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

If I top at the 2nd node and on my 1st true node the leaves have dried up, do I count that as a true node, or do I top at the 3rd node instead?
Thanks,
cs

celticseas57 said:

If I top at the 2nd node and on my 1st true node the leaves have dried up, do I count that as a true node, or do I top at the 3rd node instead?
Thanks,
cs

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Count from the bottom upwards the amount of nodes that grow branches...simple as that. Ignore the cotyledons and count from the node where your first branches will grow...

Uncle Ben said:

You need to get some high N food on those plants.

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I'm listening, I know you mentioned Peter's which is 20-20-20 i believe. All I could find was 15-30-15 at WalMart..

elduece said:

I think they're just ready for new pots probably because of poor circulation.

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I just put them into these 3 gal containers a week and a half before this. They were in the Largest Jiffy Pots before that...
I'm new at indoors. Would rather be growing outdoors but not in this state....

ok how many weeks old when u cut

datdpeGY247 said:

ok how many weeks old when u cut

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Age isn't so much a factor as growth is, I believe UB recommends topping when the plant is at 5-6 nodes so it develops a strong root system beforehand. I just top when there enough space to make a clean cut without destroying the baby branches.

You can clone the top you cut too, might be worth considering.

st0wandgrow said:

LOL! Ole Uncle Ben still at it!

There are two types of people that offer "help" on this forum .... one that genuinely wants to help you out, and the other that is just here "helping" in order to get their ego stroked.

Uncle Ben, you are a grumpy old fart with an inflated opinion of yourself. If this is such a chore to answer questions, why are you still here?

Oh that's right, the ego stroking.

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OH COME OFF IT!!! when is the last time you think old uncle ben has had anything stroked?!? Give him a break.

howdy ben.

i topped my plants for the first time in a decade last go around. i used the regular 2 cola cut and this 4 cola method. everyone of them (3 different genetics) ended up with 2 good size branches and 2 T rex type limbs compared to the good size colas! i have pictures somewhere but just lost my buzz looking for them.

what percentage of the plants that you topped like this ended up with 4 almost full size colas and what percent ended up with 2 good size and 2 smaller ones?

have a great day! i harvest again on april fools day. oh that smell!

50/50 I guess.

Wanted to stop in and say that I ran across this thread about a year and a half ago, tried this topping technique and have been very satisfied. Been a long time HID grower but have recently downgraded to LED and still having great results with it.

"If you can grow really great tomatoes and are smart enough to apply those principles to cannabis, you'll do great"

Ha ha, I am now putting my years of experience into growing tomatoes and lawn plants

Thanks! Uncle Ben

Geek

Thanks for stopping by! Take care of those maters.

Happy gardening.

thanks ub for your post. i am am new at this and i have taken horticulture classes. what you say is true. thanks for the info.

Hi Uncle Ben,
I am ready to top this Malawi Girl and I want to confirm that I do it at line number 2 to get 4 main colas:



Thanks for the cool info!

Cheers,
Mo

Mohican said:

Hi Uncle Ben,
I am ready to top this Malawi Girl and I want to confirm that I do it at line number 2 to get 4 main colas:

Thanks for the cool info!

Cheers,
Mo

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Looks to be the second node so I'd have to say it's the one you want.

Good luck

fatboyOGOF said:

howdy ben.

i topped my plants for the first time in a decade last go around. i used the regular 2 cola cut and this 4 cola method. everyone of them (3 different genetics) ended up with 2 good size branches and 2 T rex type limbs compared to the good size colas! i have pictures somewhere but just lost my buzz looking for them.

what percentage of the plants that you topped like this ended up with 4 almost full size colas and what percent ended up with 2 good size and 2 smaller ones?

have a great day! i harvest again on april fools day. oh that smell!

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You can help remedy this by topping for 2 colas, then topping those two colas for two again.

The "T-Rex" limbs you describe are generally the two branches at the first node and my presumptions is because the top branches take dominance. When you do the method above, your 4 remaining colas will all be at a level vertical and horizontal position, so all 4 are "at the top" and they take off evenly.

Means you'll get 3 clones per plant tho

Hi UB, Can you kindly help me out... I've been reading through your technique can you take a look at these pics of one of my plants I would really like 2 colas. If I am correct its on its 4th generation now, Do I wait for the new leaves to grow then chop the stem or do I cut out the small cluster in the middle of the 4th Generation leaves? Ty again UB

View attachment 2117512View attachment 2117513View attachment 2117514

I was so excited when I came accross this thread. I'm laying out a new 5x10 space for myself with bubble buckets and thought this would be a great easy way for me to train and get good results (I currently have only done SOG style grows, never trained anything other cutting off the lower 3rd of plant days into flower).

Then around page page 30 or so I read something about how this may not work with alternating nodes. I ran to check all my mother plants, sure enough all 5 strains had alternating nodes. I continued to read for 50 pages and didn't really see anything about this technique not working or what would happen if perfromed on a plant with alternating nodes. I just don't have time to read another 300 pages of this post right now so I figured I'd post. I apologize in advance if this is repetitious, I'm sure it's been asked b4, I just have not seen it

MO'S TOPPING ADVENTURE

OK Uncle Buck - Here are the pics of my brutal beheading.

Preperation:



Before topping:



After topping:



Quiet woman:



Close-up of the watering system - 5 gal LJT:



That was tense! Time for some 18 year old Glenlivit!

Cheers,
Mo

Mohican said:

MO'S TOPPING ADVENTURE

OK Uncle Buck - Here are the pics of my brutal beheading.

Preperation:

Before topping:

After topping:

Quiet woman:

Close-up of the watering system - 5 gal LJT:

That was tense! Time for some 18 year old Glenlivit!

Cheers,
Mo

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That was intense!

Mohican, I'm not Uncle Buck and what you posted is not my method. Go back to the first page.