When to top or fim?

Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
Alright, I'm about 3rd week into veg and was wondering when I should top or fim. I'm already thinking about it but don't want to jump the gun. I somewhat think I know where to cut from watching my friend fim and top his plant and from looking at diagrams. Here's a few pics of my plants so you can get a better idea of where I'm at and where I should cut.
 

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xGrimace

xGrimace

Well-Known Member
Ide wait about another 2 weeks, until you have a couple more nodes, and it wouldnt be too much stress on your plant.
Some people are gonna tell you go ahead and do it, but its up to you. Just know that any clipping of the foliage is going to cause stress to the plant, to be safer it would be better to clip when its a bit more mature and can handle it better.
Looks like a good start, strong stalk.
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
xGrimace said:
Ide wait about another 2 weeks, until you have a couple more nodes, and it wouldnt be too much stress on your plant.
Some people are gonna tell you go ahead and do it, but its up to you. Just know that any clipping of the foliage is going to cause stress to the plant, to be safer it would be better to clip when its a bit more mature and can handle it better.
Looks like a good start, strong stalk.
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Thanks man, ya I was thinking of waiting a while longer also, so I'm definitely going to wait a few more weeks.
 
thatboyis1uvakind

thatboyis1uvakind

New Member
No...start em early...I top when they have 3-4 nodes n cut em node two....let em shoot up a little then top again...its what ever u want....I just topped this plant at 14days two days ago...20130125_094303.jpg...my style of training is top or fim at an early age then bend n branch out the plant...w a few more tops or fims.... it works...20130123_092453.jpg20130123_092453.jpg1358775365420.jpgu can see where I topped early n kept it short...why wait n top wheView attachment 2503241n its taller?..then ur just gonna have a plant that splits in the middle .View attachment 2503238
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
thatboyis1uvakind said:
No...start em early...I top when they have 3-4 nodes n cut em node two....let em shoot up a little then top again...its what ever u want....I just topped this plant at 14days two days ago...View attachment 2503233...my style of training is top or fim at an early age then bend n branch out the plant...w a few more tops or fims.... it works...View attachment 2503234View attachment 2503234View attachment 2503235u can see where I topped early n kept it short...why wait n top wheView attachment 2503241n its taller?..then ur just gonna have a plant that splits in the middle .View attachment 2503238
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The plant all the way to the right came out great man. I'm very impressed with your results you get with cfls.
 
thatboyis1uvakind

thatboyis1uvakind

New Member
Those are all diff plants...except the biggest one alone in pics...the seeding is just now 2 or 3days since topping...no pics but is shooting up like crazy....my plants always react well to a good topping....just gotta make sure their healthy
 
Dividedsky

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
thatboyis1uvakind said:
Thanks man...got this going right now...View attachment 2503245View attachment 2503246...and the seedling... for small grows there's no reason u can't do well w cfls....u just gotta realize it takes a lot of em n u gotta keep em close.....I put a lot of cfls on one plant...View attachment 2503256
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Ya, I'm running T5s in veg right now and absolutely love them, I can get them pretty close to the plants too. I will be switching over to a 1000w HPS for flower. I'm going to have a dimmable ballast so I'll dial down the watts at 1st and gradually raise it to the full 1000watts. I feel it would be a bit much for my plants to go from being under a 4ft 4bulb T5 to be blasted by a 1000watt hps, I also plan on keeping them in veg for a week or 2 with the hps before I flip them to 12/12.
 
thatboyis1uvakind

thatboyis1uvakind

New Member
Dividedsky said:
Ya, I'm running T5s in veg right now and absolutely love them, I can get them pretty close to the plants too. I will be switching over to a 1000w HPS for flower. I'm going to have a dimmable ballast so I'll dial down the watts at 1st and gradually raise it to the full 1000watts. I feel it would be a bit much for my plants to go from being under a 4ft 4bulb T5 to be blasted by a 1000watt hps, I also plan on keeping them in veg for a week or 2 with the hps before I flip them to 12/12.
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If ur wanting bushy plants I'd top now n begin training....were u considering topping to bush ur plant out or just to have two main colas?
 
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nom de plume420

Active Member
Why would you top a plant to begin with, it just slows down the growth. The best thing to do is trim up the bottoms really well and force the auxins into the flowers at the top of the plant forcing higher yields from the part of the plant best able to take advantage of the light. I have never met a single professional grower (and I have been one for about twenty years now) that tops their plants. Think of it like this, would it have helped you to mature properly if say, I cut your head off when you were three or four years old? I think not. Trim the bottoms well and you will get heavier plants. There is a myth that you can produce multiple heavy colas by topping the plants. In my experience you are redistributing the top cola into several smaller ones. If you trim the bottoms properly you won't slow down growth, you can use the trimming as clones, and you force the side branches to get much, much bigger, which is really what you are trying to do.

Tl;DR You are trimming the wrong end of your plants.
 
thatboyis1uvakind

thatboyis1uvakind

New Member
nom de plume420 said:
Why would you top a plant to begin with, it just slows down the growth. The best thing to do is trim up the bottoms really well and force the auxins into the flowers at the top of the plant forcing higher yields from the part of the plant best able to take advantage of the light. I have never met a single professional grower (and I have been one for about twenty years now) that tops their plants. Think of it like this, would it have helped you to mature properly if say, I cut your head off when you were three or four years old? I think not. Trim the bottoms well and you will get heavier plants. There is a myth that you can produce multiple heavy colas by topping the plants. In my experience you are redistributing the top cola into several smaller ones. If you trim the bottoms properly you won't slow down growth, you can use the trimming as clones, and you force the side branches to get much, much bigger, which is really what you are trying to do.

Tl;DR You are trimming the wrong end of your plants.
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Topping has never slowed growth down for my plants...they don't miss a beat...hours later after the top u can see growth...that's why u only top healthy plants...and no I wouldn't do well w my head cut off at three but plants and humans are way diff... yes u get more smaller buds from topping instead of one big one....there's a 1000 diff training techniques...topping being one of em and it is not harmful to the plant
 
G

grorite

Well-Known Member
thatboyis1uvakind said:
Topping has never slowed growth down for my plants...they don't miss a beat...hours later after the top u can see growth...that's why u only top healthy plants...and no I wouldn't do well w my head cut off at three but plants and humans are way diff... yes u get more smaller buds from topping instead of one big one....there's a 1000 diff training techniques...topping being one of em and it is not harmful to the plant
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i dont even top anymore just lst and it works out perfect hows things going brotha
 
bigbull52

bigbull52

Active Member
nom de plume420 said:
There is a myth that you can produce multiple heavy colas by topping the plants. In my experience you are redistributing the top cola into several smaller ones.
Tl;DR You are trimming the wrong end of your plants.
Click to expand...
I read here, on RIU, and few other places that topping, dependent on genetics/strain, can create two equal main colas and CAN increase the yield, or, it can just redistribute the weight amongst the new colas and create equal lesser ones.

Not saying its true, just wondering what ur opinion on it is...
 
robert030188

robert030188

Well-Known Member
Its true bigbull, it depends on genetics...some strains just can't produce, but get a strain like Big Bud and see what it does for you
 
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nom de plume420

Active Member
thatboyis1uvakind said:
Topping has never slowed growth down for my plants...they don't miss a beat...hours later after the top u can see growth...that's why u only top healthy plants...and no I wouldn't do well w my head cut off at three but plants and humans are way diff... yes u get more smaller buds from topping instead of one big one....there's a 1000 diff training techniques...topping being one of em and it is not harmful to the plant
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I have a question. Believe me I am not trying to be argumentative, but how long does it take from rooted clone (or seed) until harvest for you. I can (with supplemental co2) be done in 90-95 days. I have never seen topped plants achieve those results. What I produce in being able to harvest more crops a year more than makes up for any added per plant weight I could hope for by topping, which I am skeptical has any real benefit. None that I have ever seen anyway. I may be wrong but nothing from experience or any reputable literature supports topping young plants, unless space is a limiting factor.
 
bigbull52

bigbull52

Active Member
nom de plume420 said:
I have a question. Believe me I am not trying to be argumentative, but how long does it take from rooted clone (or seed) until harvest for you. I can (with supplemental co2) be done in 90-95 days. I have never seen topped plants achieve those results. What I produce in being able to harvest more crops a year more than makes up for any added per plant weight I could hope for by topping, which I am skeptical has any real benefit. None that I have ever seen anyway. I may be wrong but nothing from experience or any reputable literature supports topping young plants, unless space is a limiting factor.
Click to expand...

How long do you vege for.... some people go 12/12 all the way through and can be done in 2 months... other people veg for 2 months....
 
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