topping vs fem

DeeTee

DeeTee

Well-Known Member
No mater how many times I read the " To Do's " I still don't understand the difference from topping or femming, it looks to me that either way you're still cutting the top of the plant to form 2 or 4 main colas, can anyone explain to me the difference in layman's terms, I'm sure you'll realize that I'm not a noob and have been growing for yrs but I still cant seem to grasp the difference so please keep your insults to yourself, this is an honest question.
 
donmagicjuan

donmagicjuan

Active Member
Topping u get nothing but the two branches fimming i think lets the original one live so u might get three or more branches worth
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
Not really. Look up mersitem apical growth (or similar). Basically a new growth point has 4 points (2 pairs) and it depends on where you cut how many you leave.
 
haight

haight

Well-Known Member
DeeTee said:
No mater how many times I read the " To Do's " I still don't understand the difference from topping or femming, it looks to me that either way you're still cutting the top of the plant to form 2 or 4 main colas, can anyone explain to me the difference in layman's terms, I'm sure you'll realize that I'm not a noob and have been growing for yrs but I still cant seem to grasp the difference so please keep your insults to yourself, this is an honest question.
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With one you cut the stems at a 75 degree angle and with the other you cut at 60 degrees
 
B

BUDies

Active Member
with all the responses i still have no idea what the difference is, i guess ill just keep doin what ive come to know as topping.
 
DeeTee

DeeTee

Well-Known Member
Same here, thanks for all your responses but I still don't understand it, and what's the difference between cuttin 60 deg vs 70 deg? I myself guess I'll just keep on topping and hope for the best 'till someone can give me an example I can undrstand and perform.
 
Kush Killington

Kush Killington

Well-Known Member
Topping is when you cut the entire tip off. Soon two more tops will replace it (you can do this to any branch and as far down the stem as you choose for the same result)
FIMing is when you cut 2/3rds off the tip. This results in two or more tips forming (3,4,5,6 etc)
Both have there benefits and of course different strains will respond differently to each technique.

Sir KK
 
Allaboutbud420

Allaboutbud420

Member
When u "top" a plant u are cutting the main top shoot off leaving the unders to bush out. "Fimming" is PINCHING the baby shoot between the fan leaves on the new growth. This causes 2-4 new shoots and stresses the plant less.
 
CNN

CNN

Member
This will help you visualize it.
FIM-cut through the meristem.
Topping-below the meristem.

Topping- gets you 2 main colas.
FIM-gets you 4 main colas.
Pinching the meristem-gets you more than 4 main colas.
 

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jaygrowster

jaygrowster

Member
Topping = taking the whole main top node off conpletly .. so your left with the 2 under neath..

Fiming= taking off 60% of the top main node off leaving around 40% left..

Then that will produce 2 or more new node shoots .. when in flower you will see a nice top canopy of buds instead of the 2 that would of come, via topping.

I personally don't like topping taking the main node off is a , no no with me to dramatic surgery lol .




Peace......
 
hiitsbob

hiitsbob

Well-Known Member
topping can get you 2 or 4 main colas also just depend on where you top.
above first true node. which is first set of just above cotyledon. which gives 2 top colas.
above 2nd true node. which gives 4 main colas.
topping should be done between when you have 4-6 sets of alternating nodes.
fimm never know what you are gonna get no real science behind it.
yes it can have great results just not reliable.
 
DeeTee

DeeTee

Well-Known Member
OK< I think I understand it now, topping is cutting the top off along with the maind stem, fem is cutting avt 60% of the apical meristern leaving the stem, is that right? Thanks all for your info.
 
Twohearted

Twohearted

Well-Known Member
Kush has it right.
Topping just causes the lower branches to assume the role of a cola once the top is removed.
FIMing attempts to generate multiple tops off of the existing top. By removing 2/3rds of the tip as described by Kush, it cuts off where the leaf is forming and exposes the node. The node can then turn into many tips. It does not always work and some strains respond better to the technique than others.
 
donmagicjuan

donmagicjuan

Active Member
If u compleatly decapitate u will get two branches from the armpits if u fim u leave some leaf and it still grows that branch with the pinched leaf still on there so fimming basically can give u out of control bushes with a million tops and branches topped plants will look like the letter Y fim plants will look like the letters wwww. Fim plants can be too huge to work with sometimes
 
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