new baby: lst/top?

heya

so i've just started a new baby, its skunk x swazi so is a little nicer than the normal bagseed i get here so i'm stoked.

its 2 weeks old now is looking really healthy and better than my others ones.

i've taken paperclips! and i'm just weighting those leaves down, i wanna see if the plant can lever thoes paperclips out of the soil before i tie em down, what do you think?

has 4 nodes at three weeks, i'll top it at node 6 should be good enough/

this is not a good genetic thick stemmed strain and in general the plants immune system only gets serious in from week 6

basic rule is wait until visible inter-node growth before topping or what?

i'll post photos a little later :]

hi, i top after 4 or 5 nodes and it usually works out well. i recently topped a skunk plant after 5 nodes and it's developing nicely.

here's some training info if ur interested.

i would supercrop before i top

@cacamal : try to visualize coz i dont' have a photo --

plant is 10cm tall,

first node from seed is still visible and healthy,

2nd node has 3leaves,

3 / 4th node has 5 leaves,

5th and 6th node is developing now, 5 leaves.

so when do I start?

small protrusions are visible on node 3,

hasn't grown them on node 4/5/6 yet.

stalks are still really thin for supercropping...

Supercropping can be done even if the stalks are very thin, it makes them thicker. Topping can be done at anytime at any node, she's 2 weeks old 10 cm so basicaly you are good to go it depends on how big you gonna let your plant grow to decide when/where to top, because if you are growing her big and you top to low you can get 2/3/4 long heavy cola's that the stalks can't hold

Peace

Or the colas won't even grow, until now every plant i've seen has had a different rate of growth on the internode stalks, some did already without topping, others didnt at all without it, I suppose that if the plant grows the inter-node leaf that that particular node will generate another stem, so, i might want to wait until i have 3 pairs of internode stems before i top,

otherwise re: LST, whatever doesn't kill the area of the plant your abusing is good? so is breaking the current leaf-stems so they're dangling down going to help or not?

This plant without topping will grow to around 1.5 to 1.7m high before slowing into flowering, i'd rather not have that happen this time and see if i can generate more than 2 viable colas, i can easily get 2, but i want more!

id say top anywhere after the 2nd or 3rd node. thats what ive always done and it works fine. if you can afford to veg long enough id top twice...once after 2-3 nodes...then once again after the next 2-3 nodes. you'll have a massive harvest that way. fyi wait 1 1/2-2wks after you top before flipping to 12/12 (if you flip right away it could stress the plant and the result will be a reduced yield).

some strains do well with being topped then immediately put to 12/12 but its rare in my experience.

supercroping is an AWESOME technique to use in veg. (not flowering...in flowering if you supercrop the plant will not repair itself or it will slowly and take away from using its energy to make buds so dont do it in flower) Supercroping usually results in thicker stems to support heavy buds in flowering as well as increased bud site production (more bud sites = more buds = bigger harvest)

LST is another good idea. it helps eliminate a lot of the "popcorn" buds we all hate to trim. you generally get popcorn buds because your plant is tall and the light cannot penetrate that low into the canopy. with lst youre keeping the plant shorter which causes the light to reach every budsite more effectively. Its also good for turning your plants into bushes w/ increased production.

its perfectly safe to supercrop, top, and LST all in the same day. all have tons of benefits and not a whole lot of downside to them.

those 3 techniques are better in the veg stage. NEVER top during flower. some light lst in flower is fine but beware as stems are more likely to snap as they harden in flowering. best time to LST/supercrop is within 20-30mins of watering as the stems will be more bendable.