Does Topping increase your yield

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Magnificient said:
You'd get more colas, but there's only one main cola and if you top you don't get it. What you get is two or more secondary colas.
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In pot-speak you are correct. In actual plant terms, something a bit more botanical, a plant will naturally have one "main leader" and if topped they then have two or more "main leaders," and not multiple secondary leaders.

It is an example of the sort of thing that separates people who know plants from people who just grow pot and rely on made up terms for things.
 
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Anjinsan said:
I topped a few grows...I got four colas each time. (crop right above 2nd node...the initial baby leaves do not count as a node) Would I have gotten one fatter cola if i did not top? Probably.

I'm not topping on current grow...but it's also a different strain so comparing will not be fair.
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If you did not top, and assuming there were no problems during the grow that would negatively alter the final outcome, you would end up with one "fatter cola." But properly topped, and again assuming nothing occurred during the grow that would negatively affect the final outcome, your multiple colas together would outweigh your single "fatter" cola.

So I guess it all boils down to if you prefer one single "fatter" cola over an increased overall yield?
 
klonerone

klonerone

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leave the top and supercrop the limps this way you get a main cola...and a bunch of wannabe's that do a good impression...big yield....plus with supercroping you do not need more veg time..the plant heals itself way faster!
good luck
 
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*BUDS said:
actually you will get less weight, just remember when u damage a plant like topping, it has to put energy into healing that wound.Also u shouldnt be growing strains that need topping , just short/med growing indicas.
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If you topped and ended up with a lesser yield, you did something during the grow that negatively affected the yield, and it was not topping. Proper topping will cause the plant to have more branches and more bud sites and your colas will not be as large as if left a single cola but the multiple colas will add up in weight to be more than that of a single cola and all of that equates to an increased yield.

If you did not see and get that, then you did something wrong and it was not the result of topping.

The very minor "wound," as you call it heals quickly and takes little energy to do it, especially if you know to make the cut at roughly a 45 degree angle rather than straight across the stem. Plants and bushes and trees all heal faster and better when cut/trimmed at an angle rather than straight across the stem or branch.
 
manditroy

manditroy

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I'm going to be able to answer this question definitively in about 5-6 weeks. I have an AK-48 that was topped and the topped part became a clone. It turns out that was the only girl in my garden! I now essentially have TWO of the exact same plant, and therefore they share the same genetics. They have been living under identical conditions and are now 18 days into flowering. One was topped for two colas, and the other is a single cola plant. They are currently within a half inch of each other in height, but already, the double cola plant is looking to be out-flowering the single cola one. If it continues as they are going, I expect the double colas will produce a fair amount more...time will tell.
 
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manditroy said:
I'm going to be able to answer this question definitively in about 5-6 weeks. I have an AK-48 that was topped and the topped part became a clone. It turns out that was the only girl in my garden! I now essentially have TWO of the exact same plant, and therefore they share the same genetics. They have been living under identical conditions and are now 18 days into flowering. One was topped for two colas, and the other is a single cola plant. They are currently within a half inch of each other in height, but already, the double cola plant is looking to be out-flowering the single cola one. If it continues as they are going, I expect the double colas will produce a fair amount more...time will tell.
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If you read Uncle Ben's Topping Techniques thread - https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get.html - and follow it you will see increased yields. If you do it some other way, then you might not see increased yields. Uncle Ben's technique is well tried and well proven to be highly successful.
 
manditroy

manditroy

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Yeah, I put up that link to Uncle Ben every time I read a thread about topping. Trying to spread his sage advice! Of course I followed his instructions, and everything I topped did just what Uncle Ben said it would. Too bad the prettiest 4 cola plants ended up being boys...hurt to toss those babies, but at least I know for next grow that following what Uncle Ben says will produce a beautiful 2 or 4 cola plant, no matter what gender it turns out to be.

My point being on the AK-48s (topped vs. untopped) is that I can see for myself what the plant would have done in both circumstances as it is the SAME plant grown under the same conditions. This will show just how much of a difference the topping made in harvest weight.
 
Bonzing

Bonzing

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Brick Top said:
Why? What if someone prefers a cross that is predominantly sativa or a pure sativa? Why should people only grow short or medium growing indicas? Because that is what you like and what you do?
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i love sativa
ive got a pure sativa topped over the second node :) we shall see in about 2 months how that turns out :P
 
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