Topping Cannabis (2024)

FAQs

When can you start topping your cannabis plant? ›

It is recommended that you wait until your plants have at least four nodes before topping them, and most growers recommend topping the plant above the sixth node. Nodes are the part of a plant that connects new stem offshoots with older growth, which can form a branch, a leaf, or in the case of cannabis plants, a bud.

Whether you grow indoors or outdoors topping your cannabis plants helps to produce a bigger and better yield, which is every grower's primary goal. The first thing to understand is that topping is an exact cut at the node, and while that sounds easy, the timing of topping is critical.

No matter how well-performed, topping always remains a stressful event for cannabis plants. Too much stress can turn them into hermaphrodites, or worse, ruin them completely. The 'nodes' are the parts of the plant where branches emerge. The parts in between are known as 'internodes'.

Topping or FIMing your cannabis garden will result in a greater number of cola's and a greater yield of bud – all which will need to be trimmed for consumption! In large commercial greenhouses and outdoor grow spaces, plant training can very quickly double or triple the yield.

If you have a simple soil that does not contain high levels of nutrients, you can top dress every three weeks to replenish your soil. On the other hand, if you have a complex soil with amendments, you might not need to top dress more than a few times throughout a season.

The key to these techniques lies in the timing of the activity and the volume of plant material removed. If done too early, growth can stall, and plants may struggle to recover. If done too late, it can delay flowering and leave the plant more susceptible to foliar diseases.

“Topping” refers to the process of trimming the uppermost growth from the plant to promote fuller growth. This is a common plant training technique in which the goal is to stop the plant from growing taller, create two new branches that can support more buds, and divert energy into lower branches and buds.

Healthy plants usually take 2-3 days to recover from topping. After topping, do not remove the leaves from that node as these are needed to power growth of the branches from that node. Never top during flowering as it causes too much stress – which slows growth and inhibits yield.

After being topped, your plant will need some time spent recovering in the vegetative stage, though generally this just causes the plant to 'fill out' more instead of growing taller, which is often desirable for indoor growers. Important: Don't Top in the Flowering Stage; It's Too Late!

How long should you wait between topping? ›

Plants can't handle topping during the seedling stage.

Wait about 1–2 weeks before topping new growth. Your plants will require this time to recover from the stress and readjust to the new growth pattern.

Since topping is a high-stress training method, it's important to let the plant recover for a couple of weeks before doing any further cutting or pruning. But once the plant has stabilized and the new stalks are established, the topping process can be repeated over and over, potentially producing enormous yields.

Topping marijuana plants overrides the apical dominance and causes the redistribution of growth hormones to help the other shoots develop faster and produce bigger buds. When you remove the tip, two new branches emerge. These new colas may be smaller than the original one, but you get a bigger yield overall.

In optimal conditions, plants should be kept in their vegetative stage for approximately 60 days. This time period should give the plant the opportunity to maximise yield and acclimatise to growing conditions.

Topping your plants while flowering won't kill your plants but it will surely effect your yield. Taking off the main branches after flowering has begun will heavily impact your future harvest weight but limiting what you reap from those branches.

Another popular mulch option is to use an organic cover crop seed mix. Most of the cover crops commonly used are also nitrogen-fixers, as fava beans are. They help draw in nitrogen to the soil. Lightly work the cover crop seed into the top inch of soil when you first plant your cannabis seedling.

Nine out of ten times, a topped plant will produce a heavier yield than a plant that is left to grow naturally. Topping discourages vertical growth, promotes an even canopy, and increases light penetration. Topping encourages the plant to put more energy into flower production, rather than vegetative growth.

Some say that it is best to top the plant at night when most of the hormones have been sent to the roots. This means that there is a smaller chance of the plant being stunted after the main shoot has been removed.

In Testing For Truth Part 1 article, we found that the position of a bud on the plant does matter- buds near the top tend to be higher in potency than those near the bottom. That means growers need to be aware of this, and possibly adjust their lighting, plant spacing, etc. to reduce variation.

Potassium makes the plant hardier and stronger, better able to withstand hardship or disease. All of these are vital for growing large marijuana buds, but you have to use them wisely. Sulfur is another nutrient that, like potassium, helps the plant absorb other nutrients and water.

How do you get big trichomes? ›

As previously stated, moderate levels of nitrogen and phosphorus work best to sustain trichome growth to the maximum level. Dumping nutrients on your plant during the second half of the flowering cycle can result in reduced cannabinoid and terpene content, thereby lowering your bud quality in both flavor and potency.

Topping will increase grass density and reduce weeds. Paddocks that are out of control can be topped and brought back to a manageable condition in a quick time. Bracken, docks, thistles, nettles, buttercups and other broad, intrusive weeds can grow to a substantial height.

Removal of tips or apical buds of gram plants when the plants are 2-4 weeks old is called Nipping or Topping. This practice is done in order to break apical dominance and promote lateral growth as a result plant produces more pods and flowers and yield is increased.

Considering this, the majority of growers will tell you to wait 1–2 weeks between the end of topping and the beginning of flowering. A decent amount of growers, however, believe a plant can handle the transition with only 5–7 days of recovery.

Topping is a process by which a mower or similar implement is used to "top", or remove, the aerial part of a crop, in order to prevent seed formation and distribution onto the soil.

You'll want to lollipop your plants just before they begin flowering. We also recommend pruning—removing unnecessary branches—as well, although you should proceed slowly, and with a plan.

A cola is the flowering site on a female cannabis plant where flowers grow together tightly. This is also known as the terminal bud. Healthy plants typically form one main cola from the center of their structure and smaller colas form on the outside of the plant.

The best time of the day to top is before the plant goes to sleep, so that it has the whole night to recover. In order to top your plant, all you have to do is cut the tip of the main stem after the third or fourth node like in this video below. And you are done!

The downside to topping involves cutting the main stem, which can be rather stressful for a plant. This means that plants may take some time to recover, and growth can be slowed or delayed for a while. Fimming, on the other hand, is much easier for a plant to deal with as it doesn't entail the cutting of the stem.

How do you top high feeling? ›

Topping is effectively used to obtain multiple, even-sized floral sites, while LST is then used to bring these floral sites to the same height to maximize grow lamp efficiency.

Avoid Excess Wetness (Including Humidity) – Diseases (and many pests) thrive in wet environments. Don't let your buds sit around damp all day. And you don't want too much humidity during the flowering stage. Keep humidity at 40-50% during the flowering stage.

Increasing the amount of CO₂ in your grow room can help you grow bigger, denser buds. By doing so, you'll help plants photosynthesise faster and encourage them to take up more nutrients and water.

In our experience, the buds on the upper branches become ripe and ready for harvest faster. Therefore, we may choose to cut the main stalk about halfway up – in order to remove the top portion of the plant only – or cut off individual upper branches first.

Fan leaves that are growing inward toward the plant should be removed. Bud sites that are lower down on the plant may be removed so that the plant can focus on the bud sites closer to the top.

Most cultivators vegetate their plants for 4–8 weeks. After this time, a switch to 12 hours of light per day is required to initiate flowering.

The longer you keep your plants in the vegetative stage, the bigger your plant will be, resulting in bigger yields from plants that were vegetated longer.

Plus, successfully topping cannabis plants can also lead to quite a large increase in yield, especially outdoors and combined with a SCRoG when growing indoors. This pushes a lot of people to maximize their yield via the topping technique.

For higher yields indoor, you want your plants to grow wide rather than tall. You want a bushier plant so more buds have access to direct light, rather than a long, lanky plant with several buds hidden under a canopy. By transferring your plants to larger containers, you can encourage more outward expansion.

What factors affect yield the most? ›

The four most important factors that influence crop yield are soil fertility, availability of water, climate, and diseases or pests. These factors can pose a significant risk to farms when they are not monitored and managed correctly.

Limes, coconuts, mangos, and avocados are some of the most profitable crops for agricultural investment, and Colombia in particular is poised as the best location for growing each of these fruits. Soybeans and coffee are other crops that are riskier investments that are not as likely to see as high of a return.

Another tip for growing bigger buds involves regularly feeding compost tea to your soils. Compost teat helps develop healthy mycorrhizal relationships between the soil and mycelium. The more mycelium in the soil, the more nutrients the plant is going to take up, which will result in bigger buds.

This stress is only heightened for a plant that goes through topping. However, the light shift and the beginning of flowering is one of the most stressful times for any plant. Considering this, the majority of growers will tell you to wait 1–2 weeks between the end of topping and the beginning of flowering.

Topping to increase the number of colas

Topping is a form of pruning and involves pruning off the branch tip of the main cola. When you top the main cola, the energy goes to the side branches. The next two lateral branches will become the main branches. Topping will increase the overall yield of your grow.

Light Intensity and Yields

The light intensity rule of thumb is that a 1% increase in light equals to a 1% percent increase in yield. In a study by Wageninen University, they discovered this to be true of all horticultural crops they evaluated including, fruiting (vine) crops and flowers.

Non-availability of seed, fertilizer and irrigation are other reasons for delayed sowing of crops. Plant density: One of the major causes of low crop yield is low plant population because number of productive plants per unit area determines crop yields.

The percentage yield is decreased if the reactants do not completely form the products. To make a given mass of product, a process with a low percentage yield requires more of the reactants than a process with high percentage yield.

What causes loss of yield? ›

Yield losses caused by a certain disease depend not only on disease severity, but also on the weather factors, the pathogen's aggressiveness, and the ability of the crop to compensate for reduced photosynthetic area.