Topping Clones?

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OCKushCollector

OCKushCollector

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First indoor grow, I have 6 plants in veg, 3 from seed 3 from clone. I topped the seedlings a few weeks ago, and they grew new branches as expected and are growing vigorously. The clones never grew new branches. So basically I just cut off the main branches and now the side branches are the only future budsites.

1. Can you not top clones? Or is there a different way to do it?

2. Is it even worth it for me to grow these clones out now, with no main cola?? I could always go to the dispensary and pick up 3 replacements. As for now they are bushing out pretty decent, but I'm afraid that I will end up with a bunch of popcorn after all this work.
 
LetsSeeYa

LetsSeeYa

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Its a good idea to let your clone get rooted well before topping/firming. You can grow them for sure, but they probably will grow out like a bush, which isn't a bad thing at all. You could do a scrog with them as they will most likely branch out a lot so putting a screen over them and pulling the bud sites up into the screen will give you a great yield. You can top the side branches once they get bigger in veg, but i would let them grow for now, but no big deal so ya grow a bush. You would get a good result as them side branches will grow big if ya give em some time. But a clone like that would do well under a screen, with a scrog. The ''main cola'' really is nothing if you get twice the growth from the side branches, which is easy to do. I would grow them out if i were you, nothing lost here only if your looking for one big bud, which 5 x more medium buds in the end will be more yield. Plus given the right light any lower bud is as potent as that cola you want. And you can look at it as a learning experience, you might like what ya get from the bushes.


LSY
 
Bannacis

Bannacis

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Just curious, How are you topping your plant? if you watch the ends of your branches as they grow...)and you can start this as soon as your transplanted start has adjusted) you gently pull the leaves apart slowly, you will notice at the very center you get a little nub...this is the beginning of a branch. what you do is...with a toothpick you gently pop it off.
it comes off easy,once its off your done. You will then have two perfect side branches that will form.
When those two get bigger you do it to them...then you now have 4, so on and so on.

But If you wait a while and the little nub gets just a bit bigger/longer, you take a pair of sharp sizzors and cut about half way down. you will get about 4 shoots grow out... which is called FIM..
Fuck I Missed...
I prefer the topping and bending.. using a screen you train your branches to grow out and spread the bud sites out. and by doing some super cropping. LSC...Low Stress cropping.
You will get a bunch of tops, they will all be the same height, level under your lights. if you train them right...
If you google search super cropping, you will see a lot of cropping that is maybe too extreme.
I do the rolling between the fingers gently and bending slowly, and at the section where you get branching off I kinda pinch where they meet. it will eventually heal and become a big knuckle.
If you start early and get the knuckles low the upper part of the step will get as big as the knuckle.

best is start on one plant, so if you do mess up you will have learned on one and figure it out for the others. I seen one plant have about 36 big buds, it was under 3 feet tall, and maybe 3 ft wide.
sweet looking...
wow... didn't realize i was writing a story...lol...
bottom line...if you plants are healthy...don't through them out...Grow them out...
do some experimenting, bending, tieing...

keeper green..:rolleyes:
 
outwest

outwest

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Like seeya said, I wait until the clone is established before I start hacking it up. I find that once the plant is established standard topping and FIMing is no big deal to the plant. A lot of people comment about the plant needing to recover when topped. I find my plants don't blink an eye. . .

outwest
 
Spider Truck

Spider Truck

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I've always waited until they're established before topping and never had an issue.
 
LetsSeeYa

LetsSeeYa

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Yep i agree with not much stress once the plants are good to grow. And luv to Fim branches, but really dont get to upset if i mess up something as you can always top or Fim the branch again. I got 7 top's once and i was trying to top, lol, but taught me something. So when using these techniques dont sweat it to much, its not going to mess up the whole plant and in most cases i see more good coming from a mistake as you learn something ya might want to use next go-round. These plants can take a lot and mistakes only make you grow better in my opinion. Its knowing you made the mistake that is important!


LSY
 
outwest

outwest

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Here is a good example of what FIMing will do from my current grow. This is a monster strain called Mob Boss from Grindhouse.

This was after I FIMed the tops and stripped the lowers:

STRIP sf


This is not to long after:

MOBCUP sf


So, as you can see, a health7 plant responds really well, even if you are a little aggressive.

outwest
 
LetsSeeYa

LetsSeeYa

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Thats why i like the method, you cant mess up, in less you cut the entire growth off and in this case, i think a person needs to do some reading, lol

Nice pic's, really shows what Fim can do and how fast!


LSY
 
OCKushCollector

OCKushCollector

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I thought I had responded in here but apparently I didn't. Plants look really good outwest. What I did was completely hacked the main branch off instead of cutting at the new growth, I don't know what I was thinking :confused:.

Since then I have fimmed a lot of the new growth and they took off, until I burned them with green cure fungicide the other day (new topic on that issue). Ugh you can read for months straight like I did before growing, but some things must be learned from mistakes and experience I guess.
 
B

Burned Haze

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I thought I had responded in here but apparently I didn't. Plants look really good outwest. What I did was completely hacked the main branch off instead of cutting at the new growth, I don't know what I was thinking :confused:.

Since then I have fimmed a lot of the new growth and they took off, until I burned them with green cure fungicide the other day (new topic on that issue). Ugh you can read for months straight like I did before growing, but some things must be learned from mistakes and experience I guess.


No offence but in less your using max dose green cure will not burn your plants. I've been using it on 30+ diff strains over the years and I never see that issue from it.
 
OCKushCollector

OCKushCollector

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No offence but in less your using max dose green cure will not burn your plants. I've been using it on 30+ diff strains over the years and I never see that issue from it.

I've read that you should only use half recommended dose otherwise it will burn the plants. Of course I didn't find that out until after I applied it a little under the recommended dosage.
 
Intense

Intense

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Topping clones is no different to topping seedlings. As long as the plant is sufficiently established, you're good to go. It simply needs enough energy to be able to regenerate after being topped.
 
outwest

outwest

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Topping clones is no different to topping seedlings. As long as the plant is sufficiently established, you're good to go. It simply needs enough energy to be able to regenerate after being topped.

I follow that same rule.

outwest
 
nebulius

nebulius

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Here is a good example of what FIMing will do from my current grow. This is a monster strain called Mob Boss from Grindhouse.

This was after I FIMed the tops and stripped the lowers:

View attachment 212803

This is not to long after:

View attachment 212805

So, as you can see, a health7 plant responds really well, even if you are a little aggressive.

outwest
Hey Outwest, I FIM my plants and leave lower branches and strip lower branches except for the ends which get sufficient light.
Do you think I should just remove those lower branches like you did in your photo?
 
outwest

outwest

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Perfect timing for that question. I've gotten the FIMing down, as the picture below shows. This is the same plant I posted before. Now that I'm heading into flower, I have the same question as you. . .how do I thin the plant out, especially leaves, to optimize growth (light exposure) and increase yield? On my last run I didn't prune anything after FIMing, and was please with the yield.

outwest

MBJUNGLE sf
 
nebulius

nebulius

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A friend suggested that I FIM and don't trim anything. He said to harvest all the developed buds and leave the popcorn sized ones on for a few more weeks to develop more.
Haven't tried it yet, usually trim all that stuff off before it grows. You ever try this West?
 
outwest

outwest

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A friend suggested that I FIM and don't trim anything. He said to harvest all the developed buds and leave the popcorn sized ones on for a few more weeks to develop more.
Haven't tried it yet, usually trim all that stuff off before it grows. You ever try this West?

I have not, but it seems like a good idea. In general, I have a lot of hesitation around manhandling the plants. . .this may limit my canopy management skills.

outwest
 
420alldaze

420alldaze

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what up, ive done it some real dense strains,it works and ya get a little extra out of the bottom stuff. do it ,it cant hurt. 42o
 
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