Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas

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Uncle Ben

Uncle Ben

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ElectricPineapple said:
its my understanding that the energy the plant would have used for that one single cola would just be redistributed to the 4 colas, only increasing yield a little bit.
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I'm not sure what you mean by the often used, loose term "energy". Only energy I know of is from photosynthesis - the production of simple and complex carbos, proteins, etc.

Four colas should produce 4 times the leaf mass of one cola. It's leaf mass that drives production. 4X the leaf mass=4X the bud production. Of course it's got to balanced out with root mass.

UB
 
ElectricPineapple

ElectricPineapple

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yes i was referring to photosynthesis as referred to energy. i think because i am a science major i forget to mention how the energy is being made because i assume everyone else know where the energy is coming from. as to the limit of the energy was based on the amount of leaves and leaf mass. but you did answer my question and thank you. if it creates 4 times the leaf mass then yes it would greatly increase yield.

Thank you Uncle Ben, you are truly a master when it comes to growing anything, especially cannabis

Pine
 
J

jjfoo

Active Member
ElectricPineapple said:
because i am a science major i forget to mention how the energy is being made because i assume everyone else know where the energy is coming from.
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actually, energy isn't being made but is being transformed

energy is never created or destroyed...

see: the conservation of energy and the first laws of thermodynamics
 
Uncle Ben

Uncle Ben

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ElectricPineapple said:
yes i was referring to photosynthesis as referred to energy. i think because i am a science major i forget to mention how the energy is being made because i assume everyone else know where the energy is coming from. as to the limit of the energy was based on the amount of leaves and leaf mass. but you did answer my question and thank you. if it creates 4 times the leaf mass then yes it would greatly increase yield.

Thank you Uncle Ben, you are truly a master when it comes to growing anything, especially cannabis

Pine
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Thanks. Now, let's take this a bit further regarding this "energy" - food reserves. Probably best to compare the stored food reserves of say a grapevine (perennial) and an annual, cannabis. Regarding grapes, if you split the "energy" stored from the previous year's wood between 10 shoots versus 20 due as you do your winter pruning, naturally the 10 buds left will produce more robust and vigorous shoots than if 20 buds had been left. You're kinda splitting up this energy. I think some kind of law of diminishing returns applies to cannabis. (That's a feeling not a fact.) One of the reasons why I chose 4 versus topping above the 8th node and getting a bushier plant is the latter "thins" down this energy a bit regarding the plant's other resources. IOW, one cola is not enough for me, 4 is plenty regarding this balancing act, and that's all growing pot is, a balancing act. You must find your own program as it relates to general botany, your garden's resources and such.

Back to energy.....I often advise folks to provide at least a 15F differential from day to night time temps. You don't want the plant burning up all of its daily carbo production to respiration, you want it to go toward cellulose production.

UB
 
BudgetGrower87

BudgetGrower87

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its gonna be fun watchin it grow, their is a link in my sig if you feel like checkin it out through flowering. @ day 31 1st day of flower is today
 
rupert pupkin

rupert pupkin

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i have a question. i have some strains in the cloner that are gonna come up as mothers, should i leave them alone or top them? of course i'm lookin to pull the most clones possible from each mother.
thanks
 
T

ToKeDAILY

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Beautiful plants just beautiful. im going to try this with one of mine. if all goes well i might just do this from now on, this looks like a great way to increase yield. and everyone is trying to do that.
 
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buckwinkle

Active Member
Hey Ben i had a question. I'm not sure if you have covered this already, but i've gone through many pages from this thread but i couldn't really find it.

I'd first like to say that i plan on using this topping technique, amazing. Although...

You recommend topping at the 5th or 6th node and i understand completely why. I've noticed that with the growth of one node you can see the next starting to form. now when you say to top when the plant has the 5th or 6th node, does this mean that you just have to identify that it is starting to grow the 5th or 6th... or does the node need to be completely formed. i realize the only reason you need to wait is for the plant to get a health root system going so it can bounce back quickly. The reason i ask this is because i'm going into my 3rd week of growth from the time it sprouted and my plants all have the 5th node starting and 1 of them is already going on its 7th so i know that one is ready. i just wanted to do them all at the same time, and i read that the 3rd and 4th week of vegetative growth is the time when you want to create a stress free enviroment to insure that you get a better ratio of females to males. (i.e. blue light as apposed to red, lower temps as opposed to high, humid rather than dry, stress vs no stress). Also it goes on to say that the 2nd week of vegetative growth would be the best time to do any pruning so that the 3rd and 4th weeks are stress free.

I'm growing 3 plants all diff strains. 2 of them bagseed and 1 grape so i'd like to get 3 diff females going and i figured your topping technique is an awsome way to get a better yield out of these ladies

I'm sorry if this is a hassle to answer lol you've got plenty of people asking stupid questions, but your advice and knowledge is appreciated. what do you think?
 
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freddog23

Active Member
sorry im kinda new to this and need some help. i know uncle ben says that the node with the cotyledons doesnt count. does that mean that the first node is the one with the first set of fan leaves? which really looks like the third node right? in other words the node that has the leaves with no marijuana shape does not count?
 
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freddog23

Active Member
nvm i think i got it lol. anyway before i found this thread i tried the FIM technique. and now i realized i cut at the top of the 4th node. can i let if grow back up to the the 5th node and than cut back at the second node for 4 colas? or should i just cut it at the second node, without letting it grow some more? i would appreciate the responce. im new to growing and im glad i grew plenty of plants just in case i mad mistakes like these. so i have other to expiriment with.
 
DaveCoulier

DaveCoulier

Well-Known Member
freddog23 said:
nvm i think i got it lol. anyway before i found this thread i tried the FIM technique. and now i realized i cut at the top of the 4th node. can i let if grow back up to the the 5th node and than cut back at the second node for 4 colas? or should i just cut it at the second node, without letting it grow some more? i would appreciate the responce. im new to growing and im glad i grew plenty of plants just in case i mad mistakes like these. so i have other to expiriment with.
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Your plant will not regrow to a 5th node on the central stalk. Once you top a plant, the side shoots grow out. Now those you could retop later on for an even bushier plant.

Just go ahead and cut back above the second node now. If you are still somewhat confused about where to top, check out the last 5 or 6 pages here and there probably is a picture with a diagram.
 
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