What are the Pro's and Con's to Topping?

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topping increases your yield but puts more stress on your plant. i prefer lst or scrog if your trying to increase yield sizes.

as far as when to do it... once the plant has solid root production your good to go.

I'm going to be topping my new plants when they have about 6 nodes, going for 4 main colas. It does stress the plant, but it recovers rather quickly i learned from my last grow.

Like i told someone else, keep in mind that the little growths between each node (Picture) will grow out to be your new colas, so if you have 4 of those little growths below where you topped it, those 4 will become your new colas.

And here's a little information on how to do it - https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get.html

growhydro024 said:

topping increases your yield but puts more stress on your plant. i prefer lst or scrog if your trying to increase yield sizes.

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not necesarily more yield topping for height issues some strains do well to topping others not so well either way i tryed it and sure i got 6 main colas but still didnt compare to one of my untopped plants as for yield

yea it all depends on the strain

i top to bush out more for space and the yield is 2nd.

you only lightly stress your plant when done correctly. I mean lightly too, The plant should be at least 8- 10 inches tall, spread the leaves where they split apart at the stem, feel real lightly there you will feel a vey small ball like, squeeze that ball tightly, the release. Plant is topped and stress is very minimal. no cutting or over stressing. Everyone that tops should know this trick. When I top my plants, I don't even get a day of stress by topping. They grow immediately, then I top again. A properly topped, staked, pruned the low 1/3 or so of plant to get air through, will most of the time have a better yield than one main cola. I also only grow SOG so I top all 64 of my plants at least twice at differnt stages giving them 4-8 medium colas.

Jacobrown said:

I wish i could see a good video of it beeing done, any volenteres?

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Dude it's not too hard, just cut the top off lol.

youtube "topping plants grow"....

Jacobrown said:

Ive seen people do two diff things, 1.) they cut underneath the top leaves, cutting it fully off. 2.) they cut the middle thing out, and some how the side two grow. Which one is it?

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there is no difference except the length of stalk above the leaves, both will work, me I cut just above the leaves and that works too.

Its a WEED!! Cut the top off it, it will recover! Ive done both lst and topping in MANY forms. Topping is what i reefer to when Im growing in 7' ceilings. Once you top it, they like to get bushier instead of taller. I usually wait and top above the 3rd real leaf set. I think other factors have more to do with yield than topping. I top mine any time before going into flower. I mean really, you can abuse the piss outta these ladies while in veg, and they grow right thru it. Occassionally Ive topped an out of control lady, mid flower. Problem is, you lose yield when you top so late because there isnt time left in the cycle to recover and create new bud sites.

As for lst: i dont do a lot of that on my normal gals, whatever room i save vertically, they take up horizontally anyhow. Although, if you bend a gal over, she recovers within 8hrs usually! My mothers, I top them about every 2 weeks, and Ive also LST the crap out of them. I use 1000w hps', so I dont worry about light penetration on platns under 40" tall. BUT, if i was making one lady as big a yield as I could, indoors with low cieling, I'd LST that thing so it would be 3 feet long HORIZONTALLY, then flip to flower and lst/top no more. Ill update a journal soon, i think ive lotsa pics showing extreme lst/topping. O' btw, I harvest about 30 clones per mother. impressive is that theyre only 12" tall and 6 wks from seed when i get those numbers. Lets just say that its rediculous easy to lst and top a gal and generate hundreds of clones from her.

i topped cause i have weak lighting. the plant will get shorter allowing the light to penetrate easier to the lower branches.
thats why i did it...but im just a noob who dont know anything

lst just allows you to control your bud sites and keeps everything on a closer level for maximum light. You tie your branches down so the plant stays smaller and compact and you let the lower branches raise up to receive equal light and penetration...now all the bud sites in a LST should be similar vs one big one at the top....

again youtube has great videos.

Jacobrown said:

How do u do it, and when do u know to do it?

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https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/431395-topping-pruning-what-does.html

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