Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas

Technically buds are flowers.. And its a damn good thing, fruits need pollination to occur before they develop..

uncle ben, I read through this thread and a bunch of others from you and can't seem to find your recommeded fertilizers NPK values again now that i'm about to start a new grow. I know you mentioned a Peters in a 9-3-6 for vegging and a 10-30-20 for flowering, is this correct? I'm hoping to use a lot of the techniques I've read through all your great posts.

HEy Uncle Ben. Can u please show me what the node is. i see u said cut at 4th true node. can u please count them out in a picture. trying to see if my babies are ready yet.

demonic1 said:

uncle ben, I read through this thread and a bunch of others from you and can't seem to find your recommeded fertilizers NPK values again now that i'm about to start a new grow. I know you mentioned a Peters in a 9-3-6 for vegging and a 10-30-20 for flowering, is this correct? I'm hoping to use a lot of the techniques I've read through all your great posts.

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Howdy!

Peters doesn't do a 9-3-6, Dyna-Gro does. Any high N food for foliage is fine like a 30-10-10.

Peters has a 10-30-20 Blossom Booster available from orchid nursery suppliers.

Don't get hung up on exact NPK values. Understand what the macros do and order your plant foods accordingly.

Thanks ben, you are truely a wealth of information

I pinch the tops of mine to get multiple tops. Its called fimming. Pinch about half of the top shoot off.

If the lower nodes on a plant do not look very healthy, is it still a good idea to top it?

Or should I top it at a healthier node?

lurkmaster said:

If the lower nodes on a plant do not look very healthy, is it still a good idea to top it?

Or should I top it at a healthier node?

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What do you mean by "healthy"?

Uncle Ben said:

What do you mean by "healthy"?

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I had some really bad nutrient burn on the first two sets of fan leaves.

I just decided to top it at the second node anyways because I checked it out a bit closer and saw that I had some nice healthy secondary nodes coming up so I figured it would be fine.

Sorry if this question has already been asked - I only got about half way reading the posts - there are 41 pages. I understand how cutting above the 2nd node will produce 4 colas. My only concern is that the stress of cutting off 2/3 of the plant will cause it to hermie. What are the chances of that happening?

Thanks!

Nah, they like it.. Its like a fad diet to them.. They lose some instant weight, then they get all psychologically positive about themselves and grow really nicely..
Just don't light stress it, and if they're good genetics you should stay herm free.. If they herm any easier than that just consider yourself lucky that you caught it early..

lurkmaster said:

I had some really bad nutrient burn on the first two sets of fan leaves.

I just decided to top it at the second node anyways because I checked it out a bit closer and saw that I had some nice healthy secondary nodes coming up so I figured it would be fine.

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Got it. Yes, that would be a good plan as long as you've corrected your nutrient situation.

MickFoster said:

Sorry if this question has already been asked - I only got about half way reading the posts - there are 41 pages. I understand how cutting above the 2nd node will produce 4 colas. My only concern is that the stress of cutting off 2/3 of the plant will cause it to hermie. What are the chances of that happening?

Thanks!

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Yes, it has been covered. What makes you think the plant would be stressed? Because someone said so or do you have some real botanical cause/effect facts to share? IOW, are you dealing with the all too prevalent feelings over facts cannabis forum syndrome?

Just wondering,
UB

thanks mate ,great topic

Glad you're playing along!

Uncle Ben - I didn't have any particular reason for asking the hermie question other than my own paranoia about stressing plants. It was just a question. Thanks for the response - I'll try it on the Satori that I have vegging - the sixth node is just starting.

Thanks again!

this looks like an awesome method and i will definitely be utilizing it in my grow. my only question is how long before flowering should this be done?
thanks,

Grind

Do you need to cover the cut, like with some sort of sap? what kind of nutrient solutions? Can you do this with any strain? if not, what type does it favor more (indinca:Satva).

If you intend to clone what you snipped then concern yourself with that.. The plant will be fine..

Has anyone ever done this with Hindu Kush?

UB - Thanks for the awesome thread.

I have one question - I am 5 days into flowerin and I was wondering if its too late to top one of my babies off. She is growing faster than the other two and I had to raise the lights some more this morning.

Thanks for the feedback.