To top with ScroG?

[BlueDevil]

Ok, I've done some lookin around but still can't make up my mind - was hoping the resident pros (Jamstigator comes to mind!) could give me a quick yay or nay.

About to try the ScroG method, and am still unsure if I should do it in conjunction with some topping, or if I should do it au naturale. Whatcha think guys?

Jams, was there any topping involved with those big ass stems you showed me before?

BlueDevil Reviewed by BlueDevil on 10-17-2006. To top with ScroG? Ok, I've done some lookin around but still can't make up my mind - was hoping the resident pros (Jamstigator comes to mind!) could give me a quick yay or nay. About to try the ScroG method, and am still unsure if I should do it in conjunction with some topping, or if I should do it au naturale. Whatcha think guys? Jams, was there any topping involved with those big ass stems you showed me before? ;) Rating: 5

[BlueDevil]

Damnit, my apologies mods, thought I was still in the Basic Growing forum when I created this thread. Relocate away!

[jamstigator]

Heh, I wish I was a pro! I'm just a dude experimenting with botany, probably the same as most people here. I just read a lot!

Anyway, yes, I did top those plants, and topped my current crop too. The downside is, you have to give them time to recover from it, but I have learned patience. Also, from what I've read anyway, whether topping does anything beneficial is entirely strain-dependent. Some strains will never reach their full bud potential without topping, and some strains will just spread the bud mass they would have had with one gigantic top across the multiple tops, resulting in no extra bud mass. I can say with certainty that AK-48 and White Rhino react favorably to topping. It appears that Durban Poison x Skunk #1 and Blue Mystic also react favorably, but I won't be positive of that until they're done flowering. Either way, it won't do you any harm to top them (except for the recovery delay), but it might do a lot of good if you do...so I would top them.

[gmoney5ss]

Dont mean to hijack, but about how long would you estimate it takes for the recovery after topping?

[jamstigator]

1-2 weeks, around there. What I actually TRY to do is FIM, and get more than two tops. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not. Seems like there's just some luck involved there, but I always get at least two tops. The most I've ever gotten right off the bat is five, although I've heard of people getting eight.

You can top the topped tops too, and do it again, and get up to eight that way. Obviously, that really slows things down for a while. I've never tried to get more than eight tops; I start getting impatient. I don't even know if you can get more than eight. I've read that most strains have a genetic maximum of around 32 total growth shoots, but obviously those can't ALL be tops.

BTW, you can prune ALL the growth shoots, not just the tops. That's what I do. I top (or FIM), then prune half the other growth shoots too. After a week of recovery time I go and prune the half I didn't prune the previous week. (Plants probably wouldn't like it if you pruned down ALL the growth shoots at once.) After that, they get pretty bushy and hard to work with, so I just leave it at that.

[gmoney5ss]

thats interesting, so you top the new growth once it starts? is that what FIM means?, i dont think ive heard that term yet.. its been about a week since i topped my biggest and nothings come up, ill just have to be more patient.
heres a pic,

[jamstigator]

Hrm, how many sets of leaves/branches did that plant in the above pic have when you topped it? I can't see past the pot. Looks kinda young. I wouldn't top a plant before it has five sets plus the shoot you cut off. Very young plants don't have a lot of leaves to absorb energy, nor a lot of reserves to draw on to heal from damage, so if you top a very young plant, you might stunt its growth for a while. That'd explain why it's not produced any new growth shoots yet. It'll recover probably, but yeah, it might take a while. Can't undo it in any case, so no choice but to be patient now. Heh.

[gmoney5ss]

haha yeah i thought i might have made that mistake after cutting, but i actually cut the 5th set of leaves, like u said cant undo whats already been done so ill see what happens.. and i appreciate the advice and will put it to use for next time.. hopefully it wont stunt the growth too bad, thanks for the tips though!

[Tom Green Thumb]

Jamstigator, in that picture you posted you took the top totally off and left a little stick remaining. That is not the best way to top or FIM. You want to remove not the whole growing shoot, just almost all. You want to leave some of the top green so that more shoots will sprout from it. Just want to clip the growing shoot, not remove it totally. I can't explain it in words too easily, so may be someone can post a picture. I'll look around for one for you to make it more clear.

TGT

[jamstigator]

Eh? I didn't post a picture, did I? You must be stoned!