DesertGrow89
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So when do you recommend topping and at what node?
Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas
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mr sunshine
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It doesn't really matter. just cut the middle main cola that makes it look like a Christmas tree out before you flip.. The side branches will become the top,
Sativied
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I'm sure I've seen UB topped plants with 6 colas and more as well as stable quatros. 2 is already taken by "mainlining", so you'll have to come up with a twist, be original, back it up with botany, before you can attach your name to it. Like Sativied's topping technique - get any number of colas without actually topping
mr sunshine
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..topped once.. it's because auxins or whatever the fuck get redistributed To the lower half of the plant... science. .
Sativied
Well-Known Member
Should have thrown in "apical dominance".
Some thing's wrong with those plants though, I think it's the... the... what is that? Beach sand + perlite?
And what do you spray on it? Looks like my anti-mite cum:
I mainline too:
(not really... males, don't need that much pollen, take up less space this way...)
Anyway, here's STT:
two weeks later:
9 heads and one big one for pics
It's for seed, trimmed away most so no actual colas... The key task in STT is bending the stem around the spot where you'd normally top, UB style that is. This causes the plant to redistribute auxins and thereby essentially weakening its apical dominance preventing the terminal from growing much higher than the branches. Does not including removing branches or any leaves.
mr sunshine
Well-Known Member
Yea, I super crop too.Should have thrown in "apical dominance".
Some thing's wrong with those plants though, I think it's the... the... what is that? Beach sand + perlite?
And what do you spray on it? Looks like my anti-mite cum:
View attachment 3575039
View attachment 3575042
View attachment 3575043
I mainline too:
View attachment 3575041
(not really... males, don't need that much pollen, take up less space this way...)
Anyway, here's STT:
View attachment 3575046
two weeks later:
View attachment 3575047
9 heads and one big one for pics
I've came up with something called the twister
it's like lst ,with a twist.
Vnsmkr
Well-Known Member
@Uncle Ben I still use this technique today. Ive tried many others as we all do at one point or another, but I find this the most efficient along with some bending. Hope all is well in your world. Got some crazy Nam, Cambodia sativas rolling now (+ some tried and true strains) along with a full on vegetable garden and a few other gems (sour mango trees, kumquat, lemon tree). Hows the grape deal going for you?Howdy!
Based on quite a few questions about topping I've received here: https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/13820-fimming-topping-101-a-12.html I decided to reproduce a thread on my favorite topping method published at cann.com about 10 years ago. Even though I've got much better photos from many latter grows both indoor and outdoor, I'm gonna stick with the old photos from the original thread. Lighting is HPS from start to finish with the exception of using 4' long shop fluors from germ until about 2 weeks. Some pix were taken outdoors for better resolution thanks to an old camcorder I was using.
Selecting the point for topping to get 4 main colas -
To get 4 main colas, let your seedling or cutting (clone) grow to about 5-6 nodes and pinch out (cut) the stem just above the 2nd true node. The node where the cotyledons attach doesn't count. The result will be a redistribution of the auxins and other hormones that normally collect in the tissue of the terminal leader's tip. These ho moans will be redistributed to dormant buds that reside in the nodal axis where the leaf petiole attaches to the "trunk", below the cut. The new foliar output response will be quick (within 24 hrs., see photo below) if you have a healthy growing seedling and will be your future main colas - 4 instead of the usual 1:
Here's a photo of the same plant about 8 weeks into flowering. The plant is about 42" tall, has 4 main colas with an abundance of large, healthy fan leaves.
This is an indoor shot just prior to harvest showing the colas bulking up quite nicely. Notice how the weight of the heavy colas is naturally pulling them apart, which opens the plant up so that light can penetrate the interior of the canopy. This is the same principle used by fruit orchard managers who create an open vase profile for their trees in order to increase production. This profile also has a side benefit of providing good interior air movement which reduces fungal/rot pressures.
The plant after harvest showing the branching scaffold and dominant 4 main cola "trunks", opposing nodes one right above the other. Smaller secondary branches also provided good bud production. This plant yielded over 10 oz of cured bud.
~ Topping for 2 main colas ~
Pinch out the seedling above the 1st true node to get 2 main colas:
Any questions, fire away.
Happy gardening,
Uncle Ben
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
Easy peasy for the simple man such as us. Speaking of Nam, here's a few pix of my Dalat that I gifted to a fella in Santa Cruz. Was in a greenhouse until it got too big for it. Enjoy your goodies. I just got what some consider the best tasting mango in the world - a newly grafted Sweet Tart mango in a 1 gal. RootMaker pot. It's a Zill creation out of Florida. (Well known breeder). Am harvesting blood oranges, Meyer lemons, Key limes, grapefruit, tomatoes and soon avocado.
Grape crop was huge this year averaging 15.64 lbs./vine (equivalent of 11 tons/acre).
Good luck with your garden & share some bud porn.
Happy New Year to everyone!
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Uncle Ben
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What is that, neem oil?
Sativied
Well-Known Member
Canola oil based solution, Suffocates the mites and seals the eggs. Ended up spraying them off with pyrethrin to really get rid of the last few.
Have a healthy and green 2016 Ben.
HeartIandhank
Well-Known Member
I am germinating one of those Dalat as I speak.. going outdoors, as they should!
Just plating one though.. If I get a male, I'll collect pollen. If not, she goes outdoors in 3 months and gets hit with bonzi..
Going guerilla style...
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
Very cool and good that you started it early. Recommend you re-read Cruz's thread or at least the part about the flowering response, about 2/3 way thru. It has got to have one of the weirdest, most "disturbing" flowering responses of anything I've grown. Like Cruz found out it will sit there forever vegging and just about the time you're ready to send it to the compost pile in September it explodes into a flowering mode, like overnight.
I need to pay you a visit in the spring perhaps? BTW, many years ago I grew some wicked Mexican from bag weed. As Mel Frank says, "Mexican pot can be some of the best pot you can grow". Very true. Super easy to grow, never had hermies, great up high. Of course he said that in his '84 edition before skunk weed had been introduced, or so the forum folklore goes about the introduction of indica to Mexican growers.
Vnsmkr
Well-Known Member
I can attest to this and this is from the same region to the west of dalat (still in vietnam). I did compost one a few years ago, but I got sick of it getting larger, and not fucking full on flowering! Now I know
Vnsmkr
Well-Known Member
Thanks man, will do on the bud porn though there is some garden porn in my linked thread below. Buds starting
Uncle Ben
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I know it looks confusing in a photo, but there's actually 4 main colas and the usual lateral branching off of those 4.
This is an outdoor grown 4 cola plant......
.....with 4 colas that became one big mess from their own weight. You can see lateral branching well in the upright coia.
Uncle Ben
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Sure does. Depends on what kind of profile you want to end up with.
supdro
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What kind of yeild do you think you will get off that beast? Also if you top do you feel you lose yeild over leaving the plant alone? If indoor growing how long do you veg on average?
Uncle Ben
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That was a couple of years ago, don't know. Used to journal, got lazy and stopped taking notes about 10 years or so ago.
I veg indoors long enough to get a big mass of roots and foliage which in turn drives bud production. It's not black and white. It's a spur of the moment judgement call based on experience and knowing what height I want to end up at.
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
@Sativied ....hey man, you linked me up with a super high tech greenhouse op. Check this Jap grow on tropical fruits. Unbelievable these guys/gals! Way too labor intensive for this boy! http://www.hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org/conferences/2012/2012_Producing_Consistent_High_Quality_Fruit_in_Japan.pdfI'm sure I've seen UB topped plants with 6 colas and more as well as stable quatros. 2 is already taken by "mainlining", so you'll have to come up with a twist, be original, back it up with botany, before you can attach your name to it. Like Sativied's topping technique - get any number of colas without actually topping
supdro
Well-Known Member
Makes sense...what is your fave synthetic nute and why? Been using dyna for years thanks for that!
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