Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas

[born2killspam]

What strain is that?? It has no leaves.. Stealthy for outdoor I suppose..
I wouldn't be so vicious on the prune.. Leaves are only an enemy if they're blocking likght from beauty tops.. Also, is that reflector adjustable?, its really shallow, designed for long throw even spread.. You'll get more light reflecting more off the reflector than the walls.. That increases the distance, and, and the walls won't be as reflective either..

 

[SomeGuy]

What strain is that?? It has no leaves.. Stealthy for outdoor I suppose..
I wouldn't be so vicious on the prune.. Leaves are only an enemy if they're blocking likght from beauty tops.. Also, is that reflector adjustable?, its really shallow, designed for long throw even spread.. You'll get more light reflecting more off the reflector than the walls.. That increases the distance, and, and the walls won't be as reflective either..

The screen is dished. Eventually the plant will crawl up the sidewalls and I will have a half circle of buds. I cant imagine that I dont have enough light or proper reflection with a 400w hps 12" from the tops in a 14" x 28" space. Aggressive pruning under the canopy is absolutely necessary. It all dies off anyway once the canopy cuts all the light from coming through below the screen. The plant in the flat screen wasn't as healthy as it should have been, but yielded 3oz dry none the less. The dish method is much more effective I just dont take many pictures... Those are only 1week into flower on the dished screen. Have you scroged? The techniques are quite a bit more aggressive than conventional growing.

 

[born2killspam]

I grew with a similar setup.. You don't need to chop that viciously.. Let the plant decide what goes..

 

[jankdatank420]

Hey, I was wondering if the topping to get 4 main cholas way worked every time. Im a noob. Thanks. And how many plants can I fit in, and what type of watering system should I use for a 200 sqft. room? Just looking for suggestions.

 

[merahoon]

Your a noob and your starting off in a 200 sq ft. room?

 

[born2killspam]

Atleast he didn't ask what his yield would be..

 

[GrowingGreenGiant]

for a noob i would try to stick to 1 - 10 plants

 

[Uncle Ben]

I'll give you guys that bought into the SCROG drill about 2 tries before you finally give it up.

BTW, it's leaves that produce bud.

UB

 

[roll420]

This is proly a dumb question but is it ok to cut a plant for 4 main trunks if you dont know if its female? Meaning its not a clone or feminized seed. Did not know if it would stress the plant and turn hermie? Thax

 

[born2killspam]

I'll give you guys that bought into the SCROG drill about 2 tries before you finally give it up.

BTW, it's leaves that produce bud.

UB

Can't really disagree about the scrog.. I started with something similar to Someguy, but I found it too resitrictive since I was a relative indoor noob, and the genetics were new to me..
What I ended up adopting when I vegged too long to go without support (since I was doing hydro in small pots and was REALLY top heavy) was a middle ground where I snaked heavy string around nails surrounding the perimeter in a grid type fashion.. (not a tight grid either, maybe 4") It usually made it easy to hold tops where I wanted them, and when it got in the way I could tie-off and cut out sections to gain freedom, or lower the tension..
I kind of cringe at the thought of aquainting myself with the intricacies of scrogging unfamiliar genetics.. Its a cloners game IMO.. After a few crops from the same motherplant you can usually peg down a workable system, but working up to that can carry alot of hassle..
Kalikitsune has a remarkable talent for scroging..
https://www.rollitup.org/2130333-post517.html
I cringed when I saw that and thought about the learning curve to get there, but apparently that was one of his first crops.. Looks like it went prretty smoothly.. Safe to say my experience was probably less pleasant..

 

[Uncle Ben]

This is proly a dumb question but is it ok to cut a plant for 4 main trunks if you dont know if its female? Meaning its not a clone or feminized seed. Did not know if it would stress the plant and turn hermie? Thax

Sex doesn't matter, at least not in this case. Topping does NOT stress a plant. Growers who don't know what makes a plant tick is what stress's a plant. Top, grow and then sex.

born2killspam, it's an issue of weighing the pros and cons I guess. SCROG is a maintenance headache a fact the proponents usually do no reveal. No, I haven't tried it but then again I'm pretty good at covering all the bases before I venture out into anything, cannabis, buying a new refrigerator, etc.

Make it a great day,
UB

 

[born2killspam]

Proponents of anything usually don't reveal the downsides.. Horse fanatics are probably in a league of their own for that, but growing itself comes with alot more work and stress than alot of ppl on these forums bother to mention..
But for a crop or two, a restrictive screen probably tripled that work/stress for me..

 

[OneHit]

born2kill and did you notice a yield increase from using the screen? If so, how much?

 

[born2killspam]

You'll only see a yield increase if you aren't otherwise training for better light penetration.. Theres nothing magical about a screen, its just a way to orient buds in a uniform fashion.. If your plants don't want to grow uniformly then you're setting yourself up for alot of grief.. Individual tie-offs definately have advantages..
And if you want any chance at success at all, you need to plan the scrog from day 1.. You're setting yourself up for a world of hurt if you think you can snake an established garden through a screen..
Also, when topping as per UB's method, most plants (especially sativa type phenos) will adopt growth patterns that allow the light to get where it needs to go without excessive training like scroging..

 

[roll420]

Thx for the info, one more for you though..... Okay i cut above the 2nd true node..... now do i leave the baby leaf nodes on there or cut them off ... if you left them wouldnd't you end up with 6 buds? thax

 

[born2killspam]

General rule of thumb is if you don't have a reason for cutting something off, don't cut it off..

 

[Flagg]

A seedling is foolproof, a clone that shows alternating nodes (phytollaxy) will not work. Go long days, hit 'em with N, veg and when they return to opposing nodes, you can top to get 2 or 4 main colas instead the usual one.

UB

I've been curious about this as well. When you say, "go long days", do you mean give them 18-24 hours of light per day? Also, do cannabis genetics guarantee that all cuttings will return to producing opposing nodes? If not, are there any techniques you would recommend for improving the chances of producing opposing nodes?

This thread is great. Thanks a lot for sharing your expertise, UB. You too, borntokillspam. +rep for both of you!

edit: Sorry, UB. No rep for you. I'm told I have to spread it around a bit before giving you another one. I gave you one back on page 1 the first time I read this thread. But thanks nonetheless.

 

[born2killspam]

Mods should just bump his status up a few thousand points for ppl unaware of his history.. I'm guessing he doesn't care about points that much himself..

 

[Uncle Ben]

Thx for the info, one more for you though..... Okay i cut above the 2nd true node..... now do i leave the baby leaf nodes on there or cut them off ... if you left them wouldnd't you end up with 6 buds? thax

My good friend answered this well, don't cut unless you know what affect your action has on the plant. Those "baby leaf nodes" I assume are your first "leaves", a rounded single blade on each side of the stem? Those (cotyledons) are actually not leaves, they are food reserves for the embryo. They will be exhausted and then drop off. No, I don't count the cotyledons as your first node.

I've been curious about this as well. When you say, "go long days", do you mean give them 18-24 hours of light per day?

Yep.

Also, do cannabis genetics guarantee that all cuttings will return to producing opposing nodes? If not, are there any techniques you would recommend for improving the chances of producing opposing nodes?

I have reveged a couple of times and this is what I observed - with the switch to say.....a 20/4 and additional N, the plant will revert back to its juvenile stage. You should see opposing node sites, juvenile leafsets (single but more likely 3 leaf leafsets) as it progresses. It's a phytochrome thingie, the plant is responding to hormonal changes induced by the lengthening days. The N boost (30-10-10) just helps it along regarding foliage production versus reproductive.

This thread is great. Thanks a lot for sharing your expertise, UB. You too, borntokillspam. +rep for both of you!

You're welcome! Glad you're playing along.

edit: Sorry, UB. No rep for you. I'm told I have to spread it around a bit before giving you another one. I gave you one back on page 1 the first time I read this thread. But thanks nonetheless.

Thanks. Appreciate the effort but not necessary.

Mods should just bump his status up a few thousand points for ppl unaware of his history.. I'm guessing he doesn't care about points that much himself..

I value it only as a quick way to say "hi" or such. Problem here is there is not a name attached to rep, at least not with the browser I'm using. Hell, until last week I didn't know there was a 'shop' button or ads here. I do not see any using SeaMonkey. Ya learn sumtin' everyday.

 

[GrowingGreenGiant]

whats SeaMonkey?