“Topping” refers to the process of trimming the uppermost growth from the plant to promote fuller, bushier 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.
Topping your plant will halt its upward growth and allow it to spread laterally. As you change the light cycle to induce the flowering stage, the plant will put a lot of its energy into the growth of the flowers you are aiming for.
Topping's main benefit is increased lateral growth that sets your plants up for higher yields. Fueled by redirected growth hormones, lateral branches rush to catch up with vertical growth.
Does topping really increase yield. Some people claim topping does not actually increase yield, because the colas get smaller every time you top. But, it has been shown that the cumulative yield is much heavier when you top your plants. So yes, topping really increases yield.
Every time you top your plant you are basically multiplying the number of colas and growth tips it will have. And you can top a plant as many times as you want.
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.
Plants can't handle topping during the seedling stage.
If you try topping during this time, you risk killing or stunting your seedlings. Similarly, topping during the flowering phase is sure to cause damage to your precious plants. Wait about 1–2 weeks before topping new growth.
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.
Pros of Topped Plants
Topped plants develop (at least) two main colas and are able to distribute more energy to their lower bud sites. This can result in a heavier harvest. Topped plants stay short and compact—ideal for stealthy outdoor grows, or indoors where space is limited.
You can harvest your plant by either cutting the entire plant down at once, cutting the stems down one by one while keeping the buds attached to them, or by removing the individual buds from your plant.
Most growers will agree that week 3 of flowering is the right time to start lollipopping. After a couple of weeks in the bloom phase, most cannabis strains will begin to display multiple bud sites along shoots. Marijuana will stretch during this phase, some strains more than others.
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.
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 vs Super cropping cannabis
Topping your cannabis plants means careful removal of the growing tip in order to produce a shorter, bushier plants with more growth points. Supercropping is the name given to the technique where the stem of the cannabis plant is gently crushed between thumb and finger.
Aftercare for Topped Weed Plants
Avoid watering: After topping your plants, they'll be stressed. To avoid stressing them even more, avoid watering them for a few days. Add nutrients: The extra stress on your plants will mean they need more nutrients.
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.
Topped vs Non-Topped Plants Produce Different Yields
On the one hand, topping encourages bushier lower growth and the development of multiple colas. However, it also exerts a large amount of stress on young cannabis plants, resulting in slower, stunted growth for at least seven days post-topping.
When trees are "tipped" this is called "topping" and can be seriously detrimental to your plant. Because pinching is done on tender growth that is easy to remove by pinching the growth between our fingers, the term is also used to refer to the removal of new shoots to deter growth.
Highly potent strains of cannabis (whether Sativa or Indica) are associated with induced symptoms of anxiety. If you are a new medical cannabis user, it is important to avoid anxiety-inducing effects.
Stress can absolutely mess with your high, even if it's not exactly measurable. Although many people use cannabis to escape tension, some problems in life are unavoidable no matter how much weed you smoke.
The first thing to know about pruning is that it is possible to have too many bud sites. Too many bud sites will mean that some buds cannot sit on top of the plant canopy, and thus do not get enough light and end up being smaller and less desirable.
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.
The process of photosynthesis also captures energy from the sun for the plant to use. Because of this need of plants for sunlight, it would seem reasonable that a plant could never get too much sunlight. But too much sunlight can be detrimental to the growth of a plant and cause physical damage.