The plant is 54" tall If I top it now what will happen? Will it stop upward growth? What else should I do? The plant is 2 to 3 weeks into flowering if it makes a difference.
What will happen is this: Your plant will focus more energy into branching outward. It will also form 2 new tips at the top. You can keep pinching those off, to control verticle growth if you wish. Just keep in mind that this will promote bushiness
I believe it is, for every growth node you clip it sprouts two. So yes, you can improve yeild by training your plant.
there is no true answer to that really, its argued constantly some people say you will yield more leaving it as it is, but some say you will get more with topping mainly, it comes down to if you can afford the plant to get taller, and if you want 1 main cola, or multiple smaller budding sights
wow that is some pretty cool stuff i might just experiment with that when i get to flowering. or are you supposed to do it in veg? well any who that is just a great concept and one of us has got to find out
It'd be best to do it in veg. If you do it in flowering, it's moreso to control height, and promote side-branching.
You won't get a good yeild topping too soon or too late.. Too soon and you rush it to grow instead of repairing itself fully (sometimes it won't even sprout both even remotely close to one another on the top node) and too late you get wimpy airy buds on 2 sets...same weight just distroed more with less trichromes. Some like airy some like dense... If you manage to capture it right in that sweet spot and feed it a bit more to push growth it'll net you some pretty sick double trouble...may even need to use string to hold them up.
I had this one plant that I topped like fuckin crazy... It had over 30 grow tips goin and was begging for more.
LOL.....I got one that was 5" tall....I pinched it and now the dang thing is 10" in diameter and looks like a freakin ball of branches.....I hope it recovers an gets a few inches taller....now I also put 5k lumens of blues LED's over it....LOL....I moved those to the side and I think its going to start getting taller....lol... experimenting with these LED's is wild....the plant does things you never saw before..LOL...
How is your LED grow goin btw? What are some of the weird things goin on w/the plant? I'm actually quite interested in that little experiment. If it works we can implement it on Ganja Island
I top almost all my plants at least once. I always do it when its 2 weeks old, its best to top it early as possible in my opinion.
When that beast of a skunk plant was growin... I topped that shit straight through to pre-flower, and it was STILL beggin for more. But I stopped once I had 'bout 30 tips on the top - not counting side-branching. It's really whenever you feel comfortable. Listen to your plant. When it's had enough, don't do it no more. If it's 54" tall already, It should have at least some side branching... Unless it's one of those 1-stemmers, lol... If you're concerned about height, just chop it wherever is high enough for you. Do it at a node, with something really sharp (preferrably garden pruners).
i usually Fim at about week 2 and then let it heal, and if needed do it again and again, depending on how bush i want it, or how high i want it to grow.............but if i could, i'd just let ol mother nature do the job for me, and go for a natural grow, i know it may yield less, but it just seems...........right............lol..........how would we like to have our heads copped off and grow upto 11 more new ones.........lol........Peace out..........Sid
Mythical creatures who've killed way too many...reincarnated as bud you're gonna chop & smoke. Karma baby...Karma...for all you know we all coulda smoked a bit of Hilters evil ass....lol In answer I started mid way into veg (but I vegged way longer then most) so just make sure the main stem is very hearty before topping.
Great thread, it's really an imotive subject and as I'm a 'cutter' I was really interested to read all these opinions. I agree with IGTC and have to say that with a little care, your plants can and will put up with all sorts of crap and bounce right back - check out my journal and see for yourself - lol. I like to let mine get to about 2 ft tall before topping and triming, but the trimming is also one thing that's open to debate. Sure, cut of it's head and it grows 2 more but it also depends, IMHO, on your plant set-up, the soil or medium it's grown in, uyour lights, the strain and so on, blah blah blah. What I'd say is try it and see. I also think it depends on how much patience you have during the veg stage. My first grow was SOG so I topped them off at 2 ft tall and made them short and bushy - although flowering does boost growth quite a bit! My current grow is SCROG and the veg stage has taken forever, but the tweaks, snips and haircuts have had the desired effect so far. Whatever you decide, good luck with it and keep us all posted!