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

Shackleford.R said:

7 inches tall MAX! i was just barely pushing 5th node on one plant and the 6th node on the other was quite developed. I pinched back to just above the second node and thats where i am now. they were probably 2-3 weeks old when it was done. if you want more info about my grow, just ask silly the link is in my signature grow marked (current)


Shack

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Sweet! thanks, I'll wait a week or so. Yea, I'll check out yer grow. Thank you too, Riddleme.

I'm not a noob,BUT, this is the first time topping AND cloning the top...i've always fimmed, throwing away the pinched piece.

I fimmed some WW and every-one of them grew out of control, just a massive bush that light can't penetrate....maybe if I top the clones istead of fimm, i'll control that.

ThinkingGreen said:

Uncle Ben, I have a question for you my friend. I just read this thread for the first time, I didn't however, read every bit. There is so much!
My question for you is.. Looking at the naked plant you have in your demonstration, I see a split about 4 or 5 inches from the dirt. From the topping. And then there is normal growth in the center, and another split.. How in the world did you do that my friend? I just don't understand how?
I have topped a plant before, and it only grew from the two alternate spots, not the main stem. How did you continue the main stem growth? Sorry for the long and choppy question, do you understand what I'm asking?

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He didn't continue the main stem growth. You're somewhat confused. When you top above the second node, the two side branches at that node will become main tops. The same thing happens for the side branches at the first node.

If you only got two main tops, then you probably topped above the first node, but sometimes topping above the second node only results in two main tops and two lesser tops. Ive had that happen on a plant or two so far.

nice thread UB. hey could you top a 5 foot plant while its still in the vegetative state i know you can top it in veg but i don't know if it can be topped while being that big cos my girl is getting pretty tall and yeah i keep hearing " no you can only cut it at 5 or 6 node" so yeah any info on this would help me out greatly.
also with my 3 small indicas 1 that ive topped, all the same strain not sure what but nice smoke ive noticed that when i rub my fingers on the stem it smells alot stronger and its not even the strongest looking out of the 3 i wanted to leave the strongest looking one so long story short does it smell more because i have topped it causing the hormones to be redistributed back threw the plants stems.

For those still iffy regarding where the new output comes from, it's from the inside nook, the axis of where the original leaf petiole is attached to the "trunk". A dormant bud resides there, just needs a hormonal kick to get going. If underground, you'll get root output, same difference. See page one, photo one. If that's not clear, can't help ya.

UB

DaveCoulier said:

He didn't continue the main stem growth. You're somewhat confused. When you top above the second node, the two side branches at that node will become main tops. The same thing happens for the side branches at the first node.

If you only got two main tops, then you probably topped above the first node, but sometimes topping above the second node only results in two main tops and two lesser tops. Ive had that happen on a plant or two so far.

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Thanks for the response. I was slightly confused... to say the least.. I just couldn't comprehend how he was getting 4 tops instead of two.. I obviously didn't know about that amazing little technique..

So....

The HPS is amazing. Either that or the 4-colas dealie doesn't work well with certain genetics. I'm going with the first one.

11 days from seed, and I can clearly tell that after topping that all 4 branches will be up and running strong. The undergrowth, so to speak, is much more prominent than my last two grows which used only CFLs for veg.

I'mma very happy, having 4 colas on each plant makes me think I'll be adding at least a good 25% in to my harvest. The 2-cola girls I got before were sweet but 4 on each....

I'm interested- has ANYONE got a plant to grow 4 even colas using only CFLs?

my plants are pretty big now just wondering is it ever to late to top a plant??

cheers peoples.

Snak said:

So....

The HPS is amazing. Either that or the 4-colas dealie doesn't work well with certain genetics. I'm going with the first one.

11 days from seed, and I can clearly tell that after topping that all 4 branches will be up and running strong. The undergrowth, so to speak, is much more prominent than my last two grows which used only CFLs for veg.

I'mma very happy, having 4 colas on each plant makes me think I'll be adding at least a good 25% in to my harvest. The 2-cola girls I got before were sweet but 4 on each....

I'm interested- has ANYONE got a plant to grow 4 even colas using only CFLs?

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Check my Goin Loco link (grow Journal) I have 6 main colas (topped at 2nd internode, then topped both new branches) under just one 65 watt cfl with added T9 in the 5th week of flowering pic attached

I completely follow UB's way of growing

Snak said:

I'm interested- has ANYONE got a plant to grow 4 even colas using only CFLs?

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125W CFL .... i grow under single high wattage CFL does that count?
Under 12/12 for 10 days first pre-flowers showed today.


Shack

If you can swing it, ditch those CFL's in favor of a HPS, from start to finish too. Go back to page one and look at that old yellowish photo, it makes my point. It shows what I did with a Sensi Skunk topped to 2 main colas. They were grown from start to finish with only HPS, 600W. Again, I'm debunking the position held by most folks that you can't grow good weed unless you're supporting your favorite hydro vendor's lighting department. The conversion lamps, sockets, etc......it's all a bunch of hooey. Do the experiment and see for yourself. I'll post some pix of the HPS garden, resolution sux but you get the point.

Younguns



Mo' younguns







I think this was a double cola:

Shackleford.R said:

125W CFL .... i grow under single high wattage CFL does that count?
Under 12/12 for 10 days first pre-flowers showed today.


Shack

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You can't argue with success! Lookin' muy bueno! Looks like your floor is painted white.

Lighting is all about tweaks. If you look at my photos, you'll notice that the side walls look almost blinding (1st and 3rd photos). Yes, those are white panels/walls. I also would paint heavy plastic on the floor with a couple of coats of cheap white latex to reflect more light back into the plant. You can greatly increase light to the lower levels of the plant by strategically using reflecting panels, and most importantedly, making sure those reflective panels are placed against the plants. I used 2 movable panels and 2 stationary ones to do just that.

UB

Give to the United Way - a young double cola on its way to greatness:



Sensi Skunk Double cola ready for harvest. Notice the retention of the large, lower leaves?

Betcha you can't do that!!!!



Another oldie a few days after topping:

<---- Uncle Ben cheering section. :: I think I'm the one on the end. lol

HPS all the way.

hey ben i've got a lemon skunk that has started not too long ago and prolly have the best oppertunity to use your technique...but i was wondering are there certain strains that you might not recommend this for?

MileHIGHclub101 said:

...but i was wondering are there certain strains that you might not recommend this for?

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No..........

I know that you're very experienced with horticulture as a whole, but how much of that experience was indoor growing? If it was a lot, then maybe you should start a lighting thread.

Uncle Ben said:

If you can swing it, ditch those CFL's in favor of a HPS, from start to finish too.

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Agreed. My clone/veg area is under a 250 MH that seemed to do a fine job. Moving to the 600w HPS for 2-3 more weeks of veg, I was amazed at how much better they did.

Airwave said:

I know that you're very experienced with horticulture as a whole, but how much of that experience was indoor growing? If it was a lot, then maybe you should start a lighting thread.

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I did, at OG. I studied the lighting thingie to death.

pitch said:

Agreed. My clone/veg area is under a 250 MH that seemed to do a fine job. Moving to the 600w HPS for 2-3 more weeks of veg, I was amazed at how much better they did.

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That's a good combo. For me it was starting them under a 400MH and then adding a 600HPS to finish them out.

Shackleford.R said:

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Beautiful!

I wonder if this technique doesn't work well with specific strains then- All the Northern Lights plants I grew from marijuana-seeds.nl had 2 dominant colas. The one Mazar plant I grew had 4 strong colas before it went into flower, but I gave that plant to a friend and never got to see the final results.

Now I've got some LSD from Barney's Farm and White Widow from G13 and like I mentioned earlier, the growth at the nodes is very vigorous. I completely expect 4 colas on each of these girls.

Nice job with CFLs too- this is my first grow using HPS, but my last grow worked out great using all CFLs, I got around 6.5 ounces from four plants and about 550w of CFL. I'm really enjoying the hassle-free HPS though- it seems vegetative growth is moving much quicker than before.

And it looks like I get to top my girls here on about saturday/sunday. Also good news, the extra cash I have from not buying weed over the past month lets me buy a MUCH NEEDED digital camera, so I can post some pretty pics here soon.

Snak said:

Beautiful!

I wonder if this technique doesn't work well with specific strains .......

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I don't think it's strain specific, it is however dependent on the strength of the first node where a single leaf set comes out. I tried this method on my last 6 plants and only 2 of them resulted in 4 main colas. One gave me three mains and the balance were only two.

My next batch I ignored the first node and went with the two nodes above the first node. I removed anything coming out of the first node and now I have 4 mains out of each plant and all are more robust than any of the first crop that had mains from the first node.

I don't think it really matters which nodes you use for the 4, you're just re-directing hormone traffic.