First time topping plants, what's your thoughts ?

First time topping plants , just did it with bag seed incase it went t*ts up !

What do you guys think ? Cheers.

Your plant looks super happy

Seeing that the (originally secondary) branches aren't quite as developed, maybe next time you could lst the top ones apart a bit to give them more light - not sure this will still help on this one in flower, since they seem to be past the stretch now. personally I'd do a bit of defoliation to get more light to the buds so you max your yield as is
Cheers!

first off plant looks happy you got that part down (that's the biggest problem folks have) I'm guessing your around week 5 or so? Calliandra offers good advice that will work well, however I'm not much of an LST person… if I'm doing anything of that sort its scrog so I offer my advice below.

I'm assuming you just topped once hence the 2 main colas? What I do is 2 toppings minimal, I top let the 2 main branches grow a bit than top again. Typically by the time the new growth starts on the 2nd topping a few branches below have caught up in height and I now have 6-8 tops creating a nice bush.

Nothing wrong with the way you did it, but take my advice for maximum yield, also that lower branch in the bottom right I wouldn't remove it now but for future I would remove that around day 10 of flower when it was obvious it wasn't catching up.

Not criticizing by any means just my 2 cents

calliandra said:

Your plant looks super happy

Seeing that the (originally secondary) branches aren't quite as developed, maybe next time you could lst the top ones apart a bit to give them more light - not sure this will still help on this one in flower, since they seem to be past the stretch now. personally I'd do a bit of defoliation to get more light to the buds so you max your yield as is
Cheers!

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Dont listen to this guy. You dont want to defoliate your plants while theyre flowering. Ive tested it and watched it fail every time. When you have two clones next to each other try it. Youll see.

Edit* this far into flower. Early flower cleanup is nice so you dont have lar at the bottom.

Firstly thanks for the replies ! One of my first posts on here so good to get a response

@calliandra thanks ! I did wonder why they were falling behind, I'm limited space wise so I put it down to light and space.


@Grojak yeah im just coming to the end of the 4th week, ive been pretty lucky with this one , no major problems considering I got the seed from a bag ! I think I'll take your advice and go for a second top next time round! Just need a bit more space for her to bush out. Also that one to the bottom may end up being a sample as I'm not expecting a massive yield.

@Alienwidow I'm not a fan of removing too much leaf anyways as you can see ! I'm too afraid I'll stress it too much in veg or early flower if I go pulling things off too much !

Another pic for you guys , any ideas what it could be ? Smells like lemons !! I can only hope ey !

Eltee420 said:

Firstly thanks for the replies ! One of my first posts on here so good to get a response

@calliandra thanks ! I did wonder why they were falling behind, I'm limited space wise so I put it down to light and space.


@Grojak yeah im just coming to the end of the 4th week, ive been pretty lucky with this one , no major problems considering I got the seed from a bag ! I think I'll take your advice and go for a second top next time round! Just need a bit more space for her to bush out. Also that one to the bottom may end up being a sample as I'm not expecting a massive yield.

@Alienwidow I'm not a fan of removing too much leaf anyways as you can see ! I'm too afraid I'll stress it too much in veg or early flower if I go pulling things off too much !

Another pic for you guys , any ideas what it could be ? Smells like lemons !! I can only hope ey !
View attachment 3544680

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Theres a million types of weed and they all look the same. Ill show you something on a larger scale about the whole taking leaves thing

This plant looks pretty big huh? Well just about everything inside that cage was larf. I couldnt get inside because the cage was wired on and stuck in the plant. If i would have been able to i would have cleaned the bottom out so the plant didnt have to worry about trying to flower there. Only where it would produce what i wanted it too. I didnt take anything off before it started flowering so that it would get this big,and it worked as you can see. But i bet id have gotten a better usable yeild if id have cleaned up the bottom. Now in a small cab like yours its not as important but doing a clean out in bigger plants can save you alot of useless trimming and make the tops produce better. Just some food for thought.

Alienwidow said:

Theres a million types of weed and they all look the same. Ill show you something on a larger scale about the whole taking leaves thing

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Fair point , stab in the dark mind, nothing ill lose sleep over ....

As for your second comment I do agree with what you are saying , especially on a plant the size of in your pic. I wasn't keen on doing it my grow this time with it being my first attempt at topping. I'll keep your advice in mind though as it is good and will Def help me In future , let's be honest .. who doesn't love nice big tops !

Eltee420 said:

I'm not a fan of removing too much leaf anyways as you can see ! I'm too afraid I'll stress it too much in veg or early flower if I go pulling things off too much !

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Yeah, I used to think that way too - and honestly, there are some extreme defoliation examples out there that I'd readily file under "plant cruelty" (even if they do go on to create enormous yields!)

I have since changed my mind, under the condition that the degree of defoliation is adequate to the plant in whatever phase she may be.

For example, in the flowering stage the plant will not grow any new leaves to replace the ones removed.
So to keep it low stress (the "bit" I meant), defoliation at this point has to be done very selectively, really making sure to remove juuust what is needed to give the lower buds that bit more of light.

On the lovely lady in question here, that would mean: nevermind the outer leaves, look at the uppermost inwards-pointing leaves and see which are blocking the most light - it could be just a very few. And those few could still make a difference for the lower buds, increasing your yield without your having to have more plants or space to spread the one you have out.

So much for theory End of the day, you have to feel comfortable with it, and probably a better time to first try it out would be the veg phase, in which the plant is growing new leaves all the time anyways.

But considering your tight space, I do get the feel that some sort of plant training could help you max out what you have.
Just my 2g lol
cheers!

@calliandra

That does make total sense ! and I can see already areas I could lighten up to allow more light to them lower areas and bud sites.

I think I could handle a few and see how it goes for me , this plamt is mostly experimental as I'm not a greatly experienced grower.




I do want to expand my experience with training cause I do like a bit of hands on stuff !

EDIT** I think a setup upgrade is I'm order for the next grow

Thanks again !

The defoliation debate lol I've seen somewhere a guy who swears his yields bigger when he does like 70% defoliation, I can't do it.

However to what Cali is saying I too defoliate in this manner (some plants much more than others). After I'm done cleaning up the bottoms (lollipop ping) and letting the plant stretch a bit (4-5 days) I go in and remove the big inner and upper fan leafs that cover the remaining lower buds I left on. I continue this practice all the way through harvest even when using a scrog setup. I typically take off maybe 5-10 large fan leafs the first time than just randomly pick the bastards as I see fit… I'm typically done doing this by about week 4 but I'll continue as needed.

Pro tip: don't bite or trim too short your dominant hands thumb nail… master the thumb defoliation technique, such a time saver….

Eltee420 said:

I can see already areas I could lighten up to allow more light to them lower areas and bud sites.
I think I could handle a few and see how it goes for me , this plamt is mostly experimental as I'm not a greatly experienced grower.
I do want to expand my experience with training cause I do like a bit of hands on stuff !

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haha, shall I be your temptress then?!

Grojak said:

Pro tip: don't bite or trim too short your dominant hands thumb nail… master the thumb defoliation technique, such a time saver….

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Good call, Grojak
To remove a leaf, just grab its stem with your fingertips as close to its base as possible but staying clear of any buds, and pinch it off with your thumbnail.

It doesn't matter if a part of the stem stays on, it will dry up and fall of of itself.
Here's an example from my current grow - look at the NL#5xHaze on the right, in the bottom left section of the plant there's a stump of a fan leaf I removed so as not to damage the shoot forming at its base:

Oh and as a rule of thumb, only remove leaves that have stems

Do share pix if you decide to go for it, Eltee!!

Looks good, I always top.

There are people who say the plant is going to produce what its going to produce, and I think that statement is true.

I've tried them all....lst, fim, even the extreme defol technique mentioned. Personally I think the people that can do that kind of defoliation have run that strain millions of times and have everything pitch perfect. They also know that particular strain in and out. Some plants don't like being messed with very much, I think its wrong to blanket statement to much because different strains grow.....well differently.

Doing a bit of bushwhacking and cleaning up bottom crap is pretty text book for all plants though. Most of the time, if it doesn't increase your yield (which it may or may not)...if anything it just makes for bigger fruits and easier cleanup.

Basically I think topping and defoliating makes your colas more compact (as a side effect they may get bigger if you have fewer competing colas) your yield increases cause that larf is now on the top where it needs to be instead of the bottoms. The sure fire way to produce more though has more to do with time, good growth and strain IMO.

@Grojak
Haha I can imagine the debate is a lengthy one , I bet everyone has their own ideas of what works... As for the nail thihk i think that may take some work , I'm a biter! Haha Would fine scissors do the job ok ?

@calliandra
Yeah it looks that way !! Haha it is tempting though , healthy plant and bigger bud sites ...who wouldn't ey

I think I'll have a rumage today and post some pics up later , I still have some weeks of flowering left so It may help , be good experience neways.

@smegpot

I do agree with your point in saying the plant is only going to produce what it is going to produce (im guessing genes) and some plants respond better etc ... As for topping in particular I can see in this instance on my plant thr main colas are Def more compact and tighter then they would've been if left to grow naturally. Gives a more appealing plant to look at imo if no more yield wise.

Cheers

Right so today I've had a little go at allowing some more light to my bud sites as I've been chatting to you about , temptation got the better of me and I think it's gone well

Only removed like 4 fans and seems to have opened up some more light to that lower bud.

Here's a updated pic of the canopy @calliandra what do you think ?

Cheers , time for a

congrats Elttee, and glad you enjoyed it too!
To me she looks likes she's going, "ahhh!! smiles smiles" lol

Yup, not only does the light get to that bottom one, I get the impression two little juicy-looking buds right behind that bamboo stick are getting more too now

What can I say - welcome to the light side? haha

As for "a plant is going to produce what it will produce", yes I also think every plant has a maximum "genetically conditioned" yield - but as we are creating an artificial world for them, our role is to assist them in unfolding their full potential under the conditions we can offer at any given time
So topping doesn't double yield by splitting the main cola, but the two colas will yield more because the buds can fully develop. Same goes for removing those leaves - I really look forward to seeing how your grow goes on!

cheers

Meh... genetics, genetics, genetics.

I grow hundreds of plants under ideal conditions. Some get huge, some stay small.

Find the right plant for ur environment. Minimise the work involved. Let the plant do most of the work.

Yeah I'm pretty pleased with how it's gone , I think she will too !

Thanks again for the advice it is much appreciated ! I will definitely keep you posted on how it turns out , I'm hoping to have her curing by late December , may even be ready by new year (wishful thinking mind)

Anyways I can't wait to try it , can't believe how well its been going from bag seed !

Thanks

Farmer's Hat said:

Meh... genetics, genetics, genetics.

I grow hundreds of plants under ideal conditions. Some get huge, some stay small.

Find the right plant for ur environment. Minimise the work involved. Let the plant do most of the work.

Click to expand...

Haha yeah that's the dream , my setup limits my environment , not to mention the shit climate I'm living in !
Btw the pic is nuts ! Haha

Edit ** I'm going to look into cooler climate genetics for next project

You're welcome, and thanks too - it's fun ruminating this stuff over together