Top and FIM analysis

S

syphex

Member
I know topping creates two tops, and fimming creates two or more... but what is the actual reason behind this? It seems that every new growth is actually three "shoots" and that topping the middle growth simply redirects it to the adjacent growths, resulting in two instead of three "shoots".

If thats the case then how does FIMing produce more than two? I always thought that topping caused the cut off stem to split into two somehow but thats not correct?

I've seen all the demonstrational images on topping/fim which explain how to do them but not really what causes it??
 
syphex said:
I know topping creates two tops, and fimming creates two or more... but what is the actual reason behind this? It seems that every new growth is actually three "shoots" and that topping the middle growth simply redirects it to the adjacent growths, resulting in two instead of three "shoots".

If thats the case then how does FIMing produce more than two? I always thought that topping caused the cut off stem to split into two somehow but thats not correct?

I've seen all the demonstrational images on topping/fim which explain how to do them but not really what causes it??
Click to expand...

Topping can create more than two tops. I have 4 tops on a plant using Uncle Ben's Topping Technique. It depends on which node you cut. You can top several times creating several main colas.

Google "apical dominance" and "meristem" Just by reading the Wikipedia entries, you will learn a lot about how cannabis grows.

"FIMing" does the same thing as topping but you are cutting the main growth shoot of the meristem in half. The plant then treats each cut section as a new apical meristem.
 
The reason you top is because you get more main colas.

Without topping, naturally growing, you get 1 main cola. It will be quite abit larger than the other buds. When you top, you will have two colas that are the same height, it tricks the plant. The plant then exerts equal energy supplying both colas, so you end up with two big buds.
The more tops you have at equal height the more big buds you get. That is where LST/suppercropping/scroging come in to play. You can train the plant so you have a lot of tops all the exact same height all with buds basically the same size.
 
There's two techniques, FIM and pinching off, I was trying to find a picture I had seen to show you, but at the meristem of the plant if you pinch the growing meristem correctly it should cause some crazy growth. Multiple shouts coming out that meristem, maybe in FIM there is not enought mixing of the meristem material to cause many shout to come out. Just a thought twords that.
 
topfuel29 said:
There's two techniques, FIM and pinching off, I was trying to find a picture I had seen to show you, but at the meristem of the plant if you pinch the growing meristem correctly it should cause some crazy growth. Multiple shouts coming out that meristem, maybe in FIM there is not enought mixing of the meristem material to cause many shout to come out. Just a thought twords that.
Click to expand...

"Pinching off" is just topping or "FIMing" with your fingernails instead of pruners/razor. It is often used for FIMing because the curve of your fingernail works well in cutting the right angle for the FIM technique to really work. You have to cut the main shoot in just the right spot or you will end up just topping your plant, which isnt a bad thing.
 
I am going to side with a mongo frog. Topping I find is more stressful on the plant and takes more time for it to recover and then you only get 2 shoots underneath what you cut to grow up as the tops. While fim'ing if done right you should get the top 2 and the 2 right bellow to grow up as new tops. So you get 4 and i find it is a lot less stressful although not that much. It takes time for them to recover either way but i prefer fim'ing myself.
 
Evo8Emperor said:
So you get 4 and i find it is a lot less stressful although not that much. It takes time for them to recover either way but i prefer fim'ing myself.
Click to expand...
If you do the "Pinching Off" correctly you'll end up with more than 4 tops. If you messed up you'll only get a few tops.
these are pictures off a proper Pinching off that causes some crazy growth.
 

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I have a few plants that I topped 1st. then waited a couple of weeks and topped 1 cola and fim'd the other just to see if I was doing it right. So far so good I got colas growing everywhere.
 
How much will it increase yield? This is the only thing about cannabis cultivation i haven't tried yet, aside from breeding. I see so many others yielding more than myself off of similar setups but I don't top due to my operation being small and I don't like to wait the extra weeks, unless someone can tell me how much better off i'd be doing it.
 
There is no way to answer how much it will increase yield if at all. There are too many variables. It isn't even meant to increase yield per se, rather to give you more big buds per plant.

What is your setup?

Maybe the others you see with higher yields have more light, different strains, longer vegging time, grown hydroponic, supplemental nutrients/additives...

Topping will give you more main colas but they will not be as big as if you left it to grow without topping. They could very well weight more together than a single cola but they will be smaller.
LST (Low Stress Training) gives you similar results with more bud sites as does running plants through a screen (SCROG).

There are a few different ways of training plants to increase yield but if youre environment is not optimal, you should start there. Longer veg and better lighting is a much more effective way to increase yield.
 
and I don't notice any "extra" weeks when topping. There is no set growth period before flowering when growing indoors. The longer you grow your plant and the more you train it, the more bud sites there will be in the end.

There is no magic secret that will increase yield. Its a lot of trading off; longer time between harvests but larger yield etc.
 
image.jpgimage.jpg
This is an og that I fim in day 7 of veg then put into flower 4 days later. Nothing special. I just try to go for short veg time with more tops that's all. It's all what one prefers and is happy doing.
 
Some people are saying Fimming is the same as topping, so you mean that it stunts the growth in the same way as a top? Allowing lower branches to grow more? I've heard of cutting straight through a node and getting more than 2 tops splitting off from it can anyone confirm this from experience??
 
syphex said:
So the only place new branches grow from is between other branches?
Click to expand...

Yes. But they become main growth shoots. So you start with one main growth, the "apical meristem" then you cut it and the plant goes "wtf?" and redirects the growth energy into the "next in line"

The next in line is determined by the node you cut above.

I would read about apical dominance and also through Uncle Ben's Topping Technique thread here on the forum.
 
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