Top a few times in veg. I had a height restriction so aside from topping I tied the whole plant to lean. And this I believe payed off later. Wanted it as short and bushy as possible. When I planted I put what I could of that thick stalk in the ground and planted at about a 45° angle which really put the plants upright. Some people would worry about root rot but that wasn't on my mind. I figured it would just grow more roots and it did really well. At that time I wasn't using super soil so I planted with either
FFOF or Bu's Blend. Both are good enough especially to jump start outdoor. But what really helped was that I topped with a full 20/30 lb bag of wiggle worm. Pretty sure I was already using compost tea's during this grow which is a must. But from there I would tie down what I could up top. Cut away anything that wouldn't amount to much from lower points throughout summer until the days shortened. I tried not to cut too much after flower but if the plants are strong you can for awhile. Especially since outdoor will run late to end of October*. I may have even cut early November. But I would just watch your branches. Some you can strengthen with a pinch and bend early on and throughout. Some will bounce back strong and fatten up. Others will likely bounce back but stay thin. If you put these in during spring/early summer, you'll have plenty of time to study, play around, and learn. But if your LST isn't paying off on a lower thinner branch, just remove it. As you can see, (somewhat anyway) I had plenty of 'tops', more so than I topped the plant for really. It just becomes a bush. The more you tie down, the more it shoots up.
