What will happen if I cut tops right before flower ?

G

GeraldsFinest

Member

• May 30, 2020

• #1

Hi guys I know you’re thinking “why the hell would you cut tops off right before flower” well easy answer is my plants got way out of control this time because I potted up halfway through veg which is not what I usually do. So now they are way to tall and bushy AF.

They also have a lot of skinnier branches that tried to catch up with the mains and they can barley stand on there own. So a couple questions a guess. I’m defoliating tonight and flipping tomorrow, but should I remove all the skinnier branches that have stretched up? And what will be the out come if I cut some of the bigger tops down?. Or should I try and super crop them. I’ll attach some photos later if it helps.

Thanks

 

troutman

Seed Whore

• May 30, 2020

• #2

You may stress out the plant big time. Could cause it to delay flowering too by weeks. Pruning should be done early on.

 

eric2028

Well-known member

Veteran

• May 30, 2020

• #3

I take clones the day I start flowering. Tops only. I then top the plants up until about week 3, then I usually just pinch to keep me canopy level. If your plants are healthy they can handle it.

 

siftedunity

cant re Member

Veteran

• Jun 5, 2020

• #4

troutman said:

You may stress out the plant big time. Could cause it to delay flowering too by weeks. Pruning should be done early on.

Click to expand...

are you kidding ??!!!

 

Fixer

Active member

• Jun 5, 2020

• #5

As a practice I top my plants anywhere from 2 weeks prior to when I put them into flower. I have taken a couple of extra nodes weeks into flower as my plants were too high. They just kept growing.

 

BigPhil

Active member

Veteran

• Jul 24, 2020

• #6

They start to tick getting faster and faster till the pots explode @ 2 days into flower


I have actually super cropped about 3 weeks into flower, Pinched the crap out of it. But haven't done that for a long time now lol can you guess where I did that???

If you are topping late into veg I would give it a week or so after doing it, till you switch to flower. I find it can take about 4 days on average for the nodes to grow again. Where you just topped.
You could try just bending the top down and tieing it off?

You can also train your plants at any stage of Veg. I have popped some regular seeds, So wanted to wait till I knew what sex they was b4 doing any training. But if you know that you have ladies I would train them early then.

 

S

SamsonsRiddle

Active member

• Jul 25, 2020

• #7

could really fuck things up or could be even better, depends on the plant. i would assume you would have a litter smaller buds but more of them, may also take a few extra days for flowers to appear.


supercropping usually heals a little faster, will just have to keep doing it depending on how much it stretches

 

troutman

Seed Whore

• Jul 25, 2020

• #8

siftedunity said:

are you kidding ??!!!

Click to expand...

No. Just place safe and do all your trimming in vegetative mode if you can.

 

V

Veggia farmer

Well-known member

• Aug 10, 2020

• #9

To what you can when you can. If its a problem, ,proceed.

If I have a run with seedplants and one strech more then others, well sometimes the tops goes early to have an overall higher yield.

AND Some girls like it rough..... LOL..

Ok, Im late for the talk.. posting for the lurkes then..

 

M

madalasatori

Well-known member

Veteran

• Aug 14, 2020

• #10

The thing to remember is that the plant doesn’t start flowering straight away, it takes a week or two of 12/12 to trigger it. So really you are topping just before they flower, in practice

On stretchy strains I like to top a week into flower.

 

aridbud

automeister

ICMag Donor

Veteran

• Aug 15, 2020

• #11

So now they are way to tall and bushy AF
You mean Autoflower? No you don't Fim/top. Low stress train, not TOP. It can be down easily on photoperiods, too.

 

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packerfan79

Active member

Veteran

• Aug 15, 2020

• #12

aridbud said:

So now they are way to tall and bushy AF
You mean Autoflower? No you don't Fim/top. Low stress train, not TOP. It can be down easily on photoperiods, too.

Click to expand...

Pretty sure Af means as fuck.


@ Gerald
I would say tie the tops down. I have limited height, I often have to do it in flower. Around week3 I strip any leaves that are blocking budsites, and any small sucker branches.

 

siftedunity

cant re Member

Veteran

• Aug 19, 2020

• #13

troutman said:

You may stress out the plant big time. Could cause it to delay flowering too by weeks. Pruning should be done early on.

Click to expand...

completely untrue

 

PizzaMan5000

Member

• Aug 22, 2020

• #14

I would say roughly half of the phenos I grew perpetually, would yield slightly more when pruned agressively. The other half would generally lose about as much as you cut off.... Which you just gotta accept; if they are too tall.

I'm talking late veg, and the first couple weeks of flower.

Vague, I know.
But I can tell you, I err of the side of cutting everything off. I hate popcorn, and I don't enjoy harvest very much....

Topping after starting 12/12 completely stunted maybe 10% of phenos I have encountered. I'm talking popcorn that never gained mass of an "entire" plant. There were factors at play I'm probably forgetting.

If you're cloning, you can decide what to do with that pheno ??
Some of my best stuff was bagseeds where I kept clones running and culled off ones that didn't fit my room and style.

Not trying to be a dick, but only your plant knows what it's gonna do. When you have identical clones side by side, you really get a good idea.

I've had plants get stunted from pulling fan leaves ??*?? which I do obsessively.

 

Last edited: Aug 28, 2020

aridbud

automeister

ICMag Donor

Veteran

• Aug 22, 2020

• #15

packerfan79 said:

Pretty sure Af means as fuck.


@ Gerald
I would say tie the tops down. I have limited height, I often have to do it in flower. Around week3 I strip any leaves that are blocking budsites, and any small sucker branches.

Click to expand...

Oh! ;o)

 

G.O. Joe

Well-known member

Veteran

• Aug 22, 2020

• #16

madalasatori said:

On stretchy strains I like to top a week into flower.

Click to expand...

This. Anything with at least average growth rate, height, and side branching will benefit under lights if timed right - I like 10th-13th node - so all the branches end up with their tops at the same height, like a scrog but better.