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Should I top for 2 or 4 main colas?

njayjay

njayjay

Member
Hi I've decided to top my plants for my next grow, I'm gonna do 12 plants in 5 gal buckets under 1200 watts of HPS lights, strains will be Jack Herer and C99.
Should I top for 2 or 4 main colas I'm concerned it might not be too beneficial with the amount of lighting I have. Can I expect increase yields, and which should I go for, 2 or 4? Peace
 
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ourcee

Active member
topping for me doesnt always equal an exact number, I may top one plant and three side branches come up making for 3 tops from one cut, or even more. You could FIM and get 8 tops from one cut (if youre lucky).

hearing that youre doin 12 plants under 1200w I'm assuming two 600 watters.

so 3 buckets by 6 buckets.

if you want yield, I'd scrog it. more smaller buds (not a one oz cola) but more weight if you do it right.

600's dont have the penetration power of 1000's so growing trees under that you'd have popcorn underneath and all around the sides...
 
L

lysol

Usually when I top the node / branch pair directly below the node I topped above catches up while the part I cut recovers. I end up with sort of 4 main colas, even though 2 of them are the "true" main colas I get 4 fat buds at relatively the same level ( the real main 2 might be 1" or a few higher ). Anything more then one cut and I'd say LST, not that 2 cuts wont yield more than 2, but think about it, you're spending a half a month of veg time just to recover from the cuts.
 
njayjay

njayjay

Member
My lights are 3x 400 watters, now that you raise the penetration issue I am definitely more concerned, I have 4 rows of 3 buckets. Also i am not looking to LST at all, SCROG is not out of the question especially if my lights don't penetrate too good, still not sure on how its done.
 
njayjay

njayjay

Member
growshower said:
njayjay, its your show but just out of curiosity why not lst?
Click to expand...

I don't want to babysit the plants and correct them over time or for that matter shift tthem away from the center of the buckets.
I might try some more passive form of training like SCROG, thats what has me more interested at the moment.
 
cantstoplooking

cantstoplooking

Member
I usually wait till 3 0r 4 nodes before I top, it works great on the strain im running and I think I might top 2 times this go around..... It helps to even out your canopy and like you said no fuss and screwin around with lst. I say go for it top them and if they bounce back fast top them again... if you want.... wait till the new growth has 2 nodes though before topping again.
Gl
 
S

Sir_Nugget

njayjay said:
I don't want to babysit the plants and correct them over time or for that matter shift tthem away from the center of the buckets.
I might try some more passive form of training like SCROG, thats what has me more interested at the moment.
Click to expand...

This is incorrect, bend all the plants in the same direction.. the reason LST is better than topping is because you can still get a main cola with LST
 
GMT

GMT

The Tri Guy
Veteran
4 main colas seems, to me, to be optimal (veg time dependant). The earlier you top them, the less lower popcorn you end up with. Good luck.
 
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lysol

You say LST is out of the question but scrog is not. Scrog is a form of LST, the only difference is you are using a screen instead of individual tie downs to make it easier on you, to the plant they are the same technique. Dont see why it would be out of the question
 
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lysol

njayjay said:
I don't want to babysit the plants and correct them over time or for that matter shift tthem away from the center of the buckets.
I might try some more passive form of training like SCROG, thats what has me more interested at the moment.
Click to expand...

SCROG is _definitely_ higher maintainence than LST. All you need to do is tie down the main stalks every time it grows up 8" or so, no need to go uber crazy like a lot of people do. With SCROG you are tying down each cola to the screen ( atleast I used twist ties to help ). With LST you can just have 1 tie down and the auxins will even things out over time.
 
njayjay

njayjay

Member
lysol said:
SCROG is _definitely_ higher maintainence than LST. All you need to do is tie down the main stalks every time it grows up 8" or so, no need to go uber crazy like a lot of people do. With SCROG you are tying down each cola to the screen ( atleast I used twist ties to help ). With LST you can just have 1 tie down and the auxins will even things out over time.
Click to expand...

I thought u can just let them grow into the screen.
 
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lysol

If you want an uneven canopy you can. you are supposed to at least to arrange the growth tips under the canopy, if not twist tie them to the screen. I do not beleive you will get an even canopy on a small operation without investing your time into some sort of training, wether you use tie downs or a screen, the plant does not know. A screen above the plant will not keep it down, haha.. that would be the worst evolutionary trait, if another plant grew above the MJ plant in the wild it would keep growing, likewise a screen will not stop her from putting out the main shoots she wants, you actually have to do work. ( like pulling the shoots back thru the bottom of the screen every day - several x a day). LSt is easier, tie down the main stalk only once, let nature do it's thing and end up with 5-10 fat even nugs.

Not to mention the work in building the screen, the burden it puts on portability, etc... I had a screen so side over a recylcling bin it wouldnt fit out of the door to go flush it outside, had to have 2 ppl squeeze it as we slid it thru the doorway haha. but yeah scrog is definitely not 0 maintanence.
 
I

Iron_Lion

Im far from an expert on topping, but I've tried both LST and topping. My problem with topping is unless you root and plant the cut top you really lost out on the main growth tip. The top alone when planted in a 1 gal produced very well for me.
 
Jnugg

Jnugg

Active member
Veteran
I've heard C-99 works real good in a scrog setup and I am actually looking at possibly obtaining some seeds of this variety.Jack Herer I have never grown but heard it is good both scrog and sog.

Why not get a strain like chronic or something else that is a supremely heavy yielder in SOG applications and do 30-50 clones in 1 gallon pots and induce flowering when clones are 6-8" tall?
 
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