Timing the Top

[HarleyJammer]

There is a gaggle of Apollos that have been vegging indoor for a couple months; almost 2 feet tall. In 3 weeks they will be in the ground outside. My initial plan was to bend them them girls over and tie them up.

From what i have read, topping is the right avenue to max yeild. If i go with topping, when would be the most opportune time to snip: now, before transplant, or after transplant?

 

[soil margin]

Topping is a good strategy to increase yield indoors for sure. Outdoors it seems there is some controversy as to whether or not it really makes for a significant increase in yield.

Topping results in more branching which results in more budsites, but branching also takes the plant energy which means less energy/nutrients for growing flowers, so there is some amount of trade-off there.

Personally for me topping makes more sense on indica dominant strains that typically only grow one main cola, those are the plants that really need more budsites. Many sativa strains already have such excellent branching outdoors that topping them is almost kind of a moot point.

As to your main question, the more developed the root system the quicker the recovery will be from topping, I would suggest getting the plants transplanted and wait for the roots to start growing before topping. I doubt either method would result in a huge difference though.

 

[aridbud]

Or, consider (gently) tying down cola by bending as well as lower branches. Found that does not stress the plant as much as topping.