When to stop vegging and move it into flowering? Do you top or not?

So I'm curious what makes one move it from veg to flowering state, do you go by the height, how many nodes/leaves are on it, or what makes you move it? I was waiting until they were about 24 - 30 inchs which took about 2 -3 months from seed, I actually didn't know much about topping until recently and started topping my plants as I guess it increase the yield from 100% to 1000% I'm curious how many of you actually top and what height, or node? I noticed doing it makes the plant VERY bushy instead of growing like a tree. Thanks a ton!

I'm also curious if there is any more tips in making the stalk alot thinker, I know a fan works pretty good and gets them to about 1/2 inch think in my batch but I've seen way thinker so I'm wondering does anything else help, or increase it? Does it hurt a plant to bend it over and grow it, or is it better to hold it up with say a stick what causes less stress?

you go 2-3 feet before your flower. wow you must have some serious space. i usually go for about 14-16" before i flower due to height restrictions. topping is a very effective method to increase your yeild as instead of having one top you can end up with quite a few. most people aim for 4-10. with regards to stem thickness i would say they thicken with age. my pal has a plant he has kept as a mother for over 2 years and the stalk is about 4" thick but she drinks like a beast and he uses a fair amount of nutes just to keep her healthy. she is in a 120ltr container and is pretty much rootbound. it doesnt hurt to bend the plant. cannabis is probaly one of the most hardy plants ive seen. i split a stem on one a few months back straight down the middle. i just looped a cable tie around it and it healed itself within a week and was stronger than ever. a fan will help if you use it from seedling. i had some floppy autos in my first grow. i propped them up with a stick then left a 12" desk fan on them at full speed for 2 days and they stiffened right up. no problems after that. also watering them less frequently can help as there is less moisture cotained in the stem then and it hardens to protect itself from nature.

just my opinion. hope it can be helpful and let others correct me if im wrong

I tried both ways.. and if you don't scrog then definitely top. I would NEVER grow any plant naturally without those methods again, period. There is that much of a difference.

the plant-

is ready to flower when it shows preflowers.

big trick there. mature plants make better meds, i don't care who ya are.

I normally flower at 5-6 weeks and top at 4 weeks although with this set of jock horror im thinking of not topping at all as i use scrog. This is my 2nd scrog grow so i am anxious to see how they do without the topping in the screen. My last was sum really good bag seed. Came out great but they overgrew the screen because they had been topped twice before going intothe screens. My method for strengthening thin stalks is the usual. Pinch the stalk til you here the first pop move up the stalk til the top. Over a week the plant will rebuild itself and they will be stronger. Doing that with a fan and your stalks will be extremely sturdy. Good luck.