will a bushy plant yield more than a plant that isn't as bushy when growing outdoors?

j to the c

Well-Known Member
Can you provide sources for the bolded text claims?

Whenever I top, I have new top growth in a couple days. I do my final top /prune 3-4 days before I flip and they're always recovered and growing again by then. Doing it that way for close to a decade now without issue. I think your way off on your recovery time.
The plant growing again happens quickly, but the hormones take time to redistribute, they will go to the tops that are growing the fastest. I’ve never had success topping right before flipping, but I also scrog too, so, different ways and rules for different styles of growing. If I grew and used more depth of my plants then I would top and shape differently. Outdoors I top once early and try for 4-8 tops and open them up for more depth of buds than a screen which I keep the depth of buds from 4”-12” strain dependent. The denser the buds the less depth I use for the screen.
 

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
The plant growing again happens quickly, but the hormones take time to redistribute, they will go to the tops that are growing the fastest. I’ve never had success topping right before flipping, but I also scrog too, so, different ways and rules for different styles of growing. If I grew and used more depth of my plants then I would top and shape differently. Outdoors I top once early and try for 4-8 tops and open them up for more depth of buds than a screen which I keep the depth of buds from 4”-12” strain dependent. The denser the buds the less depth I use for the screen.
I've scrogged, sogged, grew trees, bushes, did micro grows, dirt, hydro, indoor, outdoor, indica, sativa and a multitude of hybrids. I have, what I believe to be, a good grasp on how these plants grow, with a basic understanding of how hormones affect growth. I've done some research. The growing style doesn't change how the plant reacts to manipulation. I asked for a reference to your claims. Unsubstantiated claims such as those only cause confusion for new growers when they read it.

Apical dominance, or top growth, is believed to be controlled through a hormone (IAA) released by the dominant top shoot to inhibit lateral branch growth. Removing that dominant shoot removes that hormone allowing lateral branches to grow faster to become a new dominant shoot. Once one, or more, shoots develop dominance, non dominant shoot growth will slow. There is no hormone redistribution when topping, you're immediately stopping production of a hormone. Immediately, not days or weeks.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apical_dominance
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
On large plants I'm happy to let it get to 3 or so feet, then break off the centre grow tip, maybe 4 inches or so. This produces 8 colas in a rosette with almost no training.
I learned this trick by accident. I was quite pissed off at the time, only to find its use later.
accidental mainlining....
 

althor

Well-Known Member
Can you provide sources for the bolded text claims?

Whenever I top, I have new top growth in a couple days. I do my final top /prune 3-4 days before I flip and they're always recovered and growing again by then. Doing it that way for close to a decade now without issue. I think your way off on your recovery time.
Yep. I see growth by day 3. Sometimes I can see it respond within 24 hours. I am convinced some strains really like and want to be topped.
 

indicas4me

Well-Known Member
Topping makes the plant have an oblong stem which redistributes its weight more vertical than straight up and down,creating a weak spot to where it can crack when budding.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Yep. I see growth by day 3. Sometimes I can see it respond within 24 hours. I am convinced some strains really like and want to be topped.
I've found that White widow and super Silver Haze are really aggressive, like they don't seem to slow down at all!
 

ky farmer

Well-Known Member
white widow dos great for me also and I top lots and pinch out the end of every limb at least 2 times and that strain don't slow down on me.i have not grew it in two years,but got 5 fem, beans of it that I will grow this year if they sprout and they look good.
 

ky farmer

Well-Known Member
The thing about growing outside is that the sunlight is just as powerful at the lower parts if the plant as the top. The sunlight has travelled 93 million miles, so a few more feet won't make a difference. Also, around 90% of the sun's powerful light passes through the leaves, providing light to the dense center of the plants. Indoor lights, no matter how powerful, just don't match. That's why you top, trim, and super crop to get an even canopy, allowing as much surface area as possible, to take advantage of the limited light.

I don't know if topping outside gains anything. I would think if you're growing outside, as nature intended, plants should be left alone to grow naturally. When growing inside, trying to imitate nature as much as possible, plant training greatly improves yield.
I wish we lived close to each other and you grow a plant untoped outdoors and me grow one same strain same way and you would see that toping will get you lots moor weight from a plant.happy growing to you good luck this grow season.
 

indicas4me

Well-Known Member
I want to correct my post above,you will have a horizontal plane where you top that will have a V where it grows vertical again.This is the weak spot that will crack splitting the stalk and killing any hopes of further growth,unless you are handy with Duck Tape.
 

indicas4me

Well-Known Member
Untopped you might have a branch/limb fall off but more manageable,and IMO not a strain to grow any more (weak strain not for outdoor use).I want a strain that's strong enough to carry its limbs!
 
If the plant is having to work to hold heavy branches up, it will use valuable energy trying to hold them up rather than putting that energy into bud growth.
Absolutely, that is why fruits are trellised. Cannabis uses anywhere up to 70% of its energy holding itself up. But the weight of rainwater in combination with wind is precisely why a plant has evolved to have the growth structure it naturally does. Trellis/caging should be done to improve fruit size. But the structural integrity of a plant exposed to natural elements should be left to natural mechanisms, imo. Since sunlight penetrates to the ground, I am not even sure topping outdoor plants increases yield. I think pruning close to the meristem has more effect on yield, outdoors, than topping. Just my experience.

Indoor? Totally different story.
 
Top