Topping Outdoor Plants

[Raulskees]

Recently I've been looking into topping plants (this is my first grow so a lot of these things are new to me). And I was wondering what was anyone else's thoughts on topping outdoor plants. Is it worth it?

 

[SpiderK]

no, it causes stress.

if your worried about how big it will get plant them later in season.

is this plant in your yard so you can care for it daily or off in the woods? and what is your latitude / location ( in general if your underground )

 

[Nog]

One thing about topping outdoors is it means more smaller buds rather than one main centre cola; this means less chance of mold.

 

[oldskool63]

In keeping with Nog...outdoor colas as big as your head are quite susceptible to not only mold but detecting any sort of burrowing little critters. They all need trimming and breaking down in the end as well. Light penetration is still a consideration when growing trees and techniques like pinching and fimming (imho) are better ways to go after an intial round of topping. Have a great season all!

 

[Blaze]

If you do top, be sure that your plants are very well supported. Where ever you top, a weak joint will be created that will be prone to breakage. This can be extremely problematic if the plant was topped early and a huge amount of weight is resting on that joint.

Personally I never do it to my outdoor anymore. I've done quite a few side by side tests topping the same clones next to each other in my garden. There was never any difference in yield on any of them and they all grew into nice round bushes regardless if they were topped or not. Topping increasing yield is an old wives tail in my opinion. Topping did however create weak branches, which took more supports, and created more work and more hassle. Training the main leader and branches as well as pruning works far better to control your canopy and does not have the negative effects of topping. If it is your first time growing I wouldn't bother with it, you won't gain anything and it is likely to create more problems for you later in the season.

 

[GoGreene]

Had great results topping.. I grew bag seed first round and all were topped at some point. It works but it takes her longer to grow. But must say the single and dual cola girls are looking pretty.
Oh yeah and genetics also play a role. Some just dont branch like others.

 

[Rollitup89]

If you do top, be sure that your plants are very well supported. Where ever you top, a weak joint will be created that will be prone to breakage. This can be extremely problematic if the plant was topped early and a huge amount of weight is resting on that joint.

Personally I never do it to my outdoor anymore. I've done quite a few side by side tests topping the same clones next to each other in my garden. There was never any difference in yield on any of them and they all grew into nice round bushes regardless if they were topped or not. Topping increasing yield is an old wives tail in my opinion. Topping did however create weak branches, which took more supports, and created more work and more hassle. Training the main leader and branches as well as pruning works far better to control your canopy and does not have the negative effects of topping. If it is your first time growing I wouldn't bother with it, you won't gain anything and it is likely to create more problems for you later in the season.

 

[Rollitup89]

Instead of topping I went with the lollipop method.. not even a day later I could tell the girls like it. They are a month and a half and only feed them with earth juice sugar peak veg and make sure your doing PH.. very important part I see a lot of people skip...

 

[BudBogart]

I topped for the first time this year on an outside grow. I topped at the traditional 3 or 4 node after the plant has 5 nodes.
What Blaze said about weak joints is fact. They can grow like a wishbone just waiting to be split open.
I also caged them. They do spread into a big bush with lots of canopy.
Next year I will not top until the plant is nearly the height I want, then I will either bend the top and push growth down. Maybe top it at the top of my cage.

 

[Gaea]

Instead of topping I went with the lollipop method.. not even a day later I could tell the girls like it. They are a month and a half and only feed them with earth juice sugar peak veg and make sure your doing PH.. very important part I see a lot of people skip...

What is the lollipop method?

 

[Rollitup89]

A method some peps use.. you trim off all the little branches,fan leaves and etc starting from the bottom of the plant... I heard that you can do it in the veg stage and flower stage and make sure you only cut 1/3. start at the bottom of the plant .. don't cut to much( you might stress them) and do some research to see if it's something you want to try... good luck

 

[outnin]

I like to pinch and bend instead of topping it does the same thing but you still get a cola
heres agreat video on this subject

 

[Rollitup89]

There you go.. thanks outnin

 

[outnin]

yep gotta refer to the old farts sometimes

 

[outnin]

thisis what my outdoor girls look like after supercropping

 

[juiceyjay]

I did something good I've never tried before outdoor, scrog

Seems to be working out well so far. I did this because I needed to control plant height to 6 feet.

 

[Moondawg]

I just twist and bend over

 

[Nog]

I did something good I've never tried before outdoor, scrog

Seems to be working out well so far. I did this because I needed to control plant height to 6 feet.

I couldnt' grow in my back yard like that with the tweaker neightbours I have, they would be jumping the fence every night and pulling off handfuls of leaves and trying to sell them wet as "hydro" so they can get money to buy more meth.

 

[Rollitup89]

thisis what my outdoor girls look like after supercropping

 

[Rollitup89]

I just twist and bend overView attachment 622579

Looks great.. very happy an healthy