Issues with topping vs not topping

[Buzzzz]

What do you mean by bigger harvest?

Bigger buds?

Total weight?

Total saleable size bud?

Imo topping doesn’t increase yield. It provides more even bud size and distribution leading to less popcorn waste and more mid size colas.

Topping in itself is an effective way to get better distribution of bud and make better use of a light source thats only from above to get better overall photosynthesis of the plant as a whole.

In cannabis nothing is as simple as saying topping increases yield… and while it may in some cases that doesn’t mean it will.

This is a frustration i see daily. People have been led to believe if you do this then that happens and if you do that then this happens.

In cannabis the answer is almost always it depends and people need to back off with the claims.

More light will give you bigger buds….ONLY if your capable for providing the extra demands that that creates.

We have to stop this all or none thought process, definitive answers for one variable and start thinking in terms of multiple variables.

When you have an equation that requires 50 inputs to give answer and you have 1 input dont have a chance of getting the right answer.

Tldr: is topping beneficial? Yes it can be for the right reasons and sometimes that will mean an increase in yields

Is topping beneficial in every situation? Absolutely not…. And sometimes it may hurt yields

This is not directed at anyone but rather everyone to stop and think about how complex these plants are.

There is very few if an easy answers when growing these plants.

I want to see everyone succeed and thats why the long winded post.

If someone tells you something question the why, how, and when it works before you believe it.

We are becoming all about the instant gratification and answers these days

@Ilike2grow im sorry your impression didn’t work out and if you like i can try to get help you understand some of the intricacies involved in topping if you like

You're right, people also assume if you plant a strain the plants will be all be similiar and even regardless of source,for instance people will say such and such a strain is killer but each plant is different,some people select properly and some don't from breeder to consumer, and you get shitty ones and some will love nutes some want low doses etc. Cannabis naturally turns weedy and thc isn't really something they need to produce to survive and if you don't select properly and breed them then the lines go bad through contamination and neglect,it's happened to a lot of old strains that were once great.

 

[Gorbo]

Good job @Ilike2grow doing your own research and coming on here sharing what you found, what a forum is for.

 

[Itman]

Three top chops used to be the norm outdoors in the days before modern techniques not only for more beaches but to give base strength needed for holding a big plant.

 

[Aqua Man]

Good job @Ilike2grow doing your own research and coming on here sharing what you found, what a forum is for.

Truth brother

 

[Megawattman1]

What do you mean by bigger harvest?

Bigger buds?

Total weight?

Total saleable size bud?

Imo topping doesn’t increase yield. It provides more even bud size and distribution leading to less popcorn waste and more mid size colas.

Topping in itself is an effective way to get better distribution of bud and make better use of a light source thats only from above to get better overall photosynthesis of the plant as a whole.

In cannabis nothing is as simple as saying topping increases yield… and while it may in some cases that doesn’t mean it will.

This is a frustration i see daily. People have been led to believe if you do this then that happens and if you do that then this happens.

In cannabis the answer is almost always it depends and people need to back off with the claims.

More light will give you bigger buds….ONLY if your capable for providing the extra demands that that creates.

We have to stop this all or none thought process, definitive answers for one variable and start thinking in terms of multiple variables.

When you have an equation that requires 50 inputs to give answer and you have 1 input dont have a chance of getting the right answer.

Tldr: is topping beneficial? Yes it can be for the right reasons and sometimes that will mean an increase in yields

Is topping beneficial in every situation? Absolutely not…. And sometimes it may hurt yields

This is not directed at anyone but rather everyone to stop and think about how complex these plants are.

There is very few if an easy answers when growing these plants.

I want to see everyone succeed and thats why the long winded post.

If someone tells you something question the why, how, and when it works before you believe it.

We are becoming all about the instant gratification and answers these days

@Ilike2grow im sorry your impression didn’t work out and if you like i can try to get help you understand some of the intricacies involved in topping if you like

Thank you for your explanation. I'm growing my first legal crop in my life this year. Only 12 to start now down to 9 because I found some males. I'm growing outside in Missouri. This year I haven't pinched any of my plants. Don't know if that's better or not. I am wondering if I should trim the big sun leaves after my plants begin to flower. Sorry for the dum question but I want to learn!

 

[Itman]

Leaves are the factory take em off towards the end.
Topping extends time to finish unless you growing monsters let God's work do it's thing and be a good mother.

 

[Frostie069]

I've found topping is a slower process, if you want a quick harvest don't top lol, I top for various reasons, many of them mentioned already, another reason for me outdoors is stealth plus high yield. I've lolli popped wine bottles outside. 16 per plant.

While I've found topping to be slow due to the fact of repair time, what I like about the process of heavy defoliation and Lolli popping is your directing all the plants energy into those buds, while I can say Ive had bigger yields doing this process I believe I've also had smaller yields, but the buds are always thick and Frostie, so I believe the overall uniform of quality is always higher if done right. Even light, even nutrients, great air flow. I like it.

 

[Aqua Man]

Thank you for your explanation. I'm growing my first legal crop in my life this year. Only 12 to start now down to 9 because I found some males. I'm growing outside in Missouri. This year I haven't pinched any of my plants. Don't know if that's better or not. I am wondering if I should trim the big sun leaves after my plants begin to flower. Sorry for the dum question but I want to learn!

Outdoor you get light from all angles so other than if they are too dense, to remove unhealthy leaves or they produce monster buds and late fall is rainy and humid I’d probably just let em do their thing. But lots of it is genetics.

 

[PotsieSativa]

I've found topping is a slower process, if you want a quick harvest don't top lol, I top for various reasons, many of them mentioned already, another reason for me outdoors is stealth plus high yield. I've lolli popped wine bottles outside. 16 per plant.

While I've found topping to be slow due to the fact of repair time, what I like about the process of heavy defoliation and Lolli popping is your directing all the plants energy into those buds, while I can say Ive had bigger yields doing this process I believe I've also had smaller yields, but the buds are always thick and Frostie, so I believe the overall uniform of quality is always higher if done right. Even light, even nutrients, great air flow. I like it.

Topping initiates root growth. Something to consider. But with the goal of a flat canopy and stripped, shaded legs.. That's why people think 3 a light is good. (it's not, unless you're growing landrace)


Since moving indoors, I grow tiny plants, 12/12 from seed. They do MUCH better with less leaf,less veg. Time it perfect and your bud won't even need trimming. It's almost like the buds like the light better than the leaves, indoors.

 

[Aqua Man]

Topping initiates root growth. Something to consider. But with the goal of a flat canopy and stripped, shaded legs.. That's why people think 3 a light is good. (it's not, unless you're growing landrace)


Since moving indoors, I grow tiny plants, 12/12 from seed. They do MUCH better with less leaf,less veg. Time it perfect and your bud won't even need trimming. It's almost like the buds like the light better than the leaves, indoors.

3lb a light is not good?

Have any studies to show topping stimulates root growth? I know it effects auxins in the growing tips but roots? Thats new to me

 

[GNick55]

no topping here, just keep bending the main cola over till most branches are the same height than let her go..

 

[Frostie069]

no topping here, just keep bending the main cola over till most branches are the same height than let her go..View attachment 1272413View attachment 1272414

I am going to trial not topping in some future grows, something I've wanted to try is a 90 degree angle main stem grow. I'm trialling 9 plants in my first NFT grow topping/mainlining at the moment, id only be able to do 3 with the 90 degree grow.

 

[Frostie069]

3lb a light is not good?

Have any studies to show topping stimulates root growth? I know it effects auxins in the growing tips but roots? Thats new to me

maybe because of the increased veg/grow time this is what throws people off with increased root growth.

 

[Frostie069]

Topping initiates root growth. Something to consider. But with the goal of a flat canopy and stripped, shaded legs.. That's why people think 3 a light is good. (it's not, unless you're growing landrace)


Since moving indoors, I grow tiny plants, 12/12 from seed. They do MUCH better with less leaf,less veg. Time it perfect and your bud won't even need trimming. It's almost like the buds like the light better than the leaves, indoors.

for me outdoors they seem to do fine without all the leaves also....on the left are autos, we had a terrible spring/summer last year, after the auto germ and I put them outside, we had two weeks of cloud and rain, the the rain stopped but the cloud didn't, then the rain returned etc etc.

 

[Itman]

Has anyone bent back to ground to create new root growth could be done multiple times creating a hedge.?

 

[Ilike2grow]

What do you mean by bigger harvest?

Bigger buds?

Total weight?

Total saleable size bud?

Imo topping doesn’t increase yield. It provides more even bud size and distribution leading to less popcorn waste and more mid size colas.

Topping in itself is an effective way to get better distribution of bud and make better use of a light source thats only from above to get better overall photosynthesis of the plant as a whole.

In cannabis nothing is as simple as saying topping increases yield… and while it may in some cases that doesn’t mean it will.

This is a frustration i see daily. People have been led to believe if you do this then that happens and if you do that then this happens.

In cannabis the answer is almost always it depends and people need to back off with the claims.

More light will give you bigger buds….ONLY if your capable for providing the extra demands that that creates.

We have to stop this all or none thought process, definitive answers for one variable and start thinking in terms of multiple variables.

When you have an equation that requires 50 inputs to give answer and you have 1 input dont have a chance of getting the right answer.

Tldr: is topping beneficial? Yes it can be for the right reasons and sometimes that will mean an increase in yields

Is topping beneficial in every situation? Absolutely not…. And sometimes it may hurt yields

This is not directed at anyone but rather everyone to stop and think about how complex these plants are.

There is very few if an easy answers when growing these plants.

I want to see everyone succeed and thats why the long winded post.

If someone tells you something question the why, how, and when it works before you believe it.

We are becoming all about the instant gratification and answers these days

@Ilike2grow im sorry your impression didn’t work out and if you like i can try to get help you understand some of the intricacies involved in topping if you like

Thank You for the explanation. I understand growing a bit more now. I had a question about the light. I have a se4000 from spider farmer. I have tried turning it up to 50% but I just burn the leaves and make the plants sick. I now keep it at 40% during veg and flower. Is there a way I can turn the lights up? I see ppl saying they keep theirs at 100% but I’d kill mine that high. Is there something I’m doing wrong? I figured if I’m able to give them more light I’d get a bigger yield. The reason I’m looking for bigger yields is I can only grow 4 at most per grow in my tent. Problem is I run out or close to it by time I can harvest my plants. I live in Kansas so I can’t go to a dispensary in the meantime. I can go to Colorado but it’s a 6 hour drive 1 way. Id prefer to grow and smoke only the stuff I’ve grown .

 

[Ilike2grow]

How late was the last topping? It's about strain and structure, density ans size. Indoor indicas might not need to be topped, whereas some sativas have to be topped or bent or both.

I only topped them once as I was experimenting this time. But I got 4 grows under my belt so far.
I only grow indicas or indica leaning hybrids. So far my biggest yield came from a slurricane. It was weird as I started it as a fifth plant that already had 4 plants about 6 weeks ahead of it. I never topped it as I thought I’d have to chop it since it seemed to not get enough light. But boy was I wrong. It was still a seedling when I flipped to flower, but it stretched to be taller then my other plants and I had to bend it so it didn’t get burnt. But it grew a huge cola that just kept getting fatter and fatter. I got more from that 1 plant vs 2 of the others. All growing in the same conditions and nutes.

 

[Ilike2grow]

This community is awesome and I wouldn’t know half of what i have learned without them all.

Sometimes the best advice is the cold hard truth… i know this because i was no different when i started and i learned many things the hard way… then ureaka i finally understood once i started to educate myself on how the plants, biology, chemistry, environment all played an intertwined role with many other factors like genetics etc.

So i get it… but if i can help others understand that too then we all improve our knowledge and skills

Aqua man.. tbh we need more ppl like you on this board. I really appreciate any advice I get and this board has helped me tremendously. But I do say it would be really awesome if I was able to come to your place and see how you do it. I think something like that would be a huge help. This way I can just learn to do everything the right way.

 

[growsince79]

I only topped them once as I was experimenting this time. But I got 4 grows under my belt so far.
I only grow indicas or indica leaning hybrids. So far my biggest yield came from a slurricane. It was weird as I started it as a fifth plant that already had 4 plants about 6 weeks ahead of it. I never topped it as I thought I’d have to chop it since it seemed to not get enough light. But boy was I wrong. It was still a seedling when I flipped to flower, but it stretched to be taller then my other plants and I had to bend it so it didn’t get burnt. But it grew a huge cola that just kept getting fatter and fatter. I got more from that 1 plant vs 2 of the others. All growing in the same conditions and nutes.

Its really fun growing lots of different stuff, especially when I don't know what to expect. But that's totally different than growing for max yield. I love my sativas with just enough indica blood to make solid buds that don't take forever. Sometimes they just get too damn big though.

 

[Madmax]

Aqua man.. tbh we need more ppl like you on this board. I really appreciate any advice I get and this board has helped me tremendously. But I do say it would be really awesome if I was able to come to your place and see how you do it. I think something like that would be a huge help. This way I can just learn to do everything the right way.

Good idea..party at Aquas.