Confused by topping

So Ive tried to read up on topping and I cant seem to understand it. I have one plant thats not very full and I think could benefit from it... Im a little afraid to jump right into it and thought Id get some advice.

Its my first grow so Im tyring to not confuse things too much and just learn the basics - do y'all think it would be a good idea to top her?

I thought about LST but this seems as though I could mess it up much more easily - Is topping easier or LST?

Do you want to do this on any plants or just ones that have less growth?

Heres some pictures of my other plant - do you think they are too old to top?

LST is less stressfull on the plants then topping. growth will slow while the plant recovers and repairs the topping.

also, some strains like topping while others don't. yours looks like pure indica so it might like the topping.

i've never heard of bending doing any harm to any strain.


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im trying super cropping, theres a section for it in GrowFAQ under "purning"

OK well Im going to start reading up on LST - it seems less stressful -

Does it matter where I bend the stem at to tie it down?

And do you start by just tying it down once and then once it gets use to it tie it down a second place?

just don't break it. go 30-45 degrees first, then go the rest after a week or so. you'll know when to cut and move the string up a couple nodes.




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on this note what of the string. Any suggestions on what to use to tie down?

jute or hemp. both biodegradable and blend in well.




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Just cut the fucker in half. Clone what you can...

id say top the first one, let it grow out 4 tops, then tie the 4 tops down.. she looks like she would shoot up wonderfully after FIM topping her

So I like to jump into things and learn from it - I tied my plants down

Heres some pictures - I read what I could and it seemed pretty simple -

Does this look ok?

The stems take really well to bending - I let go of one of the strings and it pretty much stayed in place after just a minute.

you can top them and tie them down? Is that not too much for one little lady?

Not at all (well, a little, but it's ok in veg', plenty of time to catch up). They are hard to kill.

skunkushybrid said:

Just cut the fucker in half. Clone what you can...

Click to expand...

That is hillarious.

Can you tie them down in the flowering stage?

I kinda hope so - I just started flowering a couple days ago and I tied them down today ....

Me too, cause if so then I think I'm going to give it a try. What do the (old guys, J/J) vets think about this?

I bent and tied my grapefruit all the way through flower. I had one main branch where the cola was all pointing upwards on only one side of the branch.

Be careful when bending, try and do it not long after a watering, say 1/2 an hour. As the stems will be more pliable. Doesn't matter if they snap off though (you will lose valuable growing time while the plant repairs itself), you can sellotape them back together.

Guys if your trying to increase the lateral branching on your plants topping is a good method but if you want to avoid the stress associated you can buy Bonide Tomato Set Spray, the kinetin causes the branches to explode from the main stem!