Topping:
[FONT="]Topping is done to keep the plants small and bushy, promote "branching", and increase the overall yields of the plants. With higher overall yields, a grower will successfully harvest many more buds, or floral clusters, and from smaller, bushier and more compact plants.
To the indoor grower that does not use this technique, but allows their plants to grow tall, it can be a waste of their artificial lighting, and growing spaces potential. With its own natural growth pattern, and without the benefit of topping, your lady will have one main central "kola" bud, at peak flowering. Several other small branches will grow outwards, down its main stalk, with much smaller bud tops.
The natural growth pattern is to grow upwards at its main stalk. From this main central stalk will begin to grow side branches. The side branches come out as tiny shoots with leaves, and usually there is a pair of them on opposite sides of the main central stalk.
When the seed leaves have long dyed off on the main stalk: the first true seed leaves commonly can or will, wilt, dry up, or die off of the plant as well. Once healthy new vegetative growth begins the rate of growth can be very fast, with excellent lighting supplied.
As the new growth increases the light reaching the lower portions of the plants becomes less. Thusly it is common to see first leafs wilting and dying etc. Growers that see leaves wilting or dying, etc, will opt to pulling them off of the plants.
The main central stalk is topped of just above the branches that are coming out below it. A pair of scissors or your fingers can be used. Remove the new growth that you see getting ready to grow outwards. (Once the topping is done you can remove the two upper fans leaves as well.) I choose not to do this. This will aid in the light getting to the newer vegetative growth, and other shoot tips, down the main central stalk.
I do not recommend topping before the 3rd node appears. Nodes are the spaces on Marys stem that the vegetation grows out from. The space between nodes is called internodes.
Once you have topped your plant(s) the younger shoots will rapidly begin growing. With the removal of the main central stalk the lower braches grow more. With topping completed we keep the plants on their regular lighting and feeding schedules.
Now each new shoot tip will essentially grow as the main stalk did, however the growth is not concentrated to only one central stalk. So as each new shoot grows outward new shoots will grow from each one of them stalks as well.
Therefore topping can be done again, and again, and as each shoot becomes a growing tip with other shoots forming down its stalk, it is removed. By completing these topping or pruning tactics, a grower can achieve any desired height, or desired bushiness, they desire in their plants.[/FONT]