Should I "top? these plants, and why? Newbie, PICS!

This is my first grow. I've since locked up one of the plants (the smallest) in a dark closet (in a tupperware bowl) to kill it off, since it's defenitely a male.

But my real question, is should I top my plants? For example, the one on the far right, has 4 sets of nice looking leaves. I'm starting to see what looks like female parts from her, too.

What's the advantage of topping her? What's the disadvantage of just letting her keep growing? They've been on 12/12 for nearly two weeks.

If I do top her, I'm afraid of doing something wrong, and wrecking weeks of work.
So why should I do it? Honestly? And does now look like the time?

topping usually can add extra nodes. I tried topping mine for the first time but didn't cut low enough and it just made some crappy messed up leaves. I would do alot of research before you go and start cutting them. If its your first time grow try it on just one. Usually more seasoned growers will top not us newbies. You going to need to transplant soon n e way. the cups are way to small also see through. Light might hit your roots. I would transpant before n e thing else.

I wouldn't top right now. Are you wanting to flower all the way or just looking for sex? If you go back to veg, then you can top. Topping will give as many colas as you can handle, super good for yield and growing bushier plants. Look into trying LST a.k.a low stress training. Will do wonders for your final yield, there is plenty of info on here so check it out. Also your cups should be solid in color and not clear, this will casue root damage and could seriously mess things up. Start thinking about bigger pots and nutrients, molasses is great for new growers. Good luck

These tops is from one plant.. thats what topping does..


same plant from a top view:topped

topping is not actually all that hard, and i had great success with my 3 BlackJacks. It has a great potential of increasing your yield, your light penetration, and in my case, gave me that extra week i needed due to shock to let the girls in the flower room finish a bit more.

I disagree that it is something a noobie like us shouldnt experiment with. I think that if anything, now is a great time for us to get used to these methods, its practice just like with anything else (nutes, lights, etc). I also dont think its half as complicated as it sounds, and my first go went great. It's the FIM'n that i would wait til later on to try. Seems to much room for failure for me.