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

N0rth3rnL1ghtz said:

I'm growing 4 mostly indica plants up to be my mothers. After reading this thread the ol' wheels started turnin. If i used this technique on my mothers while they're still young, would there be an increase in the number of clones i could produce?

My thinking is, if there are 4 "trunks" instead of 1; there will be more oppurtunities for folliage to grow because of the constant food/water/hormone supply coming from the "trunks."

What do you guys think? I understand this could be one of those "well, try it!" situations, but i wanted someone to at least confirm or deny my thinking.

Thanks in advance

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how many clones do you need and hows often?

Thought I would post this. Here is a Barney's Farm L*SD I topped today at the 2nd node.

Guest999 said:

Thought I would post this. Here is a Barney's Farm L*SD I topped today at the 2nd node.

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It's so nice to see a thick stem healthy plant that is very short and ready to use all the vert space for bud production. I use to lollipop and it was kind of the opposite, buds the top of a long stem. They needed strings...

wow so you can get 10 oz of bud from a 3 1/2 tall plant? did i read correctley?

woops this is from the pics on the 1st page im a newb and forgot that theres 170 pages of this thread

this is the most awesome thread! I wanted to share a few pics of my first significant grow. About another 4 weeks and I'll be curing these babies!
Well it looks like i am the newbie here. i dont see how to post more than one pic. OK I ll work on it. i did post the others to my album. thanks people for all the great posts and help I gleaned from reading these posts. Although I didnt cut my plants as uncle ben taught us, i dont think I am stealing yur thread. the weeks it took to read all of this gave me the patience to let mine grow! and a lot of really good info. thanks

Wow! I checked my plant tonight. I think it is doing great! I have not topped it yet, and it looks like it is getting ready to bud on the 3rd node. Should I top it now or is it to late? I am growing an autoflower strain from Nirvana.

https://www.rollitup.org/members/hbmak-albums-first-grow-picture108546-day21.jpg

https://www.rollitup.org/members/hbmak-albums-first-grow-picture108545-p2120004.jpg

jonyappleseeds said:

wow so you can get 10 oz of bud from a 3 1/2 tall plant? did i read correctley?

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Yep

justlookingtf said:

this is the most awesome thread! I wanted to share a few pics of my first significant grow. About another 4 weeks and I'll be curing these babies!
Well it looks like i am the newbie here. i dont see how to post more than one pic. OK I ll work on it. i did post the others to my album. thanks people for all the great posts and help I gleaned from reading these posts. Although I didnt cut my plants as uncle ben taught us, i dont think I am stealing yur thread. the weeks it took to read all of this gave me the patience to let mine grow! and a lot of really good info. thanks

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Nice job. Start a journal in one of the grow forums. Also, those pots are too big for those plants. Watch for root rot.

UB

After topping I found some problems with a couple leaves. Maybe someone could stop by and help?

https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/302518-leaf-tips-dying-pics.html#post3784279

thanks

UB, I topped a plant and got 4 main colas before I realized what I was doing then found your thread. NICE!! Thanks for all the useful info!!

Guest999 said:

Thought I would post this. Here is a Barney's Farm L*SD I topped today at the 2nd node.

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Heya- Nice looking plant. I topped two LSD's about 5 weeks ago, put them into flower about 4 weeks ago. I'm warning you, that strain grows like a beast. Very branchy, stretchy, tall... but it's durable as hell. Very slow flowering too, compared the WW growing next to it, the buds are much smaller and the whole plant is about a foot taller.

Both plants reacted really well to the 4-cola treatment, and I'm expecting a ridiculous harvest considering 1) these plants are fucking huge and 2)Each plant has 4 colas-my last plants could only bust out 2

GOOD LUCK

Probably a dumb question..... but.

I wanted to try a hempy bucket experiment, so I started a seed in a 16 ounce styrofoam cup. Problem was I only have one room and all the other girls were older and already switched to 12/12. So this experiment has been 12/12 from seed. It's about 4 weeks old ready to tramsplant and has 6 nodes and just showed sex. Can I still top it, and/or would it be a wise move? I was planning on just cutting the bottom off the stryofoam cup when I transplant.

Vnsmkr said:

UB, I topped a plant and got 4 main colas before I realized what I was doing then found your thread. NICE!! Thanks for all the useful info!!

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Enjoy the confirmation. Looking good!

Snak said:

Heya- Nice looking plant. I topped two LSD's about 5 weeks ago, put them into flower about 4 weeks ago. I'm warning you, that strain grows like a beast. Very branchy, stretchy, tall... but it's durable as hell. Very slow flowering too, compared the WW growing next to it, the buds are much smaller and the whole plant is about a foot taller.

Both plants reacted really well to the 4-cola treatment, and I'm expecting a ridiculous harvest considering 1) these plants are fucking huge and 2)Each plant has 4 colas-my last plants could only bust out 2

GOOD LUCK

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Sounds like it has some sativa in it. Good luck on those colas.

mikegolfer said:

Probably a dumb question..... but.

I wanted to try a hempy bucket experiment, so I started a seed in a 16 ounce styrofoam cup. Problem was I only have one room and all the other girls were older and already switched to 12/12. So this experiment has been 12/12 from seed. It's about 4 weeks old ready to tramsplant and has 6 nodes and just showed sex. Can I still top it, and/or would it be a wise move? I was planning on just cutting the bottom off the stryofoam cup when I transplant.

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If it was mine I would have supplemented the photoperiod at a window or outside to simulate a veg photoperiod. Yes, you can still top it, but you're gonna have a small plant, if that matters to you.

Don't know why you want to cut out the bottom before transplanting it?

UB

UB,

This is by no means a complaint against or a criticism of your 4 cola technique. Because by following it (and the other things I've been learning from you about soil mix, lighting, photoperiod, fertilizing, etc.) it's sure looking like I'm going to more than double my yield this grow.

For some reason or other my plants just wouldn't form 4 main colas. I got 2 really nice ones that formed from the second node but the 2 that formed at the first node never really did take off. Maybe it has something to do with the particular strain I'm trying to grow? All though I can't imagine that it's really all that different than most of these other strains people here are working with. The strain I've got (Alegria from KiwiSeeds) is suppose to be 80% indica, 20% sativa. I'm guessing that the reason for this occurring has more to do with something I either did or didn't do just right than any thing else. Do you have any thoughts on what may have caused this to happen?

Jack

Jack-
By no means do I have the answers to your questions, because I have the same question.

However I can provide you what I've figured out so far-

My first grow was 3 Northern Lights and 1 Mazar. I used CFLs and a t-5 flourescent to veg and flower them. 2 of the NL plants developed 2 colas, one NL plant developed 2.5ish colas, and the mazar developed four. I handed the mazar off to a friend to take care off, and never got to see it finish because he fucked it up, but I know that after 4 weeks veg it had 4 tall even branches.

Next grow was 4 of the same NL strain (from marijuana-seeds.nl). This time, 3 plants developed 2 strong colas, and one plant (due to me accidentally topping one of the leading branches when making the Ben cut) just turned into a bush with 3 dominant colas. I used a shit-ton more CFLs that grow.

Now, I've switched to an HPS and am growing Barney's LSD and g13s WW. All four plants have reacted fantastic to the cut, and each has 4 colas up and running well (except for one of my LSDs, on which I literally DROPPED my HPS and lost a branch ).

So my guess is that the reliability of all 4 colas developing evenly is dependent on the genetics of the strain. However I'd also be willing to say that if you don't have enough light, or if CFLs are keeping light coverage uneven, you're going to see some branches outgrow others.

I have 5 other females, just read up on hempy buckets and thought it was a neat idea, so I thought I'd try it. Never transplanted without soil, so I don't know what to expect trying to dump a strofoam cup.... Thought if I cut it off 2 or 3 inches from the bottom the roots would spread down. I don't plan on putting it so far down in the larger pot that the current roots will be in the reservoir. They'll have to work for that.

Thanks

Mike

Snak said:

Jack-
By no means do I have the answers to your questions, because I have the same question.

However I can provide you what I've figured out so far-

My first grow was 3 Northern Lights and 1 Mazar. I used CFLs and a t-5 flourescent to veg and flower them. 2 of the NL plants developed 2 colas, one NL plant developed 2.5ish colas, and the mazar developed four. I handed the mazar off to a friend to take care off, and never got to see it finish because he fucked it up, but I know that after 4 weeks veg it had 4 tall even branches.

Next grow was 4 of the same NL strain (from marijuana-seeds.nl). This time, 3 plants developed 2 strong colas, and one plant (due to me accidentally topping one of the leading branches when making the Ben cut) just turned into a bush with 3 dominant colas. I used a shit-ton more CFLs that grow.

Now, I've switched to an HPS and am growing Barney's LSD and g13s WW. All four plants have reacted fantastic to the cut, and each has 4 colas up and running well (except for one of my LSDs, on which I literally DROPPED my HPS and lost a branch ).

So my guess is that the reliability of all 4 colas developing evenly is dependent on the genetics of the strain. However I'd also be willing to say that if you don't have enough light, or if CFLs are keeping light coverage uneven, you're going to see some branches outgrow others.

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Snaks,

Some how I don't think lack of lighting is the cause of this in my case. In a 5' x 7' space I've got a 400w MH, a 150w HPS, 2 4' 2 bulb T8 flourescent fixtures and 4 23w cfls.

I believe I'll probably be doing one of those 2 stage harvests where I cut the two main colas first and then drop the lights back down and give the 2 other lesser colas a couple more weeks to see if they'll bulk up and get bigger.

Jack

Jack in the Bud said:

For some reason or other my plants just wouldn't form 4 main colas. I got 2 really nice ones that formed from the second node but the 2 that formed at the first node never really did take off. Maybe it has something to do with the particular strain I'm trying to grow?
Jack

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We can't totally control the redistribution of the auxins. I don't think I've had this "problem". I sure wouldn't worry about it. Two is better than one.

You might try topping at different stages as that will probably have some bearing as to what dormant (or semi-active) buds are triggered into being dominant. IOW, let one plant go to 3 nodes and then top below the 3rd node, let another go to 6 or 7 nodes and top below the 3rd node.

Uncle Ben said:

We can't totally control the redistribution of the auxins. I don't think I've had this "problem". I sure wouldn't worry about it. Two is better than one.

You might try topping at different stages as that will probably have some bearing as to what dormant (or semi-active) buds are triggered into being dominant. IOW, let one plant go to 3 nodes and then top below the 3rd node, let another go to 6 or 7 nodes and top below the 3rd node.

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Thanks Ben. I'll do a little experimenting along those lines next run. But I think I'll be pinching most of them for just two colas (no sense getting greedy eh?). Because right now if I would have gotten 4 mains on each plant I think it would be way too much for the size space I've got them in.

Another nice thing this pinching has done for me has been to keep the final height down. Before when I was just growing 1 main cola plants I really couldn't veg them more than 30 days or they got up to close to the light in the end (and I was out of room to raise it).

I veged these for 42 days before switching to 12/12 and I can see now that I probably could have gone 50 to 60 days in veg and not ended up to tall.

Another thing is that the flowering stage seems to be progressing much faster this time. And I'm attributing that to the better vegging practices I've learned from you that's given me a better root system and over all plant health.

I'm on day 102 (since seed in dirt) and it's looking like maybe here in another 2 or 3 weeks I might be starting to harvest those top colas.

Once again. Muchas GrassyAss for all the help.

Jack

Jack in the Bud said:

Another nice thing this pinching has done for me has been to keep the final height down.

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And that's the main reason I first started experimented with it, to keep sativa's manageable. It seems to bring it all together regarding height control, not too tall but then again not too wide, increased production, etc.

Glad my "no nonsense" approach to growing a weed has helped you.

Happy harvest!

First and foremost I'd like to say that I've been tinkering with this game on and off for years....to be more precise I'm 26 now and the first grow I was involved in had me at the ripe young age of 12....that being said I'm still in search of knowledge on the subject as there is always room to learn and grow To the man responsible for this thread I give many thanks because in one day I was not only able to diagnose a couple of problems I was having with my current grow but also gain the know-how to address possible future problems. I'm dealing with an indica/sativa cross, which I'd say is indica dominant based on the shape of the fan leaves. I had noticed some minor leaf tip curling and read up on the stressors, and it was overwatering without doubt. Haven't watered in a couple of days and already the leaves are starting to flatten out again....also had a concern about height because I'm seeing that although it's indica dominant it's definitely showing it's sativa side in terms of upward growth. I read up on topping and just happened to be at I believe the 6th node in veg, chopped it where indicated and already I see those other sites where "mini colas" would appear moving upward in the absence of the main chute. The explanation of apical dominance...if I spelled that right, lol....was astounding. The how is one thing....but the why is something else altogether. You will undoubtedly help me take my shit to the next level....muchas gracias por esta informacion tio

Sobrino