***PLEASE HELP***

[samw]

what is topping ? please help, A.S.A.P.

samw Reviewed by samw on 03-27-2005. ***PLEASE HELP*** what is topping ? please help, A.S.A.P. Rating: 5

[Edgar]

you could also tie the growing tip to the stem and leave it like that for about a week, that does the same thing.

[dylan]

or loosly wrap wire around the main stem and go true bonsi. it works ok, but you must check the wire to make shure it's not choking the plant. after a month or so the stem will remain in that position after the wire is takin off.

[del...]

topping,tipping or pinching:
Topping the plant means to remove its primary growing shoot. The plant then redirects its energy to the next two closest shoots which become primary shoots. This may be done as many times as the grower desires. Note, however, that the resulting buds will be smaller than if the plant had been left untopped. The real issue becomes "Does the mass of the two new buds exceed the mass of the otherwise untopped cola?" The answer to this question varies from strain to strain, perhaps even, from plant to plant.

When topped, frequently the two central growth tips will stop growing for a period, while the plant directs its energies to repairing the damage central shoot. A collateral effect of topping is that the plant bushes out, that is, all of the lower branches continue to grow when the growth of the central shoots pauses. This can be useful in a propagation technique like SCroG, in which it is desirable for all of the budsites to be on an even plane.

The slowdown in growth may be avoided by pinching,rather than cutting, the growth tip. This does not cause the resulting bushiness in the lower growth, but does cause the two secondary tips to become primary.

How, when and where to top are also matters of ongoing debate. Ultimately, it becomes a personal decision of the grower, based upon his own experiences and goals.
http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/865

also...i like to recommend any pinching gets done early in seedling stage at the 4th-5th node so the plant will be full recovered by the time it's mature enough for sexing/flowering and the smaller buds mentioned above are just as large as they would have been on an untopped plant.

[smokejaguar]

Del's correct.Also vegging time can be any length you need to pinch and spread out the growth.So the sooner you get everything pinched and the growth rate reestablished.I have some plants about 6-8 inches right now that have 8 or more main stems, plus side branched.Once established you can switch to 12/12.
del- I dont understand the difference between the terms cutting and pinching.They are the same thing.-usdi Agaluga

[del...]

there's a diff?

huh?


oh...i see where ya get that now. that is a copy/paste from the link posted below it. i didn't edit it and have no idea what the author means by 'cutting'...unless he's talking about the method of removing the top. if so, i can't see how it would differ whether the top was cut or pinched. so yes, i agree...they are the same thing.