when should i start topping my mother plants?

[Budddyy]

Hello ive got some mother plants, they popped above ground on 11th feb 2015 (20 days) they have had no nutriens just ph adjusted water, in 17 litre rhizo pots under 1 600w gavita. They are on their 5th node.
I want to know as the title states when is the best time to start topping them ?
Also does anyone know to any journals that are based on mothers, i cant find any. This would be a massive help As i haven't got a clue what to do with them.
Thanks in advance guys , budddyy

 

[go4snypr]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

You cant top after the 3rd or fourth node. any journal that talks about vegging is all you need, as your just gonna keep these in veg. The thing that make them a mother is you just keep it alive to take clones from. then you just have to learn to clone and not strip your mothers completely when you do

 

[Hiker]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

so your goal is to make them branch more to produce clones?
I'd top them after 3-5 nodes.

 

[Budddyy]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

Cheers lads, so top,top,top,top and top again. Ill start topping in a bit then when lights on.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

I just top a bit to start- usually when it gets a decent start like 12" or so. I top when I need clones - top when the mothers are getting too big and high- And with mothers I've had growing for a year or more I unpot them, cut the root mass down to a small ball, chop to half height with a bunch of defoliation, and repot in fresh soil. Basically - top, slash, hack, whack, chop, slice and dice. They get bushy really quick. I might be 'doing it wrong' I guess but don't tell me.

 

[Budddyy]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

Ive done some reaserch and the candabrella effect (probably spelt wrong lol) comes up often, any ideas how to make this shape or will it do that naturally with the topping ?
Does anybody know to any journals, you tube videos or web pages where this process is shown from seed to cuttings everything i find the plants big and in its shape already.
in my current journal ive been topping really early and a lot this has kept the plants like small round bushes, think i might of answered my own question here. If i let it grow upto say 12"-18" then top,top,top the plant wont really grow upwards anymore and only grow outwards, is this correct ?

 

[Weaselcracker]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

Ive done some reaserch and the candabrella effect (probably spelt wrong lol) comes up often, any ideas how to make this shape or will it do that naturally with the topping ?
Does anybody know to any journals, you tube videos or web pages where this process is shown from seed to cuttings everything i find the plants big and in its shape already.
in my current journal ive been topping really early and a lot this has kept the plants like small round bushes, think i might of answered my own question here. If i let it grow upto say 12"-18" then top,top,top the plant wont really grow upwards anymore and only grow outwards, is this correct ?

I can imagine what you mean by a candelabra effect but haven't seen that term. In my experience- just topping the plant alone makes it more bushy. Removing the tops naturally signals the lower shoots to grow. You end up with a bunch of undergrowth and several main tops but it tends to be bushy and undefined without some sort of spreading/ training. Doesn't matter for cloning purposes I think but would be better for budding out if it was more trained and pruned.
The Cap'ns thread here How To: Bend and top your way to a 1 pound monster is good
and also search for LBH's Famous 4-Way LST Tutorial (plus topping sub-tutorial)
I don't know if that helps with your candelabra question or if it's just stuff you've already read...it would seem to me that the same techniques would apply. (?)
Edit/ to answer your question better- no basically the plant only ever wants to grow upwards- it's the training - tying down, supercropping, bending- that forces it to spread. I usually let mine grow taller before topping simply because by then I can get a decent number of clones out of it when I do, instead of just one. But with the mothers I'm not trying to keep them really low- just under 24" or so.

 

[Budddyy]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

Thanks weaselcracker i will check them out now, hopefully ill get a feel for what im after once ive read through these.

 

[Hiker]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

you get big bushes mostly through patience

If your goal is clones, you're doing fine. When do you need your clones? How many? How often?

Topping is a technique that plays on this property of plants, including cannabis:
Apical dominance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One tip about taking clones and training plants. If you try to 'spread' them out by tieing the branches down, let them grow for at least a week or so before cutting your clones. I prefer my clones to be 'straight', and if you clone shortly after some LST, they will be bent. It's a minor issue, and I'm not sure it has any impact on the growth. It's probably an aesthetic thing, but I like my plants to look 'normal'.

 

[Budddyy]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

When do i need my clones ? No rush, i think i can start taking them after 2 months.
How many ? As many as possible, the more the merrier, about 200 p/m would suffice.
how often ? See above lol

I will be taking that advice to give them a week if i choose to train before i cut
thanks for the link hiker ill go through it in due course.

 

[Budddyy]

Re: when should i start topping my mother plants ?

Just had a quick look at your basement, thats the airoponic cloner ill be building your using there. ill read through all your journal later too when i get 5. See you over there

 

[Budddyy]

Sorry to be a "pain in the arse" again but on topping my critical earlier i cut the terminal shoot off as underneath this there were about 8 separate shoots very level to each other, me thinking this would be desirable (sort of scrog without the net). once i cut it i could see straight down the inside of the stem ive plugged it with the stem off the fan leaf atm. My question is should i leave the plug in or leave it open ?
Not sure if my pictures will come up big or thumbnail but have a look.

 

[Hiker]

I've never had to "plug" a stem. The plant can take care of itself. It will respond to that stress.