Need Help with Topping

I read on the site that topping is this:
Topping Method used to increase yield and maximize space, by trimming off the top bud. Traditionally, topping your plant causes two shoots to grow back in place of the one pruned off, thus increasing the number of top/main buds


I'm not sure how much to cut off or when to start doing this my plants sprouted early May around 5/2-5/3 and are now in the range of 4-7 inches tall. some are bushy, but I'm still stuck on how to top. any tips are appreciated. pics will hopefully be up soon. (getting a digi cam this week)

you clip the stem right above the set of leaves that you want to become the new top. those leaves are where the new top colas come from.

take a look at fimming (Fuck I Missed) too... that is similar to topping, but instead of cutting at the stem you actually cut most of the freshest leaf sprouts off. a proper FIM produces more than 2 tops of varying size and quantity.

when should I top? should I just top once then fim or what??

er, it is usually top OR fim

i usually do any top cutting at the fifth node... but that is because i LST the plants and i want there to be more "lower" bud sites to grow.

i have read that some people here top at the third node i think.

you need to experiment with it and get a feel for it, what it does to your plant and what you want it to do to your plants...

keep something else in mind... the cats with plenty of space and plenty of watts dont seem to top hardly ever... why is that? it is because that one big honking cola that normally grows can shame any topped plants output if given everything it needs.

the only reason i top/fim is because i am working with nowhere near enough space and a fraction of the wattage that should be used. i want my plants all 8 inches tall, to yield a metric ton and to use 10 watts... if i could go 8 foot tall with enough wattage to emulate the Sun properly, i would never top.