medicine21
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Is this technique good for a large bushy plant SCROG or are you better off topping higher to get more branches to spread for SCROG?
Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas
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Life Goes On
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I'd top in the same place but instead of waiting till the plant hits 6 nodes top above the 2nd node as soon as the 3rd node forms. I have used both techniques and I think you would have better luck with a SCROG if you did it this way as you get MUCH more side branching. Although if you did it UB's way essentially you would have 4 "stems" you could LST and if you did that I'm sure it would force the plant into side branching as the 4 stems would be growing horizontally instead of vertically. Now if you let your plant grow to the 3rd node then top it down to above the 2nd node you typically can not control the amount of main cola's the plant will put out. I did it to 3 of the plants I am currently growing and I ended up with 2 main cola's on one, 3 on another and 4 on the last one. But it does make the plants MUCH more bushier than UB's technique HOWEVER I prefer UB's technique. It just seems cleaner to me without all the side branching and 4 MASSIVE main cola's. As far as yield is concerned I have not harvested yet but will let you know when I do what the results on yield are.
As of now tho it looks as if yeild is going to be VERY similar. My question is why SCROG? If space is an issue for you well let me just tell you this look on page 366 of this thread. You'll see a post titled "Bud Porn" That's my BubbleBerry topped the UB way and is ONLY 30" (2 and 1/2 ft.)tall. I know it looks much taller in the pic but it is completely possible to keep your plants under 3 feet using UB's technique and still get AMAZING results as far as yield is concerned. The only reason my plant ended up at 30" is because I gave her another month of veg time after I topped her but had I switched to 12/12 right after topping I'm positive she would have finished at about a foot and a half instead of two and a half. I just view SCROG, SOG and LST as unconventional, unnecessary and MUCH more work than what it's worth. I have yet to see a SCROG, SOG or LST'ed plant yield much more than my plants grown the UB way! Of course SCROG and SOG are all based on a ton of tiny plants being grown but when I base my grow on averages SCROG and SOG don't compare to UB's technique!
Life Goes On
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I wouldn't be so sure about your statement as I ALWAYS get branching from the cotyledon site. I just usually cut them off as they as well as the buds end up very small. But yes for the purpose of UB's technique NO you wouldn't want to count the cotyledon site as a node.
medicine21
Active Member
Thanks for your insights. I don't know about "SCROG being based on growing tiny plants"... Have you seen the Under Current threads doing massive SCROG bushes? I have 5g bubble buckets and I am trying to figure out how to fill a 4x4 area or larger with just 4 plants. Space is not really an issue, but I want to fill this area with an even canopy and trying to figure out the best training technique to do so.
Life Goes On
Active Member
Yes your right about scrog not being about tiny plants. Scrog is more of a LSTing technique but instead of using string to tie down your plants your using the screen. Either way this man see's it as extra unnecessary work! Let me tell ya my set up. I am growing in a 5x5 tent and 4 plants will pretty much fill that tent without any screens! Granted I could fit 9 in there total but that is WAY to many plants for that space as cramming that many plants into that little space limits light penetration to the bottom of the canopy to pretty much 0. With just the 4 plants in there it leaves enough room in between each plant to allow adequate light penetration to the bottom of the canopy! Also if canopy management is your goal then you came to the right thread! If 4 plants is all your growing in a 4x4 space then I would say use UB's technique with NO screen! I promise your canopy will be nice and even for MAXIMUM light penetration. Oh also if space is not an issue for you then I would recommend vegging for another month AFTER you top them. This allows for maximum plant size within the limits of my tent. But if you are aiming for a 3 month turn around time (or less) then you could switch to 12/12 right after topping. I prefer letting them veg the extra month as the wait is WELL worth it! Oh and if you are using bubble buckets another thing you might consider is WILL USING A SCREEN BE WORTH IT! I've never grown DWC but I can imagine that using bubble buckets in a scrog setup might be somewhat of a MAJOR pain in the ass when it comes to maintenance and upkeep!
Rcb
Well-Known Member
hmm well i have read about this technique a couple times and ive read this whole thead probly twice and well i decided to do it a to a plant i had that had 6 nodes and well i did a FIM(fuck i missed) top and well where i topped it started to grow taller just the little stem peice it grew i would saw a cm and now it shot out two branchs but since i toped, the branchs undernearth caught up so i now havea 4 top is this is what is suppose to happen am i fine or should i do something about it? please and thank you
medicine21
Active Member
This is recirculating bubble buckets with a central rez that can be drained without lifting of course.
ozgirl
Active Member
Hi, can someone please help me with which is the first true node,I want to top today. As you can see there is the cotyledons, then a single point leaf above that, and then 2 opposing stems with 3 point leaves, and the next up is 2 opposing stems with 5 point leaves.
I think it is the stems with the 3 point leaves, but was unsure because they are small leaves, with less points then the others, and im not sure if that matters, sorry if this is a silly noob Q but I want to get it right.
Looking at the pic more, if it was mine I would cut above the 3rd node.
drekoushranada
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Hey Uncle Ben for those who grow with a vertical light what is your take on topping?
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
Only vertical light I do is the sun. Vertical or horizontal lighting, shouldn't make any difference. It's all about hormonal responses, see post #1.
xxRolandxx
Active Member
Thank you Uncle Ben! Here is the results of your topping technique (and a bit of a tribute with the picture). There is only 3 heads because 1 of the heads was used to make 10 clones early on. After the clones took she was flowered. My 3 headed beast, thanks to Uncle Bens Topping Tech.
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
And a beast she is! Have fun!
Honkeycorn
Well-Known Member
Good day UB,
Here are some pic`s from my first attempt of your topping technique, I tried it with four white widow`s
From yesterday:
From a 2 weeks ago:
I was wondering if you could help me do a better job next time
They all had 4 main cola`s, But the way three of them turned out was 2 shorter(3ft) and two taller(5ft) cola`s. The fourth plant ended up being all four identical height cola`s(4ft).
How can I ensure they turn out more uniform and all colas are closer to the same height?
Here are some pic`s from my first attempt of your topping technique, I tried it with four white widow`s
From yesterday:
From a 2 weeks ago:
I was wondering if you could help me do a better job next time
They all had 4 main cola`s, But the way three of them turned out was 2 shorter(3ft) and two taller(5ft) cola`s. The fourth plant ended up being all four identical height cola`s(4ft).
How can I ensure they turn out more uniform and all colas are closer to the same height?
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