Topping before flowering

[kaption]

I have a couple of ladies that are really tall , and have me pushing my light up farther than id like, leaving some others behind.

Problem is, I fear im going to out grow my space very soon.
Some of the taller ones are about 4 ft tall and im still in veg.
I only have 7 ft of vert space.

I need to flower now! If i cut the taller ones back a little do i have to wait another 2 weeks before i can switch to 12/12?

 

[mr green thum]

You can fold the top over to the main stem and hold it there with a paper clip. This redistributes the auxins to the lower branches and it evens out the canopy. I will do this as last as 2 weeks into flower if need be. Never had any bad effects. I think this technique is called paper clipping and it is similar to LST (low stress training) sometimes I need to do this so late in flower due to growing so many different strains under the same light. Really I think it has always increased my yield. More even canopy = better yield. Once while doing this method I accidentally topped one and still no ill effects. I like having multiple full flowers rather than a bulk top and bottom crap. Good luck.

 

[SteveHman]

4 feet tall in veg is crazy. You can still top/FIM/LST/SCROG them until a couple days into 12/12. I might take the radical approach of topping them back very short and then letting them bush out or SCROG for a few weeks. I don't like my plants to be taller than 12 inches at the switch to 12/12. They will stretch up to 3x (or taller depending on strain).

You're OK to cut back the taller ones and wait two weeks to flower, if you top them properly it should even increase your yield.

 

[voltron]

Hi Kaption, I topped, actually fimmed my first grow (dwc) and flowered about a week later and she had over 8(foggy memory may've been 11) almost equal in length tops, off in length by a couple inches only. This kept my height in check with my 63"height tent, she still maxed it out with cfl lighting lol. Check out the link below on fimming. It is found within "how to grow marijuana thread" this is one that has at least two illustrations in it displaying the proper technique for topping and fimming your girl as these are two different techniques. The last illustration on page three is in color and pretty detailed, I would check it out and if you are not familiar with this technique. From what I have read and seen in journals you can fimm more than once and early into flowering. I hope this helps What is the FIM technique?

There are other threads but this one I reviewed for you and it is straight forward along with others results and it shows you how to fimm and top so you can decide which will be best for your situation. But as others have said this is your most likely action to take for such a tall lady @ 4' wow
She should be fine but take action asap...maybe someone can chime in and tell us if you can top/fim and tie her down before too late hmmm.

What kinda of lights are you running, watts, and distance?

 

[kaption]

I fimmed a few of them awhile back they both took. 1 top gave me 5 new tips and one gave me 8! I didnt check back intime before the switch to 12/12 so i just tied all the growing tips down, kinda funny looking but it got the job done.

Yeah i let them get bigger than i would had liked, but i wanted them to go into flowering healthy.I had a cal/mag problem for awhile and my growth almost stopped completely.

I have 9 ladys under a 600watt HPS on a light mover (not moving far at all, just enuff to spread my footprint over 1.5 feet. I had some problems with my ladys being very cal/mag hungry but i have all that under control now. 18 clones took and i have them in my veg tent. I may just start a journal for the clones.

My clones are already growning strong @ 17 days, I only plan on letting them veg for 30 days before the switch. I have so many in tight space i was thinking about lolipopping them all. good idea?

 

[Blueskybsn]

4 feet tall in veg is crazy. You can still top/FIM/LST/SCROG them until a couple days into 12/12. I might take the radical approach of topping them back very short and then letting them bush out or SCROG for a few weeks. I don't like my plants to be taller than 12 inches at the switch to 12/12. They will stretch up to 3x (or taller depending on strain).

You're OK to cut back the taller ones and wait two weeks to flower, if you top them properly it should even increase your yield.

So you always start 12/12 when they are 12 inches? I am currently growing a 70/30 S/I and I'm guessing that the sativa varieties tend to stretch more?? If so I will have to amend my growing plan as my tent I plan on getting is only 5'3" tall. I've never really had to deal with vertical limitations too much as I usually grow outdoors.

 

[SteveHman]

I typically go straight from the cloner to 12/12 so they are 6 inches and stretch to 18~24 which is my target. For my current tent grow I let them get about 12 inches since I was going for a longer veg time.

 

[Blueskybsn]

I typically go straight from the cloner to 12/12 so they are 6 inches and stretch to 18~24 which is my target. For my current tent grow I let them get about 12 inches since I was going for a longer veg time.

Right on thanks man, you think sativas stretch more though?

And if you could do me a big favor a started a thread in problems, pests, etc. that I would love your input on.

 

[SteveHman]

Sativas are much more prone to stretch, go 12/12 early to keep them shorter. I'll see if I can find your other post.

 

[Blueskybsn]

Sativas are much more prone to stretch, go 12/12 early to keep them shorter. I'll see if I can find your other post.

Right on man thanks. Heres a link just in case: Help diagnosing deficiency!