Kush Over
Active Member
There you go, Carcass.Hey carcass, the ladies (hopefully) are looking good! Topping and LST are two techniques that a lot of people use to help with size, and potentially, yield.
Topping is where you cut the top growth from the main stalk, thus forcing the plant to grow two main stalks (colas) where the majority of the final weight in bud, and usually the most dense bud forms. In the attached pic, note how the main stalk has been cut and is now two larger stalks. The effect of this technique varies from strain to strain, and in some cases is required in order to achieve maximum yield (blueberry comes to mind). Some strains respond less favorably. Another effect of this is it helps lateral growth significantly. This causes shorter, bushier plants. The latter is the reason I topped my plants in my grow.
LST is known as Low Stress Training. It is used to keep vertical size down and promote more side growth which then begins growing upwards to the light. See this post for more info on how to LST.
Zonyc has explained LST and topping. Thank you, Zonyc.
With topping I usually like to try for a FIM ( Fuck I Missed ) which doesn't necessarily destroy the main central growth -- it just sort of stunts it while the rest catches up.