A Complete Guide to Topping, Training and Pruning

[Kodiak]

Nice one Equilibrium, I have never seen that happen before. Looks like the main stem failed to develop properly for some reason so the plant behaved as if it were topped. Could be genetic or chemically induced. Interesting. The plant looks really good and healthy, if you want to you could fill the pot up with more soil, to the point where stem is divided. Then you will get adventitious roots growing on the part of the stem that is now exposed.

Yeah, that insane main cola was about 70cm / 28 inches in length and very thick. It's a 17+ weeker Nevilles Haze pheno of Mr. Nice Super Silver Haze, strongest plant I have ever seen (and smoked). I grew the same plant for a whole year over three grows. During the first two grows I kept it in check but this is a picture from the last one where I decided to let it go feral. You might not be able to tell from the picture but that plant was actually much taller than me when the main cola was upright so it's fair to say that the harvest was quite abundant. A real monster

It had very sticky buds that smelled like bitter pine with a skunky undertone of ripe citrus fruit. Loved that plant.

This is what she looked like when I kept her in check, still a very difficult plant to train.

​

If anyone is interested, here is a links to the thread on that grow posted over at mr.nice.nl

 

[piosh]

Hey Equilibrium , I had exactly the same with Big Bang from GH.

 

[moses224]

I have same thing with Arjan and Super Silver fro GH .... What gives man? both hitting week sixteen with no end in sight

 

[Kodiak]

It's the Haze man.

These phenos that are leaning heavily towards the Haze and resemble equatorial sativas can probably flower forever as they are used to growing under constant 12/12 light. I got the best result from a 11/13 flowering schedule. It would be interesting to know exactly how long a plant like this could flower for when grown in a controlled environment and fed regularly. I bet that you could get a perpetual harvest from the plant for a long time by removing the buds that are ready and allowing her to happily flower on.

People have reported several different phenos of the SSH from Shantibaba, ranging from Skunk/Hazes to NL/Hazes, all of which were ready within 12 weeks or so. I was hoping for the mostly Haze pheno and was lucky enough to get it. It was no easy task to keep the internodes tight and getting tight buds but I succeeded quite well in the end by topping and training the plant for several months before flowering and by keeping the light as close as possible to the buds. That one plant yielded more than all of my other plants put together. I had a few coughs and an Ice plant running at the same time during the first run.

The SSH just kept on flowering forever. By the time the oldest buds were ripe, there were already new flowers forming in other locations and growing out of the older buds as well. The nugs were drenched in THC. I suspect that once the trichome fills up with oil it starts pouring out on top and into the buds because I really did not touch the buds a lot during flowering. They felt oily to the touch and were sticky as hell.

I let her flower for 17+ weeks and then my patience ran out. During that last grow I just let it go crazy as I wanted to see how much weight it could pack on and I could not the there to train it. Imagine my surprise when I came back home and saw that the plant had grown a bud three times the size of my own head

I still have 5 seeds left in the pack but I think I will wait a long time before growing that plant again. Got a lot of strain waiting in the fridge and some own hybrids as well. I've got Jock Horrors in flowering right now and Jack Herer waiting in the fridge. Once I have grown all of these out, I will know the NL/Skunk/Haze hybrids compare to each other. I bet that they are all different but equally interesting plants.

 

[Kodiak]

piosh, I came up with another solution for your problem while I was dealing with my own S.A.G.E plant that is ridiculously stretchy compared to the others. Just like moses224 originally suggested, bend the tallest branches vertically without creating an angle that is too extreme and tie them down to a nearby branch that is shorter.

The top shoots on the longer branches will make a turn and head for the light but since you will tie the branch vertically, each shoot on the branch will also start growing taller. It's bascially early flowering LST. No parts removed and no need for a scrog net. Mine is much lower down so I could not make use of it and came up with this idea instead. This way you don't have to worry about headroom and the plants will most likely also grow an even canopy with more shoots than before. Since it's still early in flowering theese shoots will also pack on weight later on and you'll end up with a greater harvest as well.

Easy and efficient

 

[gethigh]

nice work! lots of info

 

[E.C.Hope]

very nice....

 

[Equilibrium]

I topped 2 of my plants who where stretching more than the others. Thanks again for the thread Kodiak. :smile:

I didn't try to FIM, as the picture is not that clear for me. Maybe a photo would help.

 

[Kodiak]

You can keep topping them several times over if you like, Equilibrium. They will grow bushier each time, try tying down some branches and you will see how LST works.

I have no picture of FIM topping but perhaps someone else could post a good pic here if they have one. It's not that complicated, just cut the top shoot so that you leave a bit of the leaf tissue left on the plant.

Happy Growing and Keep it Green

 

[Jimmy Rave]

wow very detailed! thanks for putting this together

 

[_the420guy]

Good read!

 

[Kodiak]

Thanks, I'm glad that you found it helpful.

I have been topping, training and scrogging my plants for several years now and that is the only thing that makes sense to me when it comes to growing indoors, especially if limited space is of concern.

When the LST trained plants go into flowering, remember to remove all the weaker branches that draw energy from the stronger main shoots. This is very important because if you leave every single branch on the plant, it will take much longer to finish and a lot of the energy that the plant distributes to these lesser branches and shoots is completely wasted in the end.

It is however a gradual process and remove only a few branches now and then. If you remove everything in one go, the plant might get stunted and slow down considerably for up to a few weeks. Only remove thin branches and inferior shoots, leave the fan leafs be as the plant wil eventually draw energy from them and drop them once they no longer serve a purpose.

 

[rando]

A couple of questions:

1) I plan to flower in about a week, at this point would I be better off just leaving them alone or is topping them still a viable/useful option?

2) How much stress does topping cause to the plant? I will be cutting clones in the next couple of days as well and don't want to overdo it and cause them to slow down too much or stunt them.

Thanks.

 

[Kodiak]

I wouldn't top them at this stage but you can still LST train them by tying down branches if you like. That way they will stay low and you'll get an even canopy with many flowering shoots, if you can manage to bend the stem without breaking it that is. If the stems are too rigid I would leave them be. Only top them in flowering if you really have to, most of the time you can redirect the branches by bending them horizontally and tying them down. The shoots will make the turn upwards within a day or two and continue growing from there. You can repeat this process many times without and achieve the same results without topping them.

Topping the plant during veg can be considered low stress as long as you don't top the plants while they are still very young or remove too many shoots at once. Some plants do not like to be topped and will get stunted but this is individual so you will just have to try and see how it goes.

 

[jamrockjay]

U gotta have patience growing some of those sativas (respect kodiak), one day i hope to grow something a little exoctic...

Equilibrium, i love ur self topping plant, she is a awsome looking plant a nice and healthy looking

 

[Equilibrium]

You can keep topping them several times over if you like, Equilibrium. They will grow bushier each time, try tying down some branches and you will see how LST works.

I have no picture of FIM topping but perhaps someone else could post a good pic here if they have one. It's not that complicated, just cut the top shoot so that you leave a bit of the leaf tissue left on the plant.

Happy Growing and Keep it Green

Your topic got stickied! Congrats, it's more than deserved.
I think I'll top them one more time before flowering, so I'll have 4 main colas. I'll leave one or two big buds untouched to see the difference.

About the FIM, I think I got it so I'll try to do it the next time. Thanks again for all the advices Kodiak. :smile:

U gotta have patience growing some of those sativas (respect kodiak), one day i hope to grow something a little exoctic...

Equilibrium, i love ur self topping plant, she is a awsome looking plant a nice and healthy looking

Thanks Jamrockjay. I must say she's one of my favorites, I was going to trash her and she just did an awesome job. The only thing is that she's late on the numbers of internodes compared to the others, but I think it's normal.

 

[Kodiak]

Thanks Equilibrium, It's really an honor and I am happy that so many people found the guide useful, or at least entertaining.

Good idea, the untopped colas will most likely become dominant and grow a bit taller than the topped ones but you will be able to see the difference between the two, which will help you to make up your mind on how to grow in the future. It all depends on your setup and preference really.

I always try to get an even canopy on all the plants due to height issues but sometimes that is difficult as I grow both indicas and sativas and everyhting in between. This time around I had to do some early flowering LST just to keep some of the plants in check. I also have one untopped plant that stopped stretching at just the right height so I will also get one big main cola for a change. All the bud gets trimmed and manicured in the end so it does not matter that much how they were grown. The really important things are quality and quantity.

 

[nuitari]

This is the best pictorial thread about topping that I've ever seen.Great info.

 

[shmooothsmoke]

now that i like! good work! im slow training a hindu kush ,ive recently had to repot her,removed all the soil from the root ball and repotted in canna terra plus she now loving it and its a struggle to keep up with her. shes got so many growing tips its awsome.really loving this method!! topped 2 out of the 6 and fim'd another 2 all looking awsome they now in bud and the nyd are looking quality!!top top chop chop!!!

 

[moses224]

My problem is hazes ref above are on 11/13 and week 17 they just fatten up bu budds never tighten...im about to turn them into oil