Worried about being too aggressive with topping

Hey guys,

Started LST a bit too late on these girls but I started LST on all of the lower stems and they're already bending up and looking great.
My question is I want to top these girls pretty heavily as I need to lower the light to reach my lower stems to properly turn them into big bushes like I want.

I've always thought topping was just pulling the new nodes at the top to prevent them from growing taller but after doing some research last night people were saying you can cut the top of the main stem to stop big growth.

I wanted to cut where I added the red lines. Is that too aggressive? Can I stress my plants out too much from chopping the top of the main stem like this? I've never used this technique of topping.

Let me know what you all think! Thanks in advance.





Here is an overall picture of both of them and the light.

Top them and while they are recovering go get more light. Not trying to be rude but that light ain’t gonna cut it.

They’re sparse and stretching for light.

Anongrows said:

Hey guys,

Started LST a bit too late on these girls but I started LST on all of the lower stems and they're already bending up and looking great.
My question is I want to top these girls pretty heavily as I need to lower the light to reach my lower stems to properly turn them into big bushes like I want.

I've always thought topping was just pulling the new nodes at the top to prevent them from growing taller but after doing some research last night people were saying you can cut the top of the main stem to stop big growth.

I wanted to cut where I added the red lines. Is that too aggressive? Can I stress my plants out too much from chopping the top of the main stem like this? I've never used this technique of topping.

Let me know what you all think! Thanks in advance.

Here is an overall picture of both of them and the light.

Click to expand...

Yeah that's a good place to cut

hotrodharley said:

Top them and while they are recovering go get more light. Not trying to be rude but that light ain’t gonna cut it.

Click to expand...

Will get some more T5's.

Assuming it's normal to see some stress after a big top like this?

Anongrows said:

Will get some more T5's.

Assuming it's normal to see some stress after a big top like this?

Click to expand...

Maybe a day or so of slowing at the top but the side shoots should be catching up while they do.

Anongrows said:

Will get some more T5's.

Assuming it's normal to see some stress after a big top like this?

Click to expand...

T5s work best if you scrog.

Hey, IMO - i prefer low stress training.
Topping slows down the plants for like 2 weeks while they recover.
also i may have topped like 6 times... thats a big mistake.
If you top then maybe just do it 1x and then train after that

If you want to get rid of the big tops that are close to the light -bend them down and train them - they will get Huge buds on them and you will end up with a nice even canopy if you train hard..

Obepawn said:

T5s work best if you scrog.

Click to expand...

Scroging is my next step once I balance out the canopy a bit.

NinjaMaster said:

Hey, IMO - i prefer low stress training.
Topping slows down the plants for like 2 weeks while they recover.
also i may have topped like 6 times... thats a big mistake.
If you top then maybe just do it 1x and then train after that

If you want to get rid of the big tops that are close to the light -bend them down and train them - they will get Huge buds on them and you will end up with a nice even canopy if you train hard..

Click to expand...

This will be my only big top. From here on out I'll be training my tops and utilizing LST and Scroging.

NinjaMaster said:

Hey, IMO - i prefer low stress training.
Topping slows down the plants for like 2 weeks while they recover.
also i may have topped like 6 times... thats a big mistake.
If you top then maybe just do it 1x and then train after that

If you want to get rid of the big tops that are close to the light -bend them down and train them - they will get Huge buds on them and you will end up with a nice even canopy if you train hard..

Click to expand...

If the plant has side branches present, it should only take a few days to recover. In 2 weeks time I'd have a mini bush
But if the plant doesn't have branches like in OPs pic, then yea, it'll take about 2 weeks to pick up speed.

Just wanted to clarify the recovery times.

You can tie her down or supercrop if you want to get the canopy even and filled in faster

well I transplanted a pretty old solo cup clone into a 7 gal and chopped it in half on the same day and I had no problems so they can take a lot of stress and be fine

Obepawn said:

T5s work best if you scrog.

Click to expand...

also got a good question for ya will t5s give you a good result in flower if you use the 3000k spectrum just wondering

3000k is the bloom spectrum if I'm not mistaken. 6500k is veg. My knowledge on T5s is limited, bro

Obepawn said:

3000k is the bloom spectrum if I'm not mistaken. 6500k is veg. My knowledge on T5s is limited, bro

Click to expand...

imma try to grow under the bloom spec ill let you know my result if u want?

Just to update this post. I topped at the lines I drew and they bounced back pretty much immediately. These girls are super resilient.
Looking like I'll have a nice canopy going now. I'm continuing to top the smaller nodes that come in to keep my canopy even and I'm also utilizing LST and scrog-ing to really get a nice even canopy going.

It's really helping my lower branches get more light as I was able to lower my light a solid 5 inches which was necessary since I only have this small T5 at the moment. Going to be investing in a few more T5's as well as a nice LED light as I'm getting ready to throw them into flower once the canopy get's nice and even.