Topping: When and What

Just as the title of the thread suggests, this is a question of when and what, to top/fim.

In other words:

When - how far into your grow should you top your plants, for the best results? Etc..

and

What - what part of the plant should you be topping, how much of it and how often - and what type of plant should receive what kind of different technique? For example, what should you do with a very vertical plant (even with lots of side branches that seem to be growing well), and what should you do with a more bushy plant (again, even with plenty of growth in the side branches as well as the main stem)?

I understand the reasoning and idea behind why to top different parts of the plant, but I have 2 different types of plants that both seem to be growing nice branches (primary, and secondary) so I can't figure out what the best technique would be.. Plus FIMing is a similar option, and all the same questions apply.

Again though, id love some general feedback, even not related to my situation..

Simply put:
When: (what time during grow, and how much)?
What/where: (best option for different plant types)?

Detailed answers (rather than the obvious reasons) would be greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to some good replies!

Sorry to be a dick (or the first one to be a dick) but did you read the stickies and whatnot here on RIU??? Most, if not all of your ?'s have been answered 10x already.

RIU would be about 1/1000th of the size without its redundancy.

top anywhere after a month of when your plant sprouts, i suggest fimming or supercropping tho. keep growing brotha