Okay, i looked for the answer already and couldn't find it. My plant has 5 nodes and I'm deciding if i should top it or not. I just want to know if topping increases yields. And about how much does it increase the yields. THANK YOU
It might not increase. Depends on the strain. You could end up with three small colas that don't outway the single cola you could of had. Some strains don't like it at all. Your grow environment plays a big role as well. It has to be practically perfect to get good results. Topping can stress the plant. It will suddenly need to produce more energy on demand. SUperThrive will help the plant stabalize. And on the opoosite end of the spectrum, some plants love it and does increase yields. Some of the more experienced growers here from around the world could probably give us some examples Peace
if you topp when they are in flower the cloas never really mature like you would expect, but if you do all your topping in the veg stage i have seen good results. Every time you top that branch becomes 2 tops so in theory now you have doubled what you get at theat branch. If you continue this process the sky is the limit, I had heard some say that topping didnt give them a fat cola but i havent really seen this.
' super cropping ' is better imho, search youtube for super cropping theres a few tuturials on there .
I had two clones, topped one, and weighed the colas at the end. The topped one was .1g heavier. Wasn't really worth the trouble.
ive been topping a plant and tie'in the branches down so it grows out and its doing quite well.. its a lil 2 foot bush with prob 20 tops..... use sisors to cut the tops...ive noticed that if you rip the top out somtimes only one top will grow instead of 2
I think this really depends on your lighting situation. If you have 6 plants under a 400w you will need to move stuff around and manipulate the plant to maximize light penetration. If you have enough power to light up and vent the area I don't think you would notice large increases in yield or potency. It would be more up to genetics with small maintenance prunings.
I have four lsd in flower now. Topped all in veg. Three were topped above the second node and have four " main" colas. The fourth plant grew faster and was topped a second time above the first node of two of the new tops. It now has six main colas. All have good side branching on each of the mains. I lost count at about 70 bud sites on one plant. From my observation and limited expierience, the colas are considerably smaller than had I not topped. However, the colas arent shabby and the plants are filled with medium sized buds all over. The plant that was topped twice has smaller colas than the plants topped once. Once again though, it has more budsites. As well, some of the differences could be attributed to different phenos or different reaction to various stimuli during its veg or flower cycle. Also, from what I have read some of the lsd phenos can be slow fliwering, waiting until well in to flower before really filling in and plumping up. The real evidence will come in a few weeks.
Your yield is genetically determined by the strand of the bud you're growing. You can top or not top, but you'll usually receive the same amount of buds in the end. You can't turn a 4OZ plant into a 8OZ plant by 'topping' it and cutting it, and this & that. As Joker865 mentioned, the cola's are considerably smaller than had he not topped his plant. Also you'll have to worry about those branches going EVERYWHERE. In the wilderness plants yield pounds and pounds and often they're just grown from seed and feed with water, not super miracle gro nutrients & all this mumbo jumbo.