baldmountain
Super Active Member
I used to top everything. Now I'm not so sure it's a good idea. Maybe it's just this plant, but I would have lost this whole top cola if I had:
Topping
- Thread starter baldmountain
- Start date
Foulques DeBoixo
Member
More tops, but smaller vs one large cola. Depends on what you want, and often necessary for controlling height if you don't want to supercrop.
baldmountain
Super Active Member
I know that is the conventional wisdom, but I think anytime you cut something off a plant you are reducing the number of places it can flower. All the side branches are still there whether you top or not. By leaving the plant whole you are leaving more places to flower. My guess is that the cases where topping does work is because the pot the plant is grown in is too small and there isn't enough root space to support the side branches AND a large main cola. If you look at those huge outdoor plants they have many side branches and they all have big colas. The main central cola gets lost in all the other colas. Those plants have the root space to support flowing out many branches so topping is detrimental.
So I think I'm going to leave my plants whole and grow them in a larger pot. At least 3 gal and preferably a 5 gal.
Having said that I can understand knocking off tiny lower buds. No one want to trim those. They are more work than they are worth.
So I think I'm going to leave my plants whole and grow them in a larger pot. At least 3 gal and preferably a 5 gal.
Having said that I can understand knocking off tiny lower buds. No one want to trim those. They are more work than they are worth.
The difference with topping is the that it breaks the apical dominance of the plant and that causes the plant to focus on the growth of the side branches as if they were all main colas. This is a method used for all types of plants and not just cannabis. You will wind up with basically the same yield, it just depends on how you want it…a tall plant with one large cola and a bunch of smaller colas, or a shorter/bushier plant with a bunch of more evenly sized colas. I personally prefer the more evenly sized smaller colas because they are easier to dry and cure properly.
3-5 gallons is still considered small if you are growing in soil. I grow my indoor plants in 10 gallon pots.
Old ST1R
Grow Yer Own Stone
I think that pot size is subjective.
Because I like variety, I’d rather have eight smaller plants in 3 gallons in my 2 x 4 vs. 2 large plants in 10 gallons in a 2 x 4.
Using a SOG method is different than what I’m talking about. People who grow with a SOG are going for fast turn around so root space isn’t as big of a concern.
Isn’t that considered a SOG? If not then I’ve never correctly understood what a SOG is. What I was trying to get at, though, was plants that are vegged until sexual maturity need larger pots when grown organically in soil. A lot of what I’ve read suggests no smaller than 10 gallon pots but I’ve had good luck running 7 gallons in my smaller tent.
Old ST1R
Grow Yer Own Stone
Mmm, I’d have to disagree that they need a large pot to get to sexual maturity. Case in point is all those 21 plants I showed above were obviously sexually mature because they are at the peak of the flower cycle, yet are only max 20” tall in one gallon pots, and most of them were only 12” or 14” tall.
I could easily get a plant to sexual maturity in a quarter liter pot.
I guess my point is that the final plant size is largely determined by the pot size and how long the plant is in a vegetative state with room for roots to keep growing.
In your 7 to 10 gallon pots, how big are your plants when you flip and what would a typical yield be?
That’s what I was getting at…waiting for them to reach sexual maturity before flipping to flower. I top and manifold my plants, until they fill the footprint of the 10 gallon pot, so they are usually in veg for 6 weeks. A typical yield for me doing this method is 4oz-6oz per plant.
TerpyTyrone
LED Recruiter
Old ST1R
Grow Yer Own Stone
Ah, your yield is quite a bit more than most. I’d say three gallons is a pretty common size of pot given height restrictions in a tent, and those are going to yield 1.5 to 2 Oz per plant.
But, ya, if you don’t need variety (and it’s prolly less “hassle” too) a larger pot size is where it’s at.
I like the slower pace of going with less plants and vegging them longer to fill the tent from wall to wall. I only do 4 plants at a time in my 4x4.
Choco8
Insanely Active Member
Pretty much!
Two advantages I see in topping are 1. Being able to shape the plant into a flat canopy for the best exposure to the lighting, 2. Strains that can get bud mold quite often have it the worst in the large central cola, and as you noted, the end buds are smaller and less of a humidity trap.
H.A.F.
a.k.a. Rusty Nails
I've done both and am back in tree mode after topping for a few years. Keeping plants small was my main reason for topping. Height restrictions as mentioned. But as far as yield I have done side-by-sides and the difference will be the make-up of your yield more than the weight of it. Weight is gonna be pretty close topped and not topped since a topped plant will have larger secondary cola everywhere. Like the weight you lose from the center cola get's distributed between the remaining tops.
I don't care about yield as long as I get an ounce or two per small plant, but since I grow a lot of different stuff it was getting boring topping and pruning and turning everything into the same-looking plant.
Side note, on a fat top like that I'm busting it up before it gets jarred. Pop every individual nug off the main stem and get the fat chunks of fan-leaf from under each one. That is generally where the last moisture hangs out.
I don't care about yield as long as I get an ounce or two per small plant, but since I grow a lot of different stuff it was getting boring topping and pruning and turning everything into the same-looking plant.
Side note, on a fat top like that I'm busting it up before it gets jarred. Pop every individual nug off the main stem and get the fat chunks of fan-leaf from under each one. That is generally where the last moisture hangs out.
619KGB
PICK YOUR OWN
I also prefer not to top some strains prefer central cola and letting the plant express its structure ect. FIM and Kushman chiropractic is as far as I go with and found the best method to distribute the plants auxins/energy and keep things low is to train the plants sideways and stand all the branches up. After growing CSI trainwreck if it were topped would definitely put the train into the wreck 
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