Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas

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whatsgood

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thought the thread was awesome man, keep it up. i was wondering, what was the light used for vegging and flower for the 4 cola plant?

thanks




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.
 
Mr.Oasis

Mr.Oasis

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Im pretty certain ive read atleast 80% of this thread at some point or another, but i dont specifically remember anything about a feeding schedule PRIOR to the topping, i def started with nutes too soon on my fist 2 grows, ive got some new ones starting, theyve got 4, 3, and 2 developed nodes, i plan on topping for 4 again this time (last time i went a node to high and get semi-bushes) but i was just wondering if you feed your little ones before you pinch the top out of them or if the feeding begins following the pinch

also there will be some blood and bone meal in their new 5 gal pots but as of right now they are just in "beer" cups with plain old soil/perlite/verm, i will probably transplant to some 5 gal containers a week or so after i top, the nutes will be fox farms grow big (6-4-4)

jw when i can start them on a regimen, it says a tsp/gal, but they dont need anywhere near a gallon of water between the 3 of them so im wondering if it would even be worth trying to get a few drops in with their next watering? gracias UB, keep the 411 rolling in
 
DaveCoulier

DaveCoulier

Well-Known Member
Mr.Oasis said:
Im pretty certain ive read atleast 80% of this thread at some point or another, but i dont specifically remember anything about a feeding schedule PRIOR to the topping, i def started with nutes too soon on my fist 2 grows, ive got some new ones starting, theyve got 4, 3, and 2 developed nodes, i plan on topping for 4 again this time (last time i went a node to high and get semi-bushes) but i was just wondering if you feed your little ones before you pinch the top out of them or if the feeding begins following the pinch

also there will be some blood and bone meal in their new 5 gal pots but as of right now they are just in "beer" cups with plain old soil/perlite/verm, i will probably transplant to some 5 gal containers a week or so after i top, the nutes will be fox farms grow big (6-4-4)

jw when i can start them on a regimen, it says a tsp/gal, but they dont need anywhere near a gallon of water between the 3 of them so im wondering if it would even be worth trying to get a few drops in with their next watering? gracias UB, keep the 411 rolling in
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When you give them nutes, it depends on your medium. Hydro and soil-less growers introduce nutes sooner than soil growers because of the lack of nutrients.

I looked at the Grow Big feeding chart and it calls for 2tsp/gallon when first introducing them. I started off at 2.5ml or 1/2tsp per gallon myself. If you dont need a gallon of water, then just cut those numbers in half, and so on until you reach what you need.

You should go buy a set of measuring spoons from walmart or elsewhere. Mine has a tablespoon, teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, and 1/4th teaspoon. Works perfectly for measuring out nutes for me.
 
J

jjfoo

Active Member
I was just given a mom that is about three feed wide and four feet tall. It was giving lots of small clones and has tons of potential colas. I pruned off some of smaller branches but it still has man many colas. I put it on 12/12 two days ago. Should I just leave it or do a topping on it?

I'm open to regging for a week or two if that would help. Any recommendations?

It is about seven months old.
 
DaveCoulier

DaveCoulier

Well-Known Member
jjfoo said:
I was just given a mom that is about three feed wide and four feet tall. It was giving lots of small clones and has tons of potential colas. I pruned off some of smaller branches but it still has man many colas. I put it on 12/12 two days ago. Should I just leave it or do a topping on it?

I'm open to regging for a week or two if that would help. Any recommendations?

It is about seven months old.
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I see no reason to bother topping at this point. The only reason to top now would be because you have limited vertical space. Even then it wouldn't do you much good unless you topped way back.
 
J

jjfoo

Active Member
DaveCoulier said:
I see no reason to bother topping at this point. The only reason to top now would be because you have limited vertical space. Even then it wouldn't do you much good unless you topped way back.
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IF I was back in veg would it have been best to chop top it above the second node? I like to veg for like 8 weeks.

If I want to veg 8 weeks should I let it get 6 - 8 nodes then top and let it veg or should I let it veg then top a week before flower?

what do you consider a 'long' veg time?
 
DaveCoulier

DaveCoulier

Well-Known Member
jjfoo said:
IF I was back in veg would it have been best to chop top it above the second node? I like to veg for like 8 weeks.

If I want to veg 8 weeks should I let it get 6 - 8 nodes then top and let it veg or should I let it veg then top a week before flower?

what do you consider a 'long' veg time?
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Is your first question asking if you should have chopped this 4 foot plant back to nothing if you were in veg?

If you're growing from seed, let it get to 5 or 6 nodes, and then cut above the second node, and allow it to veg until you flower. I dont see much reason to veg 7 weeks, top, then flower. Stick to the program, imo :)

Anything over 8 weeks would probably be a long veg time for me, but most people veg 3-5 weeks for indoors.
 
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NavySupra

Active Member
Uncle Ben said:
How much headroom have you got left? I'd top the lanky one to try to bring it in line with the others.
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All the even tops are currently about 6" away from the lamp itself with a possible 8" of vertical growing available.

Rough conversions from a real measuring system... metric.
 
doogleef

doogleef

Well-Known Member
That's going to be close. If they continue to shoot up with that kind of nodal spacing you may run out of room. :(
 
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NavySupra

Active Member
doogleef said:
That's going to be close. If they continue to shoot up with that kind of nodal spacing you may run out of room. :(
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I've been thinking I can move them against the back, so they are horizontally further away from the lamps and allow the colas to grow up past the shade. See how they look tomorrow morning.

I decided I'm not going to try any more multi cola plants for the time being, as they take up way too much space. At least I can stack single plants 4 wide instead of two, which is already pretty darn crowded.

I've been photographing them everyday so once I start really getting somewhere I'm going to make a more complete journal with my observations.
 
doogleef

doogleef

Well-Known Member
If you have room to let it go past the fixture, do it.

I just modified my op the other way going to topped, vegged plants from a SOG style with a high density planting. SOG is fun but it's a lot of work and a ton of clones. I'm betting I get more from a single topped plant vegged for 3 weeks from clone in each pot than I was getting from 2-3 no-veg clones (well rooted) dropped into the same system. Time will tell.

Good luck.
 
N

NavySupra

Active Member
doogleef said:
If you have room to let it go past the fixture, do it.

I just modified my op the other way going to topped, vegged plants from a SOG style with a high density planting. SOG is fun but it's a lot of work and a ton of clones. I'm betting I get more from a single topped plant vegged for 3 weeks from clone in each pot than I was getting from 2-3 no-veg clones (well rooted) dropped into the same system. Time will tell.

Good luck.
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Thank you!

Right now space is my concern, so I'd rather deal with more clones than more vegging plants. Plus I want some fresh smoke every couple of weeks!
 
mcpurple

mcpurple

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hey ub i am going to triy to top ur way for 4 main colas, i understand most of it, but where is the second node at i dont know where to begin counting to i count the first node as the single leaf, and why wai ttill theirs 5 or 6 nodes, if its just gonna get cut any way
 
jumboSWISHER

jumboSWISHER

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mcpurple you wait till theres 5 or 6 nodes so that the plant has good root mass. and cutting a seedling with only 3 nodes would probly stress it out really bad.
 
ganjaluvr

ganjaluvr

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hey everyone.

I currently just harvested one of my 'Ceres Skunk' ladies... and have the buds hanging by threads to dry..then I'll cure them for about a week.. then they'll be ready to smoke...

My question is...

I have a second 'Ceres Skunk' lady.. that wasn't too far behind the other one. Only this second plant.. has just started her 4th week of flowering as of today.

Is she too far into flowering to maybe top her?

(also.. I've never tried this before.. soo yeah. Keep that in mind as well..)

If you have any doubts.. and think it's too risky for whatever reason.. please say so as I don't want 8 weeks of my life growing this thing to be lost in one day.

Thanks in advance! peace.
 
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