How do you top? The ONLY thing I have topped is the BigBud, none of the others ever had any training/topping/fim-ing whatsoever. This is my first run w/ the Afgooey so we'll see lol. And yea, even with never topping the Afgooey, they have like 10-15 tops each. Grape Ape is the only one with a single cola so I'll see what difference there is in harvest weight when the time comes.
i top nearly as soon as i put my clone in, maybe day 3-4, this immediately stops vertical growth, and straight away and instead of having 1 main coming out from the top, you could have 6-10, depending on how many growing nodes you have before removing the top., then i wait...... still waiting now, in the next weekish, keep an eye out, i will give advance notice when I'm about to do this, as i WANT people to learn this technique. if they choose to do so ofcourse. at about week 4-5 i top again, all the highest branches, i step back and look at the plant carefully and try to visualize what branches are growing the fastest, and what ones need catching up.
ok, the ones that are around the centre of the bushiness growing outwards will still have much stretch to do, they may, or may not reach the top, i go up 1 level, and i remove maybe 4 clones from this 3 quarter level. (bottom branches always seem to stretch more) then i go ahead and dive in to the top middle section, search for the closest branches growing towards the light usually around 4 mains maybe 6, i chop the right down, i take a large clone from each growth, maybe up to 4-6 nodes, large leaves and all, making sure i leave atleast 3 nodes of growth for new branches, so instead of having 1 branch to train away from the light, i will have 3 mains from that 1 branch. , they all will indeed be as big as each other, dividing the cells, not the plants structural growth (this is misunderstood my many) and becasue the plant is soo big, she responds almost imediately and all the energy will be put into making those new branches grow as quickly as possible to reach that light!!! i may take upto 10 clones depending on how the plant is growing, i want an even rate so when i flower., all nodes are at equal growth...(buds same size), equal amounts of nutrients, equal amounts of light,, so on an so forth. this is horticulture science. In no way does this harm your yield. it exponentially increases your yield. I notice alot more growth and bigger buds on the branches i chopped down, with alot more bud sites, and a more more even canopy. BUT, i do select my branches extremely carefully, and take the desired amount of nodes, not for cloning purposes , but for even growth, this is of utmost importance to me,as i dont want some buds reaching for the roof, and some just growing spindly. this has to be timed right down to the very day. if i flip a day or 2 late, i mess my growth pattern up entirely, and i miss my only chance of even growth.
if you have any questions. i will try and answer them to the best of my knowledge. i was taught by a guy, who i swear was put on this planet to grow weed. he just knows the plant, and is not worried doing this method. he considers it THE ONLY method!! and told me to trust him, i did, and boy oh boy. it' soo hard to listen to someone when it feels so wrong! my plant was in his hands the first grow (not published) but i watched EVERYTHING. IN SHOCK
By the way, i am not saying everyone should do this, it takes patience, and i am no pro at this, but getting better, but I DO understand how this works now, as i have seen both methods. plus i got a pat on my back from my 'teacher' very humbly saying, good work the other day, i saw the look in his eye, he was shocked to, he hasnt seen this, he gave me the cut, he's shocked let me tell you