Branching this important?

I have a plant I'm experimenting with. Since the first branches I've been topping ALL new growth tips after every other set of fan leaves. My thinking is, the more branches, the more bud. Am I correct? Should I be focusing on branching so much. Will more branches equal more bud or is that not a contributing factor? The plant has already 18 branches at little over 4 inches. So needless to say I've been pruning a lot. Is this good? Please help!

P.S.-I attached a close up of the plant I'm talking about. Sorry about quality but I was trying to show the topped branches.

Thanks again ya'll.
-That Dude

Hi,

You are correct to a degree in thinking that the more branches your plant has, the more bud. You see, the amount of bud a plant can produce is set in stone genetically. In order to reach that amount, the plant must have ideal conditions as well as be large enough to host the buds. By continually topping it, you are essentially making the plant grow larger [horizontally].

Personally, with so many nodes, I would put that plant in a ScrOG setup.


-AR

More branches does not always equate to more buds. I have seen plants with barely any branches and the whole plant was one huge bud. Then again I've seen some topped and/or LST'd plants compairable results, just a much larger plant. You'll just have to experiment and figure out what you like better.

often the more you prune the smaller the buds are, you may have many more but considerably smaller....

if your looking for smaller plants for a smaller grow area and decent yield check into "lowrdier #2"..... fast yielding dwarf plant with good yield and good buzz..

The plants are still in veg so I was gonna do a scrog once they reach flower. The plant I'm doing this with started out just like my other seven. I was topping in order to keep all the branches at the same level to compete to the light. I thought this was best, then with this one plant I figured I would see how many branches I could get. But now, with 18 branches I wonder if I should keep going. Your all right, of corse the plant is bushing out horizontally with a nice flat top and all branches the same height.

So, everyone feel free to chime in: Should topping only be done then to keep the growth tips competing for light? Or will 20 branches actually give more bud then 10 branches if everything else was optimal?

I almost want to keep doing it just to see how many branches I can get of this thing.

Thanks EVERYONE for reply so fast!

Do whichever makes you happy man... There is no right or wrong answer for what your doing...

It will still produce bud with whatever you do, so either way your going to be happy... so keep playing if you want.... You will figure out what your preferences are.

the amount of bud a plant can produce is set in stone genetically

Click to expand...

not true its more the conditions the plant is in
there is no maximum amount a plant can produce, under constant light weed can grow for decades
the genetics of the plant are a factor but, if a plant is bred to have bigger more potent buds that does not mean in same perfect conditions the plant will produce the same amount of bud every time

although there is no way to prove your theory because replicating conditions exactly the same is near impossible and there is no way to get the same seed with the same genetics

so...who knows

light wattage determines how much bud you will have. Veging just makes more sites in order to reach the square footage necessary to hold what the light will allow to be produced.