HELP! Question about topping/ping & bend technique

[Hydrologist]

Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Im in my second grow with hydroponics. Im in a DWC set up and its working great. So far i've topped my plant once and the results have been rewarding as I've watched it branch into almost a baby "V" shape. She's in her second week of veg and her roots just hit the water today so im wondering, do you think its a good idea to top her in a day or two and take two buds off, or should i just do none? Is one enough? Or should I wait alittle longer before I top her again? This plant is a stable hybrid but is Sativa dominant. On top of that, im wondering when and if I should perform the pinch and bend technique for better cola spacing in conjunction with the topping technique? Or would that put too much stress on the plant? The link to the said plant is listed in my signature and the link to my room mates grow journal of our first plant in hydro "sandra" and this plants mother plant is as follows: Bubba Kush DWC on the Fly

Anything helps! Thanks alot!

 

[BWC BayArea]

Re: HELPZ! Question about topping/ping & bend technique

I'd say give her at 2 weeks min before topping again. LSTing/bending is a good way to allow bud sites the to get better light exposure resulting in larger buds below the tops. U can also pinch/FIM. Ur 2nd groe? I say play with as many prunning methods as possible until u find which one best suits u. Except for LSTing the other methods are stressful to the plant (not sure bout FIMing/pinching). To play it safe be sure to let her adjust and recover b4 doing it al over again. Good luck.

 

[Hydrologist]

thanks

Hey I greatly apreciate the info, I was worried there for a second that I wasn't going to get a reply, and I what you said backed up what I was leaning towards which was to let her grow her own way for another week or 2 depending on how fast she gets big in the DWC. I am very happy with the progress i've made in only two and a half weeks or so after her initial root sproutage And in all likeliness im not going to do the Pinch and Bend just the FIM Technique of topping to produce a much denser canopy of top colas

feel free to check her out on my "current grow" link in my signature.

 

[Growing247]

Everyone does stuff different when it comes to topping but the way I do it is wait until the plant is vegged to @ least 12-18 inches and then I will take a piece of string and LST it, bend the plant in half and tie it off to the side of the pot. The other thing you can do is to just cut off the top of the plant, sacrificing 1 top so many more will grow in its place and the plant get's bushier rather than taller. With this method you generally get 4 main tops surrounded by 4 smaller branches. This method has worked well for me. I don't really mess with super cropping until the plants buds have fully formed and are nearly ready to harvest I will bend the branches sideways to get more light to the lower nodes. However, super cropping is not something I do early in a plants life. Best method is LST. However lately, I haven't been topping the plants and letting them grow naturally and so far I have gotten plants with huge main colas and smaller branches along the sides. All strains react a little bit different to LST, topping or training compared to other strains. If you are trying to get a bushy plant, are doing a SoG or SCRoG with lot's of tops I recommend LST. I grew an Urkle plant that I LST that I grew around OCtober and it got absolutely massive. The plant had maybe 17 colas on it. I grow my plants in DWC 5 gallon buckets as well and I have had good results waiting until the plant is a bit taller before topping but that's just me.

 

[Hydrologist]

Thats cool to know your using the same medium as me. Im sure I can learn more from you. Yeah I topped this girl early because the guy who gave me the strain mentioned that he topped the way I explained in the beginning, But at the same time I dont want to go over board with the amount of light I have and room space at the moment which is why I am only growing one at a time in my flower and one in my Veg room to keep some what of a perpetual cycle going. Since topping it that very first time I've decided I'm not going to top it for alittle while longer probably not until a week before I switch to 12 and 12 and depending on how she looks then i'll figure out if I do one or two, and if exits a major top cola I may top it depending on how things look in hopes of getting large equal size colas. When the time comes i'll definitely post pix and ask for your advice. As far as LST goes I kinda forgot about what it is...just gradual bending of the branches outward ever so slowly every day? After this im ganna read up on it online but if you have any resources you could post that would be great too. Thanks again for the knowledge its deeply appreciated!