When to top my outdoor girls?

I have heard everything from "Don't top them, it will just stunt their growth" to "You should top them once a month. I have some very nice happy 2 foot tall girls, and I would like to maximize yield. Should I top them? If so is now the time? How much should I remove if I top them? This is my first time growing outdoors, and it has been quite different than growing indoors. Thanks in advance for your help.

id top now, and then top those shoots when they recover about 7 to 10 days. Id top every chance i could up intill flower. You just need to remove to newest shoots on the top of each branch.

What the guy above said. On my pineapple express I top it every 5-7 days every shoot that the plant owns gets topped. She is almost 5 feet tall but she is a BUSH

The amount you top really comes down to personal preference (sorry for such ambiguity). Outside I topped my plant to the extent that some may cringe but it was down out of necessity. I couldnt have 8ft+ plants in my yard. As soon as the new tops reached a few inches in length they were topped again. In your case if it were me I would top a couple of times untill my plant is growing like a shrub. From then on I would just top the branches that become "dominant" and start to grow taller and much faster than the the rest, in this way you maintain that level top look. I also know growers who dont top at all and just let the plant go au natural, save the pruning and cleaning.

I also forgot to mention what I meant by topping, because there are a million different ways. When I top I pinch the newest set of leafs off along with the terminal bud. I also did one set of topping by taking clones to do an experiment with clones from the tops of plants vs lower growth. Good luck man hope your medicine is fire and abundant!!

I top to get rid of the Christmas tree look. If you look from a distance at my plants they look like they belong in the woods. I looked at my buddy's at his plot he lets them grow natural and his look so obvious I can tell right away they are ganja plants. Also we both are growing Blue Venom started at the same time his are about 6.5-7 feet tall and about 1.5 foot wide. Mine are 5 feet high and about 3.5-4 feet wide.

LoRd MeGaTR0N31 said:

I top to get rid of the Christmas tree look. If you look from a distance at my plants they look like they belong in the woods. I looked at my buddy's at his plot he lets them grow natural and his look so obvious I can tell right away they are ganja plants. Also we both are growing Blue Venom started at the same time his are about 6.5-7 feet tall and about 1.5 foot wide. Mine are 5 feet high and about 3.5-4 feet wide.

Click to expand...

So if I'm understanding, despite the fact that height is not an issue for me, topping my plants will increase my yield. I should top the primary lead branch, and whichever branches seem most dominant. Does this seem like an accurate interpretation of what you are all saying? If so I got a sharp set of gardening shears and my girls are about to get a haircut. Thanks for all the info folks. I really appreciate it.

Top as much as you want but remember to leave them at least a month after your last topping before switching in flower mode.

do it now if your going to do it, then leave em alone as they will be going into flower in a few weeks.

not all strains respond well to topping. do your research on your strain first.

I top with my finger nails. Just pinch the top right off

Top and LST if you want huge yeilds.

Im not sure where you're located but it may already be too late really, I'm in, we'll call it middle North America, and my girls have all been pushing out pistils for about a week now, granted they're quite mature (started in February) but nevertheless, assuming you don't live on the equator you most likely do not have a month before they go into flower mode. Good luck to you whatever you decide!

Hey I'm going to reply to the pm you sent me here so that others may chime in or learn from our discussions. The clones I took off the top rooted noticeably faster than those taken from the middle area as I would normally do. The plants took longer to recover from this topping than if I were to just pinch the terminal bud, although it is not a significant daily it is in the realm of a few days longer. As for au naturel the people in my circle including myself have come to the consensus that we yield more with topped and pruned plants. Not just for Cannabis either but for other fruiting crops like tomatoes and peppers. The amount of yield increased isnt like night and day but I would say it is certainly worth it in the end. Currently Ive got some that more or less got forgotten because they were extras and were left untopped minus an initial topping. I could start topping one and leave the other as it is and maybe compare them at the end, they are both genetically identical and the same age in terms of the time they were cut. I will say this though, topping has one con that Ive personally dealt with and that is that some strains just get so dense with foliage that they start to block light out, which is kind of counter intuitive. This is easily fixed when you get a feel for how much leaf you can safely take off (in my mind it shouldnt be a lot at any one time). Basically to sum up my novel plants left untopped grow just fine and will yield killer bud if done right, however, topping if done appropriately can take your yield and overall A:B bud ratio higher. Best of luck man, cheers namaste

Thanks bro! I really appreciate all the knowledge. 3 of my 4 outdoor girls are flowering already, so topping them is a moot point, but and based on what you and others have said we topped the non flowering plant once (just the terminal bud) and I've been bending it since it was young, so it's larger branches aren't in the way of all the smaller branches that are growing. I would like to say that I have observed that the still vegging plant, after topping, put out more branches than it had been before. It has continued it's upward growth, but it's putting out more medium/upper branches and they seem hardier. I think it was a successful topping, and I wish I had topped the other 3. I will start earlier, and top my outdoor girls this coming year, and with any luck at all, I should see improved yields in the coming year. Thanks everyone = ) Special thanks to Deltron 3030 and brimck325.