im looking for the best method to increase yield on an outdoor plant. should i top or fim the plants and how many times? when is the best time? thanks for any input.
Topping and fiming are almost the same thing. Your best bet is to top and LST for max yield. You top during veg and you lst as the plant grows. Check out the LST and topping guides.
After trying fimming and topping, I've settled on LST forming with NO cutting for outdoor. I've found the resulting flowers the richest in tricomes, and the best volume of flowers to plant. My spiraling technique keeps branches down out of the wind (gusty SoCal "Santa Ana's) (and out of the neighbors view) while their being the closest to the roots makes them I believe the richest in tricomes (shown by microscope) of the whole grow. It makes a sort of "sea of green" effect without the screen and with no trimming except for clone taking. These pics show the start and the progress after five weeks.
I say neither. LST creates way more tops in a shorter amount of time than topping. It places less stress on the plant and accomplishes the same exact thing. Plus you keep your plants shorter with LST. The last auto I did yielded exactly 5 ounces. I know that’s not breaking any records, but for that strain, it was really good. The breeder was surprised that I got as much as I did. I only LST’d that plant just like I do all my plants. Here is my purple bullet auto. See how short she is? “Tyranny anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.” — someone awesome