Preflower Topping

Hey everyone,

I am executing my first full sun outdoor grow. I have 4 gojiOJ from equilibrium genetics and 2 mostly unknown from bagseed (most Likely wedding cake and a rare DiabloOG). Right now they are just entering pre-flower stage and my tallest plant is over 5 ft. The issue I’m running into is I feel they need to be topped again as the stretch in flower could cause them to become too tall. Idk what to do at this point. Any help would be appreciated.

No, you will be cutting off potential buds. Try lollipoping or pull the stalks down a little and tie them.

too tall is not a problem for outdoor. just give it support and it should be fine. can't really tell from your pics but you want to top to get more tops, and yes if you do it right it can lead to more tops even at this point. its up to you if you want to or not. I do top mine continuously to try and get a bush looking plant not a Christmas tree

Tie them down, this late into the game and you will suffer big yield loss.

garybo said:

No, you will be cutting off potential buds. Try lollipoping or pull the stalks down a little and tie them.

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Okay. Sounds good probably just clean up inside and tie down then.

growslut said:

too tall is not a problem for outdoor. just give it support and it should be fine. can't really tell from your pics but you want to top to get more tops, and yes if you do it right it can lead to more tops even at this point. its up to you if you want to or not. I do top mine continuously to try and get a bush looking plant not a Christmas tree

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Yes I’ve topped once early on and I really didn’t want to top anymore, simply because my spacing is not very good. What do you Think about a scrog situation? I have them in modified tomato cages right now. I have a screen I could set on top of cages. The issue is I’m on a hillside so if they get too tall I won’t be able to reach the tops.

SidV said:

Tie them down, this late into the game and you will suffer big yield loss.

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Yeah that’s what I worried about happening. Thanks

Grams333 said:

Yeah that’s what I worried about happening. Thanks

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It didn't grab the whole quote but tie it down like SidV recommended
yup, this is probably your best plan of action at this point.

you can try a scrog but its not needed outdoors because the sun hits from different angles not just the top like indoors

Never cut anything 10 days or so Before they will start to flower. Just LST the tops down wi a string n tug. Pull down the tallest top to just below the next lower shoot, that will break the apical dominance. Something like this.

Got it ! Thank you for the nice explanation. So the other part to this is the stems of the 2 main shoots on these are super thick, about the thickness of a golf club shaft. I’m afraid I’ll snap them if I bend them too much.

Should I rig it up to bend a little at different times ?

Grams333 said:

Should I rig it up to bend a little at different times ?

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No, just recognize where she will flex at the top bud/shoot. Gently tie the top shoot down below other growth, WITHOUT risking a break in any bend or branch. Keep it tied their day n night and adjust every couple days to compensate for upward growth. JM2C

Got it ! Thanks again

So I decide to scrog these 3 goji oj which is a cross of Nepali og and snow lotus (goji oj) and agent Orange x Heirloom Malawi (African orange).
Man reason I chose this tomato cage and screen setup is keeping canopy down and spacing issues of the three planters. I lollipoped and bent two main shoots under the top rung of cages and now spreading through screen and lower branches are under second rung just bending and tucking. No tape or string at this point just bending and sometimes pinching hopefully all the shoots will reach the screen in the next couple of weeks.

Here is a pictures of a wedding cake plant from bagseed. Super cropped her and she’s bushing out nicely.