Of course, most of common wisdom, is to take the clone from bottom branches where the rooting auxins are most mature.
And there are old saws, about Nitrogen withhold or add more.
And then "they" say, wait 3 months at least before you get the first clone.
Have two mothers so, you can let one rest.
IAC, I tried all that. And I can root about 50/50. But, I tried trimming down new clones
to the 2 true node and rooted about 20% of those tops.
IAC, my cloning experiments were BUST, so far. That is why I dropped back to learning roots.
Also, what I'm seeing here, is there is a big difference in a natural seasonal grow, which Ben seems to do and indoor growing where most of us try to get a production going and Veg for 8 weeks, then Bloom.
Now, LST and Scrog, etc, all add time. But, again, on-going, year round production is the goal. Outside, you are working in a season and there is time to trim the cola tops on a big Sativa and make it wider, before the real Bud Light time begins.
Also, Ben seems, like me and others, that have worked tail on this. Ben has been at it longer and has experimented more. But, the questions we get are still the same, "what do I do now!?!?!?"
I say calm down and don't just DO SOMETHING.
Ben says, do your own experiments. We are saying exactly the same thing.
IAC, Indoors the lighting/fans/AC bill $$ can be big.
I hope you guys pay less than me. But, I am at $0.33 KwH for my HID. Top of the rate tier. And I can buy good ganja any day of the week, here, quite legally.....but if you could see my retail pot budget, well, that is why I grow. I smoke a lot of pot.
So, when people ask "What do I do?????" Well, how can we know? You could tell us what you did, and how that worked for you.
This is really more of a Botany Lab than a Help Desk. The research assistants, don't help you.
They help you learn to help yourself.
So, cut cola tops that I have painstakingly grown to 30" in 9 weeks? Oh Hell no. Not me. I have plants a month behind these. These must bloom out and then clear the space.
Cut cola tops that have been growing for 7 months outdoors? Why not? You want a bumper crop. No more this year.
So, this is why I answered. I figured Ben would have very little to say about tent grows these days.