Topping and cloning

Hey everyone,
So, I wanted to get some opinions on what I'm planning to do today...

It's about day 45 from seed for my White Widows (hight is between 10"-13"...I know, small, but let's not get into their hight or anything else here please ) and all is going fairly well with them at this point. I'm limited on my hight in flowering to 2.5' - 3' tall plants at most, and they have another 3-4 weeks til I'll flower (current growth rate is about 3"/week, but may go up since I just added CO2). I like the idea of topping to get a bushier plant and hopefully better yields anyway. Although these should be feminized, I want to find out for sure too before flowering the big girls.

Here's my plan... Top each at about the 3rd node from the top, make some extra cuts on each of those tops, dip them in rooting hormone, (yknow, plain old cloning procedure lol) put them into solo cups with my soil mix, water, and immediately give them 12/12 until I can tell the sex. I don't need them to stay alive for super long, just long enough to show sex, then they'll get tossed (I know, it sucks, but it's what I've gotta do.) They're all healthy and happy, and based on what I've read, that should work fine, my only concern is that they'll only be about 1"-2" above the soil when they go to 12/12, and I don't know if something that small will flower or at least show sex... but since it's a top and from a fairly mature plant, I'd think it'd work.

Anyway, just wanting some opinions on my plans there, and wanting to know if any of this won't work.

Thanks,
Peach

That'll work as long as you can get them to root. Looks like you've got a slight nute/ph issue, so rooting may take a little longer than expected. Not necessarily though. Some look a little overwatered too, but I digress. May take 1-3 weeks to get them to show sex after rooting.

I don't get the 1-2" above the soil. Looks like you've got 4-5" left on top once you cut. Don't bother cutting multiple times.

Connoisseurus Rex said:

That'll work as long as you can get them to root. Looks like you've got a slight nute/ph issue, so rooting may take a little longer than expected. Not necessarily though. Some look a little overwatered too, but I digress. May take 1-3 weeks to get them to show sex after rooting.

I don't get the 1-2" above the soil. Looks like you've got 4-5" left on top once you cut. Don't bother cutting multiple times.

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Yeaah, there have been a few ph fluctuations and other issues, but everything should be sorted out and alright now. Do I have to root them for them to start to flower? I've heard of/seen people who just go straight to flowering without rooting first. Like I said, if they die or have issues right after they show sex, it's no big deal to me -- these are only for sexing. Well, I'm just cutting what I absolutely have to, and by the time part ends up in the soil, they'll be pretty short (I'm guessing 2" above-ground at best, and the smaller plants probably less. So if I don't root first, will they still show their true colors, or just die right away? haha.

Honestly, I don't know. I've never tried it. I always flower my clones out.

Maybe someone else can weigh in. It's really not hard to get them to root though. You could still flower them with the rest. Just seems like a waste. Is it a grow space issue?

Connoisseurus Rex said:

Honestly, I don't know. I've never tried it. I always flower my clones out.

Maybe someone else can weigh in. It's really not hard to get them to root though. You could still flower them with the rest. Just seems like a waste. Is it a grow space issue?

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Yeah, hopefully so. Right, and I actually plan on cloning the hell out of one of these plants when it's flower time and veging that round of clones. I wish I could toss them in with the mothers, but I'm quite limited on space for both veging and flowering. I'm actually only keeping 3 of these 7, and just doing 3 veging while 3 flower. It's starting to get crowded in the veging area now too, so that's part of my need to get any males found and tossed soon, and also give away any of the extra females.

Hey, old thread, but I topped young plants (4 week from seed). 5 alternating nodes. I cut a small top, and so far, 1 week in, they are healthy looking. They will take time to root, but hey, waste not, want not... it's a plant, it wants to live. Nurture it a bit longer than normal, and if you make the environment right, you should be good...