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

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Cereall

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Awesome. I wasn't sure with the "true" part Well I plan on letting them grow but at least now know where to chop it off And why wait till 5-6 nodes taller? Just for better root growth?
 

DTR

Active Member
sorry im wrong i had to read it again post#19 UB says By allowing the plant to get a good start, which occurs with some leaf material from say......6 nodes (opposing leafsets) as opposed to 2, you're just giving it a better jump-start. You can use the cutting as a clone.
 

Cereall

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thanks guys for all the help, and the specific picture

i'll give these babies another couple of weeks and they should grow quite a bit while vegging and then cut once it reached 5-6 nodes like suggested

THANKS and cant wait to post some more pictures once they start getting a bit bigger
 

Uncle Ben

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Nice job Dave.

I may be seeing things, but if you look hard enough, you can see the tiny little foliar buds in the axis of where the leaf petiole attaches to the trunk. Those are your future 4 main colas. You're inducing 4 trunks instead of one. The oval leaves below are the embryo's endosperm, or food storage units. The reserves will be used up in a week or two, shrivel and drop off.


 

NavySupra

Active Member
I've got one 4 cola plant and one 7 or 8 cola plant about 1.5wks into flowering and the silly things are getting too tall already. I wonder how much more vertical growth there is going to be before they start to hit the light...

 

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Uncle Ben

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I've got one 4 cola plant and one 7 or 8 cola plant about 1.5wks into flowering and the silly things are getting too tall already. I wonder how much more vertical growth there is going to be before they start to hit the light...
A 60/40 ratio is pretty accurate with 60% of the total guesstimated flowering time being the stretch and 40% bulking up. Plan on raising the light, topping during flowering, or letting it go right past the light. I've done 'em all.

Any mail yet?

UB
 

Cereall

Well-Known Member
Little off topic of topping, but have you noticed any ill effects from topping during flowering, or letting plant grow past lights?

I am currently in the middle of 1 grow and had to tie plants down, I had thought about topping but figured it would really decrease yield topping when the plant was just entering flowering chamber.

I am limited in the height I can grow in my current grow room and interested to know what options would work without impacting yield

Thanks
 
:bigjoint:From my experiences,using the same clones,the amount of bud at harvest is close to the same-whether they are topped or not. I know this seems to defy logic,but that's been my experience....:?:
 
I just was having the same problem-my plants in veg got way big before I could move them into the flower room,so I pinched out the tops to slow them down. Moved them into the flower room,still had to tie them over-now they have so many tops on each plant-they are going to be truly wonderous....
 

MileHIGHclub101

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what you need to realize is that when you do flower your plants are going to be double sometimes triple and in the craziest sativas quadruple the height it was in veg...all these things need to be taken into account before you flower....topping is good for vegging and gives you plant a chance to change its growth habits before it flowers...i had to realize this on my first grow of a swiss miss and tied her all over the place....but the next grow i topped and kept it within reason...you might need to just tie this one down for this run and learn from it next time
 

Cereall

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Thanks, yeah I kinda ran into heigh issues so was looking for alternatives such as topping, and the 4 colas seems like it would look awesome and yield the same if not more

I don't like tieing all the branches down and would much rather have 4 nice shorter colas then a bent over plant with one

Can't wait to get this next batch under the flowering lights in a few weeks and see how they go
 

NavySupra

Active Member
A 60/40 ratio is pretty accurate with 60% of the total guesstimated flowering time being the stretch and 40% bulking up. Plan on raising the light, topping during flowering, or letting it go right past the light. I've done 'em all.

Any mail yet?

UB
Should I top them now?

My light position is fixed with no ability to adjust height from the pots. I prefer the "fixed" lamp approach so the plant can choose how much light it wants. You can probably see that little one that's pretty happy, and it's not stretching... so far.



Here you can see when I put them in, and if you look at the previously posted picture you can see how much they've grown in 10 days. There is 6-8" of available vertical space before they are an unsafe distance from the lamp and fixture. There is room to keep them off to the side to allow a total of 10" vertical from their current height.

No mail yet, but we're in a rural area and we go to the mail box like once a week.
 

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Uncle Ben

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Should I top them now?

My light position is fixed with no ability to adjust height from the pots. I prefer the "fixed" lamp approach so the plant can choose how much light it wants.
Lookin' good guy! For the best plant response, you need to put your lights on chains and keep them near the plants at all times, not too much, not too weak. Lightweight dog chains with end hooks work fine hung from rod. You may be giving them 1,000 f.c. where they would respond better with 6,000 f.c.
 

MileHIGHclub101

Well-Known Member
or you could get a whole bunch of sturdy bases and bring the plants up to the lights like phone books or i sometimes use a collection of hightimes mags giving off the plant vibe from underneath
 

NavySupra

Active Member
or you could get a whole bunch of sturdy bases and bring the plants up to the lights like phone books or i sometimes use a collection of hightimes mags giving off the plant vibe from underneath
I don't really want a soggy mess of magazines, diesel power in my case, underneath my plants.

Also I'm working on a SOG setup in this little box, with two plants put in every two weeks... so they will be of varying height and rate of completion.
 

Uncle Ben

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I don't really want a soggy mess of magazines, diesel power in my case, underneath my plants.

Also I'm working on a SOG setup in this little box, with two plants put in every two weeks... so they will be of varying height and rate of completion.
Overturned black plastic commercial pots from 1 to 5 gallons makes for a nice high chair. If you're in soil, use a cheap, clear plastic saucer with high sides available at Walmart.
 
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