First FIM and so far nada

obijohn

Well-Known Member
I tried FIMming a few of my plants, and tied down the tops on the others just to see the best way to make the plants into bushes, and not Xmas trees. I read up on FIMming but after 4 days I don't think it's working. As per instructions here and elsewhere, I held down the top fan leaves and trimmed the top new growth down about 2/3rds. I'm not seeing (yet anyway) new growth, and the top growth I cut is growing in like normal, except the emerging leaves are cut at the ends.

Sorry about no pics, it's so small none will show up in focus
 

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Ok I did manage to get a few decent pics. First 3 are the 3 plants I've FIMmed, the 4th is one of those that I just tied down. Did I do this right?

fim.jpg
fim1.jpg
fim2.jpg
tiedown.jpg
 
my first attempt with two plants, i was only successful with 1 which ended up with 4 tops while the other only had two.

you seem to be doing it right but the real technique is to seperate the most inner leaves, within the newest growth, and "scrape off" the tiny little shoot that is starting to form. its really not just as simple as cutting off the top 2/3's ( unless you get lucky lol )

the science is, by scarping off only that tiny little fresh shoot between the inner leaves that are inside the new top, those inner leaves will become two tops, and the leaves from the top, which are barely formed will become another two, giving
you 4 tops!

the reason i say "scrape" is because the tiny little shoot i am talking about is so small it is almost impossible to " cut and snip off ", and you will actually be cutting those inner new leaves i am talking about. in which case it seems like you did cut them :(

anyways, by "scraping", you will only be damaging And killing the tiny little growth that is still developing in between all the little growing leaves and you will be successful. remember, you must seperate and seperate and get in between all those tiny underdeveloped leaves which are hard to distinguish. cutting those underdeveloped leaves will mess up your attempt.
z
FIM = fuck i missed

i think you missed with missing lol


if you know what you are actually doing when attempting you will have more chance of success.

ALSO, if FIMing is getting too frustrating, just top and top again and eventually you will have as much tops as you want. and after you have a few tops, lst them and top em when they grow out some more. do that pattern and you will have a bush for sure :D

btw: i spent a lot of time researching the science on how this technique works.
lmao at 2/3rds the way down...
 

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Man, so I fucked up at fucking up!!?? ;) I had a TINY pair of scissors and used a magnifying glass. Below is the chart I used as a reference. Way I understand it is to cut where the line is shown for FIM cut location. Only thing different I did is hold down those 2 outside leaves. I'm starting to think maybe tying down the top may be a better way to go to encourage more branches and bushiness without stressing the plant

View attachment 1642771
 
honestly, just top the your plant twice ( first top getting you two, and top those tops again giving you four ) and the. SuperCrop those bad boys,... errr or girls in our case Haha!

super cropping might be slightly stressfull but works wonders if you want a bush. so by having multiple tops you can supercrop (bend/snap), the less tall and more bushier it will be.

I supercropped my plants through veg and they grew sporatically, my side branches became tops! and i didnt even have to top em!

but since i didnt top them, now mine are too tall and bushy. fuckin crazy lol
 
sorry bro im at work and am only on my iphone, i wouldve sent a pic and drew a line where you should make the cut, but ur doing good tho! keep at it and you will get it.
 

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Any other feedback based on the pics? Wondering if I should wait a bit longer and see what they do, or just top/tie them down. Do they look like I didn't cut the growing node down enough?
 
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