I've switched over to topping. I've been getting better results. I top them at about 8 inches and once they get to a foot I chop off all the lower branches and fan leaves leaving only the tops. It will look like you're going to get less because there is less density but all of you real weight is in the tops. You eliminate all the little popcorn buds and you save lots of time trimming because you're only trimming top colas. Popcorn takes forever to trim and you don't get squat in the end anyway. Here's some pics of my latest session. Week 1 of flowering. Topped them 2 weeks ago and pruned all the lower growth just before switching to 12/12. My grow journal shows my old grow from about a year ago where I didn't top. The plants got big with huge colas but they were so bushy with popcorn buds that it was crowded. Now I can top the plants, fit twice as many and get a larger yield by only having top colas and eliminating the small buds below. With such a tight canopy you don't get much light penetration the lower branches if any.