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    Advice on topping clones

    kaitelyn420

    Hey DGC,  Back again with more questions. Could anyone tell me how to top these plants for the best results. They are starting to get a little tall and I want to keep them short and squat.  I have a bunch of them that need topping. Some have already had it once like the one in the picture to the far left.  The one in the center wasn’t topped. I believe it was soup who said he liked topping them when they get to around 9 nodes. These are def ready for a topping. What is need to know is where to make my cuts. I don’t wanna cut it wrong and end up with a messed up plant or hurt it and make it slow to much. My plants have always been way too tall as in almost my height and my tent is only 7 ft so I wanna keep these manageable. I plan on keeping 6 (7-10 gal) 8 (5-7 gal) 10 (3 gal) of the clones 10 at most do distribute in my 4×8. I want to maximize my yields while not having huge plants that must be scrogged. I bought yoyos instead this time around and can get more. I plan on vegging a good while because I need to postpone flower at least 1 month. I should have plenty of time to shape them if I can just figure out how. I made some colored lines on the plants where I thought they may need to be cut if any of those look right please let me know which if none please draw one in or describe where.I have always done my topping by just removing the very topmost tiny growth from the apical meristem. Also do I need to remove all of those limbs near the bottom. I have never shaped a plant from this size. I would really appreciate some help with this. Also if you had a 4×8 how many plants and in what size fabric pot would you grow them? I have 3 and 7 gals but can get whatever.

    Comments

    8 responses to “Advice on topping clones”

    1. Bob Avatar
      Bob

      Hey mate
      As soon as you cut the dominant stem the lower ones will rush to be the new dominant stem and if you’ve got a month to reveg any mistake I’d just go for it. You wanna cut below a node. So 1st pic the plant on the left just under the yellow line if it’s too tall for your cloner you can cut it down a bit. And the same on the others below the top node.
      How I shape a plant is I don’t want side shoots off branches unless they’re big and strong. Scotty mentioned thinking water moving through your plumbing. Water doesn’t flow well through a skinny pipe. He said it better. I’m writing this At 11 Am Sunday morning so I’m struggling. Ha. I’d pull the little tops off on the ones you leave and it should make them bush out a bit. You don’t want branches too low on the stem as they drain the energy from the top of your plant. If you think what’s happening in the plant you need to encourage all the energy up to the tops. Don’t stress it man just get in there and do it. Kyle lays it down here. https://youtu.be/XdfW2p-lHN0

      1. barelyburningburlyburnhardly Avatar
        barelyburningburlyburnhardly

        Overthinking stuff like this gets me into trouble every time. Instead of going ahead and doing it I stress over the “correct” way then by the time I have decided what that is the plants have grown so much that its time to reevaluate again. lol

        Thanks for the info, honestly I thought the yellow line was way to low. Ok, when you say cut below the node you mean cut right below it instead of in the crook where the limb grows. Leaving a little stick up correct. I hear you about those low branches. I had some stretched out 2 or 3 feet before with a not so impressive bud at the end dont wanna do that again for sure.

        I have double what I need already so I may not even keep the cuts this time around and just keep one of each as a mother. By the time I get these flowered any cut I would take right now would be way bigger than I want it. I guess I am somewhat perpetual but I do the whole tent at a time instead of staggering them.

        Thank for the reply dude, gonna check out that link now.

    2. Coach Steve Avatar
      Coach Steve

      4×8…..
      32 plants in 1gl pots…
      Or 16 in 3gl
      10 5gl
      8 7-15gl
      3 20gl
      2 25 gl

      However you want to fill the canopy vs how much space you want to works with vs how long you want to veg. It really doesn’t matter, think about canopy. Number of plants and pot size is just a grower preference.

      1. barelyburningburlyburnhardly Avatar
        barelyburningburlyburnhardly

        Thank you for that, I don’t want it to be so full it is hard to deal with. I wanna be able to stake and use yoyos. I wonder how long it would take to fill out a 25 gal and what that plant would look like. With cocoperlite and synthetics Bet it would be a monster. I may not pack the tent leave some space to get around and water or turn the plants. I have been so frustrated in the past letting things get to full. It sure doesn’t help the crop. It is just for personal use so my main goal is quality over yield by far.

        1. Bob Avatar
          Bob

          Good thing about this lark is 10 weeks later we can do it all again with new mistakes to make. Just take the steps mannn. Enjoy the ride… the amount of times I’ve told myself well I won’t do that again. Ha.

        2. Bob Avatar
          Bob

          I’m high as shit. Cut it at the node so it can grow from that point. Not leaving a stick. Ha sorry man. This is why you’ve gotta test every theory and not listen to stoned fools like me. Ha.

          1. barelyburningburlyburnhardly Avatar
            barelyburningburlyburnhardly

            Yea, I was questioning that bit of advice. No matter how I looked at the plants cutting it that way didn’t make sense. I did do one that way just to see though. cut the others back several nodes still thinking on some of the others. I am just gonna select the best of the bunch. Whichever ones shape up best so its kinda a trial run.

    3. Bob Avatar
      Bob

      Under the node and take two or cut one of the shoots off but I like a big clone it seems to have more chance to root. But that’s me. Cut one long and cut one short and see which works for you.
      Enjoy the kushman it’s a great clip to make you understand and plan your plant to where it’s going to be.

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