Warning: Longwindedness ahead.

While awaiting seeds for my first grow, I have been trying to learn as much as possible and to get my grow room together. One area that has been challenging for me, for some reason, is understanding all of the various ways to crop/nip/trim/train and, especially, how to choose one over another for my particular situation.

That having been said, I'm not too worried about it for my first grow or two (or more); I'm planning to keep my first grows as simple as possible to make it easier for me to understand and learn. I figure there's plenty of time to make things more complicated later on once I know the basics.

I'm looking at a space that's about 5' wide by 10' deep by 10' high and at least on 1 kW HPS (or possibly multiple lower-wattage lights), so I should have more than enough room to take care of my personal needs. My desire is to not grow continually but instead to grow for as many months as I need to grow what I need for a while and then shut down completely for maybe a year or more. My first grow will be bagseed if I can find some. If not, it will be Northern Lights #5 or something equally easy. Eventually, I would like to grow three or four strains during my grow season, so I have some of each during the non-growing months. I'm thinking a couple of indicas and one or two indica/sativa strains. I'd like to regurgitate what I think I've learned about some of these methods and get any feedback anyone cares to provide. Not so much for my first grow or two but just so I might know about any implications on how I build my grow room beforehand. Here goes:

No topping: With no topping, the light is changed to 12/12 when the plant is about 1/3 to 1/2 the desired height (depending on strain) and nature takes it's course during flowering.

Topping: Topping increase the number of colas at the top of the plant and increases the number of buds that get the primo light. Can be done aggressively or lightly. All cuts slow down growth while plant recovers.

SOG: Group of clones of exact same age and condition whose consistent height increases the effectiveness of the light. Can decrease grow time by having next batch of clones ready to go at harvest of last batch.

LST/ScrOG: Bends the main stem and branches instead of cutting, with ties/strings/hooks or with a wire screen. Gives buds along the stems/branches a chance to grow straight up into the free air above them where they can bask in the herbalescent light. But doesn't stress the plan as much as cutting nor stop growth like cutting.

Based on this, I have three questions.

1) Am I in the ballpark with my understanding of these?
B) Am I correct in thinking that I should not try to take on SOG/ScrOG/LST on my first few grows?
III) Everywhere I read about these techniques, there were statements about various strains being more or less tolerant of topping or training than others but I haven't been able to find anything in any of the strain guides or seedbanks that shows which strains or types of strains are suited or not suited for which techniques. Are there any sources for this sort of information?

Thanks for any feedback you'd care to offer.

Peace, baby.
ThreeHit Reviewed by ThreeHit on . Naive Newbie Needs Knowledgeable Nudging on Nipping Nuances Warning: Longwindedness ahead. While awaiting seeds for my first grow, I have been trying to learn as much as possible and to get my grow room together. One area that has been challenging for me, for some reason, is understanding all of the various ways to crop/nip/trim/train and, especially, how to choose one over another for my particular situation. That having been said, I'm not too worried about it for my first grow or two (or more); I'm planning to keep my first grows as simple as Rating: 5