Topping?

I was wondering what the point of topping is? Is it like cloning basically?

no. when you top you get 2 shoots instead of one cloning is wayy different... basically 2 branches not just 1

You can "TOP" without cloning the top... just lope it off... You can also control the height of plant with a good "TOP"... if said plant is 12" and 7 node tall... you can cut it to four node/branches and it will have all the energy to grow put towards that and not being taller... hope this helps... Good Luck...

chino7564 said:

I was wondering what the point of topping is? Is it like cloning basically?

Click to expand...

So you can "TOP" it, and then clone the top...if ya like...

I get it. Not a bad idea. When should you top?

when there is about 3-5 nodes some ppl do it earlier than that i only have 3 nodes and i topped my lil girl

Got a pic or vid tutorial? Don't wanna chop it off to soon.

youtube has tutorials, I'm sure. It's scary cutting your plant the first time. It's like magic, though. Let's say you have 4 sets of leaves... cut the top right off. You can't mess it up. Over the next few days, it'll grow two brand new tops. You could even then top the new tops. I have a plant I topped like 10 times, it has tops everywhere, trying to fill out a scrog. Dive in, cut the top off.

There is a lot of hype in topping bro. If you have limited height space, then you might wanna top early. If no hight restrictions, wait till your plant fully established before popping off nodes or cutting with scissors. Trust me you'll get way bigger fan leaves and over-all kolas if you wait. Look into supercropping. Good luck

I like to top just above the 7th set of leaves this give me 14 branches, then clone bottom 4 branches. This leaves me with 10 strong growing tips.

Seems like most top at 4th node.

I like topping while the plant is still young, usually when it starts growing the 4th node I lop it off. I feel that if i cut off more then one node at a time then i have wasted time in veg growing those nodes. Some people do grow to 7 nodes before topping but usually this is so they can take a 3 node clone.
Topping is done to control the height of the plant creating shorter bushier plants with multiple colas, this can allow control over how tall your plants get while also creating a more even canopy for lighting.

I wait until about 6 nodes then chop it off above the 3rd I take clones from the first true node and depending on how many plants I am putting in my room I may top the 2 top tops and tie them down

Topping your plants has gotten a bad rap. If done correctly it can and will increase quantity. I have done extensive research on topping on a number of fruit bearing plants. We found that topping too early in their cycle results in hormonal imbalances, and unstable or unbalanced growth. There is a gentleman here with a topping technique called "get 4 main colas"or something like that. This technique, although it works, does a couple of other thing that no one without experience would see. One, splitting hormones early can cause an imbalance causing a whole slew of issues from mild stunting to a full blown necrosis. Secondly, stressing them when they are still young will lengthen their time in veg thus increasing your overall timeline. Topping 7-10 days before putting into flower was found to be the best scenario, It allows proper time for re-growth, didn't stress or affect the time in veg. The results speak for themselves. Try a small side by side, you will see the results in your first attempt. One week doesn't sound like much but adding them all together will result in an extra harvest each year. JAS

I plan on my ladies finishing at around 48 inches tall. My flower room is set up so the lights perch correctly about 18 inches above the plant tops at that size. So I top or usually FIM most of my vegging clones at 2-3 weeks in dirt. Experience has shown me that plants topped or FIM'd then will finish near the 48 inches I want. But height control is secondary to increasing bud sites as a reason to top/FIM. Basically, when you remove one growing point -- 2 grow to replace it. So, every time you top or FIM early like me you are increasing the number of growing points = bud sites. Top for size, FIM to increase quantity. Works 4 me. BigSteve.

taking a plant and making it have mulitple colas, instead of 1 huge one, you will have up to 4 that are still large and most the time is more bud thats why people do it, Not everyone is a topper though trust me! its whatever you like to do, try it on some of your plants maybe some bagseed or something incase you FIM ( F&#% i missed ) lol GOOD LUCK bud!