your girls as much as you think and allows you to optimize your yield and keep a healthy environment. If you grow indoors and do not prune you actually create more stress due to cramped, humid quarters. Don't blame the technique just because you don't understand the process. If your coming on here bitching that topping and other techniques don't work...try again because you obviously you are the problem not the technique. With all the comments on removal of just leaves and not the growing shoots tells me that most don't understand what they are trying to do and blame their issues on the poor technique, maybe you should look in the mirror because it isn't the plants.

 

[prosperian]

Thanks! Once you come back to reality........push aside the forum insatiable drive to totally confuse and complicate growing a weed....... and grow the damn thing *conventionally* like you would a tomato plant, your production will greatly increase while your apprehension decreases. BTW, that includes using a high N food from start to finish. Now there's a tough paradigm to personally sluff off! UB

Words of wisdom. UB, on the same subject of keeping it simple, are you still recommending citrus feed as a good, well balanced nute at a constant feed of 1/2 tsp. per gal? Thanks for the time and some great threads.

Are you gonna lst her too?

Probably just this one topping unless I have some branches that get out of control. I need to grow vertical, because of my confined grow space. My last grow I didn't touch any leaves or branches, all natural. I recommend first time growers keep it simple and try not to do any modifications. That way you have a bench mark for all future grows and mods you make. And keep a garden calendar with everything written down, so you can repeat or find errors.

 

[Uncle Ben]

Words of wisdom. UB, on the same subject of keeping it simple, are you still recommending citrus feed as a good, well balanced nute at a constant feed of 1/2 tsp. per gal? Thanks for the time and some great threads.

I haven't tried it on cannabis but know an active grower that posts to Riddle3m that does and loves it. Rate of any food is dependent on plant needs, not some generic prescribed rate. Being that the N is slow release because of the urea, 1 tsp or more might work best, then again it might not. If it's not evident by now, pushing a plant with food and such is disastrous. Your best growth and production will come if you use common sense, moderation and let it grow on its own - naturally.

I use Citrus FeED on other tropicals. What I like about it is it has triple chelated iron so if you have a chlorosis issue it will cover it no matter what the soil's pH or structure. The macros at 20-10-20 are well balanced and the micros profile is excellent.

UB

 

[NietzscheKeen]

PM is not a problem once temps reach 90F +.

Sulphur - fine if your temps stay below 90F. O days pre-harvest wait.

Captan - I'm now looking at a highly refined, carefully scripted list of fungicides done for professional grape growers and it does not list Captan for PM control. It does list it for Downy Mildew control. It lists sulfur or oil like Stylet for good PM control. Rally (myclobutanil) is an excellent fungicide but has a 14 day pre-harvest interval. It (myclobutanil) is found at hardware stores and big box stores under various labels. It's a very popular, broad spectrum fungicide. I'd Google products listed for use on tobacco if I was you. Rally is a systemic, cheap, very effective. No phytotoxic issues.

Malathion - good organophosphate for aphids, mites, mealybugs, etc. and it breaks down quickly into a phosphate from which it was made.

Thanks. That's good advice. I will test them out on a certain branch first and will look into those other sprays you mentioned. I'm sorry to hear about your avocado.

I was concerned about the sulphur affecting the taste and aroma of the cannabis. You can try to avoid spraying it directly on the buds, but there is always overspray. I was using the Captan because I had some sitting around and it will usually improve the look of certain fruits that I have growing. I was curious as to the affect it would have on cannabis. It's not a great fungicide as you pointed out and it sounds like sulphur may be a bit better and more all encompassing. My temps stay between 85 and 92 usually and the humidity is always above 65% with very little wind, I think it was showing 1-3mph winds today, lol. I have seen powdery mildew on my plants, but they get a good soaking soon after that to prevent spread.

So far the only bugs I see on my plants are the occasional stink bug and green lynx spiders; I try to leave the spiders alone though.

Thanks again for the information.

 

[socaljoe]

Thanks! Once you come back to reality........push aside the forum insatiable drive to totally confuse and complicate growing a weed....... and grow the damn thing *conventionally* like you would a tomato plant, your production will greatly increase while your apprehension decreases. BTW, that includes using a high N food from start to finish. Now there's a tough paradigm to personally sluff off!

UB

Yes indeed. I've seen the results people get using a generic, balanced fertilizer, like Jack's Classic, so no need for snake oils here. Looking to stay green and healthy until chopping.

 

[Uncle Ben]

Thanks. That's good advice. I will test them out on a certain branch first and will look into those other sprays you mentioned. I'm sorry to hear about your avocado.

I was concerned about the sulphur affecting the taste and aroma of the cannabis. You can try to avoid spraying it directly on the buds, but there is always overspray. I was using the Captan because I had some sitting around and it will usually improve the look of certain fruits that I have growing. I was curious as to the affect it would have on cannabis. It's not a great fungicide as you pointed out and it sounds like sulphur may be a bit better and more all encompassing. My temps stay between 85 and 92 usually and the humidity is always above 65% with very little wind, I think it was showing 1-3mph winds today, lol. I have seen powdery mildew on my plants, but they get a good soaking soon after that to prevent spread.

So far the only bugs I see on my plants are the occasional stink bug and green lynx spiders; I try to leave the spiders alone though.

Thanks again for the information.

I know big commercial vineyards that swear on sulfur and use it close to harvest. That's tricky because the slightest amount of sulphur in the must produces awful hydrogen sulfide, and no winery will sell wines that smell of rotten eggs. I would spray all or part of one plant and of course flag it. Smoke it and see for yourself. Experimenting is the only way you can learn about this stuff. Or you could spray as much as you want, then a day or two prior to harvest blast them with a spray of water using a backback sprayer.

Stink bugs, damn the bugs from hell, Satan's workers! At least you can kill mites but it's damn hard to kill a leaf footed gray stink bug. Get them with Sevin while they're juveniles. Little shits will be a bright orange/red and there will be colonies of them, hundreds. They can easily turn a tomato crop or peaches into mush.