Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
Nice. 4 colas aka "trunks", all showing apical dominance.
Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas
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Know One
Well-Known Member
Hi UB,
1st, sorry it took so long to respond.
I haven't cut or pulled off any leaves as I am a huge proponent of keeping as much foliage as possible right to the end.
This Jesus OG was from seed, topped at 2nd node, flowered for 2 weeks, Back to veg for 2 weeks to take babies and back into flower (again).
Today on day 38-
Super Snow Lotus 1
2
Jesus OG 1
2
3
I do realize that the yield will be less for this round due to regenerating, but I am already looking forward to putting several of the babies that have already rooted in for the next round and for future grows.
Your advice is always appreciated UB.
Hope all is well with you.
Peace111
Member
With 276 pages I can't really check if this has already been asked, lol, but sorry if it has been.
I have never topped or fimmed before, so this will be my first time. Here is my question to you Uncle Ben:
If the leaves on my first true node have some brown patches and are not in good shape (possibly on their way to dying off), should I still cut above the 2nd true node, or should I go above the 3rd true node so the 2 nodes below have all healthy leaves?
I have never topped or fimmed before, so this will be my first time. Here is my question to you Uncle Ben:
If the leaves on my first true node have some brown patches and are not in good shape (possibly on their way to dying off), should I still cut above the 2nd true node, or should I go above the 3rd true node so the 2 nodes below have all healthy leaves?
Uncle Ben
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Pots are too small, especially for going a second round. Before transitioning from a flowering response to veg, upcan to a bigger pot so you'll get a nice flush of roots before flowering again. It's a perfect opportunity.
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
Gonna answer with a question - "where are the dormant foliar buds located and are they possibly damaged due to poor culture?" IOW, go back to the first post please. Learn plant anatomy.
Know One
Well-Known Member
I was afraid this was going to happen with this girl, and one other. I went ahead and grabbed a few 5 gallon buckets and will be going with a mix of Perlite and RW chunks. I've used 100% Perlite in 3 gallon pots before with really nice results (aside from decent support) and frequent watering.
I'll throw some pics up soon. Thanks
MuckyDucky
Well-Known Member
I just finished topping 3 Indica dom plants for 4 colas. I have tried this 2 other times with Sativa dom plants and I got 4 mains but I had to scrog them because of height issues. Hopefully I will not run out of room this time with the CAP ebb&flo on the floor with the Indica doms.
These plants are 22 days old and were already over 13" tall. Also note the hollow stems.. normal or something I am doing not quite right??
Left to right - Blue Rhino, Desert Diesel and Bubba Kush.
Before
After
Blue Rhino Before
Blue Rhino after
These plants are 22 days old and were already over 13" tall. Also note the hollow stems.. normal or something I am doing not quite right??
Left to right - Blue Rhino, Desert Diesel and Bubba Kush.
Before
After
Blue Rhino Before
Blue Rhino after
jacksthc
Well-Known Member
Well done ub you topped a plant and flowered it off out side
Billy Madison
Well-Known Member
Tried finding my balance in feeding with my first run, dutch passion blueberry, did burn it some, but oh man how I love this method.
THANK YOU UNCLE BEN!!! Also use grow as my base in flower thanks to you and homebrewer...and dyna gro...
THANK YOU UNCLE BEN!!! Also use grow as my base in flower thanks to you and homebrewer...and dyna gro...
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Billy Madison
Well-Known Member
I did burn the crap out of it, im a nooooob, but it was fun seeing the plants response...
This Blueberry ended up with two mains
This Blueberry ended up with two mains
Billy Madison
Well-Known Member
Thank you Uncle Ben, will do.
MuckyDucky
Well-Known Member
I don't have a repost but
This is where you top it after the plant is old enough to have 6 - 8 total node pairs. This plant has been topped right above the 2nd node pair.
This is another view right after topping. It was done on 8/5/14... looks bad now.
This is the same plant. The photo was taken on 8/9/14, only 4 days after it was topped.
MuckyDucky
Well-Known Member
Uncle Ben, You have said that thinnng the large fan leaves will only hurt your total harvest. I topped 3 plants in a 2x4' area and they are filling up the tent. They are already 30" tall, have only been flowering for 7 days and look like below. Is this too thick? Would thinning be beneficial if you have a very thick canopy?
jacksthc
Well-Known Member
Your plants look really good, I would lollipop the bottom 1ft
So your left with just over 2ft canopy
zander19
Well-Known Member
done what you said an got 4 tops on 5 plants. ty for the info brotherHowdy!
Based on quite a few questions about topping I've received here: https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/13820-fimming-topping-101-a-12.html I decided to reproduce a thread on my favorite topping method published at cann.com about 10 years ago. Even though I've got much better photos from many latter grows both indoor and outdoor, I'm gonna stick with the old photos from the original thread. Lighting is HPS from start to finish with the exception of using 4' long shop fluors from germ until about 2 weeks. Some pix were taken outdoors for better resolution thanks to an old camcorder I was using.
Selecting the point for topping to get 4 main colas -
To get 4 main colas, let your seedling or cutting (clone) grow to about 5-6 nodes and pinch out (cut) the stem just above the 2nd true node. The node where the cotyledons attach doesn't count. The result will be a redistribution of the auxins and other hormones that normally collect in the tissue of the terminal leader's tip. These ho moans will be redistributed to dormant buds that reside in the nodal axis where the leaf petiole attaches to the "trunk", below the cut. The new foliar output response will be quick (within 24 hrs., see photo below) if you have a healthy growing seedling and will be your future main colas - 4 instead of the usual 1:
Here's a photo of the same plant about 8 weeks into flowering. The plant is about 42" tall, has 4 main colas with an abundance of large, healthy fan leaves.
This is an indoor shot just prior to harvest showing the colas bulking up quite nicely. Notice how the weight of the heavy colas is naturally pulling them apart, which opens the plant up so that light can penetrate the interior of the canopy. This is the same principle used by fruit orchard managers who create an open vase profile for their trees in order to increase production. This profile also has a side benefit of providing good interior air movement which reduces fungal/rot pressures.
The plant after harvest showing the branching scaffold and dominant 4 main cola "trunks", opposing nodes one right above the other. Smaller secondary branches also provided good bud production. This plant yielded over 10 oz of cured bud.
~ Topping for 2 main colas ~
Pinch out the seedling above the 1st true node to get 2 main colas:
Any questions, fire away.
Happy gardening,
Uncle Ben
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