Should I top the spacequeen?

olaf687

Well-Known Member
Hi I have 12 plants growing outdoors for a little over a month now. I have 12 ft high greenhouse i really doubt these plants will ever get that tall. But I also think I wanna top it to get more colas. Or not sure if thats called pinching? Anyway should I top it or not? I attached a pic of the spacequeen.
 

Attachments

Last edited:

olaf687

Well-Known Member
Why not just tie the top down? It's called lst. I now longer top my plants. Lst you get similar results and still get to keep the main cola.
Since you done both was there any pros with topping vs lst? Is smaller colas more dense and compact? Does the main cola get dense enough and not airy? Do you get a better yield topping or less? I don't like airy buds I prefer dense compact nugs. Correct if im wrong keeping the main cola might be more potent and dense as far as i know. My only other concern would be mold but i dont want sacrafice potency if keeping the main cola better. This is just randam literature i read so could be completely wrong or misinterpreting it.
 

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
Since you done both was there any pros with topping vs lst? Is smaller colas more dense and compact? Does the main cola get dense enough and not airy? Do you get a better yield topping or less? I don't like airy buds I prefer dense compact nugs. Correct if im wrong keeping the main cola might be more potent and dense as far as i know. My only other concern would be mold but i dont want sacrafice potency if keeping the main cola better. This is just randam literature i read so could be completely wrong or misinterpreting it.
Doing a mix is good sometimes topping is better it's a more aggressive type of training so you get to the shape you want faster and the branches are much more similar you lose a little growth because they get stressed. Both ways work great I do more topping now I find it annoying untangling big ass plants at harvest that have been lst through a few nets
 

FresnoFarmer

Well-Known Member
The density of the bud is more strain and environment dependant in my experience. You can top for four main colas and then also lst those. That works well. It really all comes down to personal preference. I wouldn't say one is better than the other since. A combination of both will increase yeild noticeably. Its just that with topping you lose veg time. Its best to do it early in the season i believe.
 

jbcCT

Well-Known Member
Light = yield.

That said, I think it's a matter of preference. Topping helps keep them a bit shorter but so does bending the main stock slightly. Bend your main branch over slightly with some garden wire. Leaving the open side of the plant facing towards the sun. That allows the rest of the plant to come up forming more tops. The main branch will snake around the wire making its own top. This is how you get the shrub effect rather than a tree.

Even if you top it still requires a bit of bending to create the shrub. So I would agree with the previous poster that said he no longer tops his plants.
 

olaf687

Well-Known Member
Light = yield.

That said, I think it's a matter of preference. Topping helps keep them a bit shorter but so does bending the main stock slightly. Bend your main branch over slightly with some garden wire. Leaving the open side of the plant facing towards the sun. That allows the rest of the plant to come up forming more tops. The main branch will snake around the wire making its own top. This is how you get the shrub effect rather than a tree.

Even if you top it still requires a bit of bending to create the shrub. So I would agree with the previous poster that said he no longer tops his plants.
Well since its outdoors I don't think light will be an issue. Thats why im bit confused if these techniques even have to be done to outdoor plants. It seems to me so far its mostly about controlling grow space. But I have plenty of room and more enough height. I do not plan on putting the plastic over greenhouse till fall just for rain and storms. But even then m9st of time it will be left open to absorb direct sun rays. I just dont want the tops getting too big or too close to the roof so i cant close it. But having 13 foot tall greenhouse I doubt I will ever get to tht height unless i started vegging plants in January.
 

olaf687

Well-Known Member
Hey, a little off topic and please forgive me, but man you gotta water those marigolds. :bigjoint:

I'd LST.
Haha yeah my wifes been getting after me for that! I need transfer them in bigger pots i water everyday but the sun here and oregon dries out too fast. Im actually adding more companian plants like dill. Im making a defense wall around the greenhouse of lavender, chamomile, lemon balm. Also gonna be sprinkling a layer of white clover seeds in all the girls pots. We did it last year and had great sucess with the high CBD strains. Also gonna be a fish pond in the middle if greenhouse to add more humudity! I just got to get my lazy ass to finish the middle and end of the greenhouse!
 

MoMoGrows

Well-Known Member
Yes I think i decided to pinch its alot less stressful and some lst!
20190705_152654.jpg this is topped and lst. Although pretty heavy lst. These were real tall n lanky f*ckers when I got em. Topped them and tied the main stem down as far as I could. As they grows I keep tying them down to the tomato cages. The topped top is shooting new tops up but also all that side branching are becoming more dominant too.
 

MoMoGrows

Well-Known Member
20190705_152413.jpg this one got super cropped as well as topped and tied. Just experimenting with different techniques. Gotta try to keep em shirt this year.
(Oh, I also removed the lowest node or two on most of them.)
 

MoMoGrows

Well-Known Member
Hey @olaf687 i just reread your original post again. 12 plants outdoors in a green house.
You're fimming 2 as an experiment and doing side by side comparison. That's pretty dope, eager to see the results! I would suggest choosing a 3rd plant and do a regular topping on it, give it a couple days to recover, and then top the two most dominant side branches.

Three grows ago I was growing outdoors, 4 plants in the ground. I topped each one probably 15 times at different locations and those suckers got almost 7 feet tall and about as big around as a hot tub. Freaking miraculous!

I'm trying to keep this years plants as short as I can so I'm not topping but once or twice per plant and super cropping everything that's getting too tall or is blocking light from hitting another branch.

Keep updated! I wanna see how they turn out!
 

olaf687

Well-Known Member
Hey @olaf687 i just reread your original post again. 12 plants outdoors in a green house.
You're fimming 2 as an experiment and doing side by side comparison. That's pretty dope, eager to see the results! I would suggest choosing a 3rd plant and do a regular topping on it, give it a couple days to recover, and then top the two most dominant side branches.

Three grows ago I was growing outdoors, 4 plants in the ground. I topped each one probably 15 times at different locations and those suckers got almost 7 feet tall and about as big around as a hot tub. Freaking miraculous!

I'm trying to keep this years plants as short as I can so I'm not topping but once or twice per plant and super cropping everything that's getting too tall or is blocking light from hitting another branch.

Keep updated! I wanna see how they turn out!
I would like to top another one but my brothers freaking out he said he doesn't want anymore done. But yes man ill keep you updated! In fact i'm gonna start a grow journal soon. Almost done with Greenhouse, plants are still on the far side of the completed side. I'm eager to spread them out more but also gotta get the fence around the rest of the greenhouse so deer don't get them. Well back to work on the greenhouse!
 
Top