# To Tall! Top or Bend?



## suckysucky (Sep 20, 2008)

I have a problem with height...the kiddos are now taller than me and im about 2 weeks into flowering...I was told to go ahead and top the tallest stalks or manipulate the branches to grow sideways so the bottom branches can also share some light penetration. Well im lazy(imagine that) i just cut the tops and hoping they dont stunt to long and continue flowing well...anyone have any suggestions for future similar complications or experience with toping this late into flowering because im anxious to know if im ok lol


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## KidCreole (Sep 20, 2008)

ur plants are ok, but youre WAY past the topping stage. that needs to be done in veg. just let em finish doing what theyre doing or ull affect the yield. bloom tends to slow down groth to a crawl, so they probably wont get much bigger. if they do, send me the seeds!


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## tehdansauce (Sep 20, 2008)

it's not recommended that you top during the flowering stage, i personally have never tried it either so i wouldn't advise it. You can bend the plants easily using bread ties or any other practical item.


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## tehdansauce (Sep 20, 2008)

KidCreole said:


> ur plants are ok, but youre WAY past the topping stage. that needs to be done in veg. just let em finish doing what theyre doing or ull affect the yield. bloom tends to slow down groth to a crawl, so they probably wont get much bigger. if they do, send me the seeds!


plants tend to at least double in size from flowering start to end.


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## Tanman402 (Sep 20, 2008)

"Rather than raise the lights the tip of the stem is gently bent at a 90 degree angle with the help of a simple twist tie. Cannabis plants are very easy to train and manipulate but it does require regular adjustments due to the plants fast growth" 

Quoting mr. Seemorebuds himself from "Marijuana Buds for LESS"

you can also help the bend by pinching the stem a few times before making the bend. this method is very effective when you dont want to top and your running out of vertical space.


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## KidCreole (Sep 20, 2008)

they double in size if you count bushiness... mine hit a max of aboot three feet tall then she started to pack on weight faster than a ugly chick in her first year of college!


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## KidCreole (Sep 20, 2008)

im soo going to hell for that one...


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## Tanman402 (Sep 20, 2008)

KidCreole said:


> she started to pack on weight faster than a ugly chick in her first year of college!


haha! thats funny


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## wannabe grower (Sep 20, 2008)

LST them next time if it's indoor which I'm guessing it is.


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## letsgrow (Sep 20, 2008)

I had a sativa strain growing way to tall for my normal indica I grow and they got super tall....I ended up in flowering bending/breaking every branch one way to get my light back down and more light to every top....the tops just make a sweet u turn and grow back up and you can bend the tops all even so its like a fresh start....worked well for me. On another note I cant believe you chopped your top off two weeks in flowering that could devistate your yield.....best of luck to you my friend

Lg


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## FLoJo (Sep 20, 2008)

letsgrow said:


> I had a sativa strain growing way to tall for my normal indica I grow and they got super tall....I ended up in flowering bending/breaking every branch one way to get my light back down and more light to every top....the tops just make a sweet u turn and grow back up and you can bend the tops all even so its like a fresh start....worked well for me. On another note I cant believe you chopped your top off two weeks in flowering that could devistate your yield.....best of luck to you my friend
> 
> Lg


have you ever topped your plants in flowering? have you ever had a top stalk get broken off or anything by accident and seen a decrease in yield? what evidence do you have to support this claim? i have accidentally and purposely lost the top stalks on plants with little to no effect on yield in the first couple of weeks. 

yes it will shock them for a couple days and decrease the yield slightly but what is going to cause more of a decrease in yield, topping the plants before they start bud production (late week 1 or early week 2) or letting them grow into the lights, burning up the top colas and blocking all of the undergrowth? 

if they are bushy plants that have been vegged for a while with one main top stalk. topping the stalk will make all of the lower branches will form colas and have better light distribution and a more complete canopy. its pretty much the same concept as bending, sending more auxins throughout the plant causing secondary growth to spur, only slightly more stressfull. correct me if im wrong and show me the proof!


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## K1Ng5p4d3 (Sep 22, 2008)

check out my LSTish(LOL) job i did with my girls. Their nowhere near too tall or anything, but ive been tying them down since they were about 4 weeks old. I have updated pics i havent posted yet, which i will post on wednesday when i take some new ones during watering, and theres pretty much double the ties on my plants now than there are in the pics in my journal. Tying down the branches really does work, you can bend them as far as it feels like they are willing to bend, and within a couple hours of you putting them back under the lights, the tops will have grown upwards back to the light and look all cool n bendy, lol.

I made a banzai tree out of my one plant - it looks fuckin wicked, n i hope to keep it as a mother o[nce it grows completely. Height is only a problem if you let it become one - its actually the one problem that has an instant fix to it as far as growin bud goes


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## brodietheconeking (Sep 24, 2008)

topping gives you more leafes not branches


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## FLoJo (Sep 24, 2008)

brodietheconeking said:


> topping gives you more leafes not branches


have you ever even grown bud? when you top a plant it makes it switch its resources to secondary growth, i.e. lower branches.. so your telling me all the growers that top their plants dont end up with more side branching and bushiness they just end up with bud that is a bitch to manicure? 

come on now dont give out advice when you have no idea what you are talking about

FLo


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## pockitsPM (Nov 13, 2008)

wait how exactly do u bend the plant.... do u bend like each branch down or the top one im confused


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## young/grasshopper (May 23, 2009)

topping is ok. i like bending better. i perfer an combo of bending and fimming. im trying a new meathood. i think if you were to harvest the big colas and med but leave the tiniy ones behinde then switch back to vegg for a cupple of weeks and back to flowering. with the right pruneing i should be able to haverst a same sized yeald as the first run. i think any more than that would cas too much branching?


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## young/grasshopper (May 23, 2009)

im guna make a full loop with thi little girls. bennding is simple . i bend the girl back and forth at the spot where i want my 90% angle to be then stake it down with 20 gauge wire.




https://www.rollitup.org/members/young-grasshopper-140492-albums-then-great-bend-picture835081-ben-003.jpg


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## Grubs (May 23, 2009)

Wow, that almost looks...naughty,


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## young/grasshopper (May 23, 2009)

lol i know. their growing fast


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## joey ferns (May 23, 2011)

My trees are peeping out of my balcony which made me paranoid.I bent the tree 3 nodes down from the cola in the morning,it sounded like a snap,some fluid oozed out,and it was resting on the lower leaves,came back in the evening it was standing back up with a scar on the bent area.I will tie it down tomorrow so it doesn't play peek-a-boo.


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## jpill (May 23, 2011)

next time try LST (low stress training). where u bend NOT top to train your plant. this can be done early in the plants life. there is a thread on here for LST . look it up i thought it was interesting


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## Alex Kelly (May 24, 2011)

Topping during flower will definately decrease yield, how could it not? You're cutting off the best bud site that the plant has after it just spent 4 weeks preparing it for flower... There's been a couple of threads about this lately. I would not advise anyone to top their main bud during flower.


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## Alex Kelly (May 24, 2011)

If you top the plant during veg it will not switch it's ""resources"" to ""secondary growth."" In flower, I'm not sure what would happen, I think you would just loose a good bud site. 



FLoJo said:


> have you ever even grown bud? when you top a plant it makes it switch its resources to secondary growth, i.e. lower branches.. so your telling me all the growers that top their plants dont end up with more side branching and bushiness they just end up with bud that is a bitch to manicure?
> 
> come on now dont give out advice when you have no idea what you are talking about
> 
> FLo


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## Alex Kelly (May 24, 2011)

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/429672-i-need-help-possible-top-3.html

--The Teaching starts around page 3.


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## C.Indica (May 25, 2011)

Hahaha looks like dudeman fucked up his 6'+ trees and quit.
Sad story :/


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## hoagtech (May 25, 2011)

Alex Kelly said:


> If you top the plant during veg it will not switch it's ""resources"" to ""secondary growth."" In flower, I'm not sure what would happen, I think you would just loose a good bud site.


He thinks because he doesnt know. So far all ive seen from Alex is controversy in all his posts. I havent seen one leaf or anything leading me to believe hes ever grown anything. listen if you like. but be warned. It took him 3 posts to explain that.


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## xxEMOxx (May 26, 2011)

I never believed in topping, I would fim maybe sometimes, but I was always a guiding, bondage tying down lst guy, I can get like 6/7 nice main tops per plant depending how longs the clones tend to take to a 1 gallon pot, then onto a 5 gallon for 2 more weeks of filling out veg.

BUt yeah I hate cutting unless nesscary take the time to train, guide, and position tops.


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## wayno30 (May 26, 2011)

i love to c a bud every 3 or 4 inches in the canopy all that tying is too much i think everyone should cut the top out a week or so b4 flower


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## Alex Kelly (May 27, 2011)

hoag I don't argue with you anymore. If you would like I can copy the last post from our last arguement which highlighted 6 or so amazingly stupid and incorrect posts you have made (oh and there are many more), and then maybe you will leave the thread without saying anything again. Not to mention one of your retard posts was used by a respected RIU member as their signature. All of my advice above was correct, you should never cut off your main cola in the middle of flowering, as you can see by the evidence I then provided with a link to another thread about this subject which definately cleared it up. And you're right I think because I don't know, *because I have never removed my main/top cola half way through flowering. *Be sure to let me know what happens when you do that. 

Just like C.Indica said: "Looks like Dudeman fucked up his trees and quit," maybe you should too..


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