Went into flower early, can I still top

[Hobblebush]

I got these clones from a friend, and they were kinda raggedy when I got them. Seemed to have some rootzone issues and the new growth on them is looking much better that they are in the ground and under the sun. We have had some stressors (ants, wind, heavy rain, something nibbling the leaves occasionally) and they are showing pistils now. They are ONLY A FOOT TALL and haven't been topped. So I'm pretty bummed about the lack of structure and the prospective lack of yield.

I have one plant from seed that I just topped and its been going so much stronger than the others, but can I top these clones if they just started making reporductive structures in JUNE, or will they somehow reveg once the stressors are removed?

 

[mancorn]

I wouldn’t top at this point. The flip to flower is 100% due to the duration of light and isn’t effected by the stress. (Your friend can tell you how much light he was giving the clones, probably 18 hours plus). For the most part plants that flip and reveg (especially this late) aren’t going to amount to much. Topping a plant removes a hormone, Auxin, that inhibits the axillary buds (lower branches) from growing. Auxin only travels a short distance down the stem and why the lowest branches start growing again once the distance from the apex increases (and you get the classic Christmas tree shape). There are actually different theories of apical dominance and production of auxin and it’s not completely understood. But there is evidence that supports the idea that the growing stem inhibits bud outgrowth. By topping a flowering plant your probably only encourage it to flower more instead of reveging.