Can you top a budding plant

The removal of entire limbs allows the plant to channel nutrition into the upper stems, leaves, and buds. More air circulates in the lower reaches of the plant, minimizing the risk of mold when growing indoors. Most importantly, energy and growth hormones are directed upwards towards the buds most likely to thrive. This method is colloquially referred to as the lollipop technique or lollipopping. The plant takes on a lollipop appearance: bushy at the top with skinny and sparse foliage toward the bottom.

Remove any yellow, brown, or diseased-looking tissue. Prune any leaves that have branches shooting from their base. Snip any buds heavily shaded by the canopy branches. The unfavorable location of these buds means they will not have access to adequate light and may have nutrient deficiencies. Pruning inflicts stress on the plant, so allowing time for recovery is vital.

Make sure you provide adequate water, light, and nourishment in the days after pruning to facilitate recovery from the shock. Within a week the growth of new shoots and leaves should be apparent. You can prune again once the plant has had the opportunity to recover. Always remember, however, that the excessive removal of shoots and leaves is a significant stressor and can inhibit growth and bud development. Other pruning techniques that growers may use include F. Fuck, I Missed, or fimming , pinching out, and supercropping.

These techniques need to be performed with care as they are more prone to causing damage. By checking this box you consent to Weedmaps' collection of your email address for the limited purpose of subscribing to Weedmaps' email communications.

Topping is done during the vegetative stage to help redistribute growth hormones from the main stalk to side branches—by cutting off the main stalk, the plant will redirect its energies to side branches, forcing them to grow out, instead of up. Topping makes a weed plant bushier. Wait until the plant has grown six or seven nodes to do the initial top, which is usually done above the 5th node.

If you wait to top a weed plant after it has developed more than seven nodes, the plant will have been putting energy into upward growth that you are just going to cut off, when it could have been focusing on lateral growth that you will keep.

A bushy shape allows light to hit all branches more evenly—because the cannabis plant is wide and not tall, all bud sites will receive an equal amount of light.

With one vertical stalk, the main cola will get a lot of light, but the lower branches will get shaded out by the main cola, producing larfy buds down below.

In time, these side branches can also get topped, which will create even more side branches and make the plant bush out even more. Doing this will also create more bud sites on branches and therefore increase your yields. Generally, a plant will get topped times during its life.

Topping cannabis works best when a plant is strong and developed and can withstand drastic change. For the first topping—cutting the main stalk—a good rule of thumb is to cut the plant above the 5th node. Be careful not to take off all the leaves you plan to remove at one time.

Focusing on the lowest branches and the interior of the plant or leaves that shade the buds, make it a two-part process. Each step should be a week apart. Leave most of the largest fan leaves on the plant. Removing yellowing, fading leaves and ones that shade the buds only. Keep in mind that while you are pruning, you should always be trying to eliminate the chance of shocking the plant, which may trigger early flowering that might result in lower yield.

Finally, water your garden after pruning or de-leafing to stimulate growth and avoid shock. Giving your plants a dose of Vitamin B complex fertilizer along with the water will help them through this beneficial but often shocking period. The roots will benefit from this nutrient, and the plants should be higher-yielding. This vitamin fertilizer is thought to help the plants grow larger and produce bigger, more resinous colas.

In the flowering stage, growers feed their plants an organic high-phosphorous fertilizer. Fan leaves typically do not have trichomes on them, whereas sugar leaves are heavily coated with trichomes. For strains that do not produce a lot of fan leaves, pruning branches and leaves will not be as important. However, for strains that produce a lot of leaf growth, pruning is a must to keep the plant healthy and happy.

If a cannabis plant has too many fan leaves, essentially laying on top of each other, airflow is impeded and moisture can be locked inside the inner region of the plant, creating a breeding ground for various plant diseases such as powdery mildew.

Not only do the inner and lower parts of the plant need access to direct light to ensure uniform growth, light can also help cannabis plants fight off disease. Most importantly, light transparency increases the number of buds on a cannabis plant and makes the bud sites more uniform in size. Sometimes cannabis pruning is needed because of garden space issues. If you grow cannabis in a confined space, leaves can become pressed up against walls, creating the same issues as leaves laying on top of each other.

In those situations, ongoing pruning may be necessary as the plant grows. Knowing when to prune your plants is very important. Cannabis cultivators should avoid pruning cannabis plants leading up to the flower stage and definitely during the flowering stage. The best time to prune cannabis plants is early in the cultivation process, preferably in the first week or two of the vegetative growth stage. A cannabis plant starts to produce leaves throughout the vegetative stage, however, it stops producing new leaves once the plant goes into the flower stage.

Fan leaves will get larger, however, they will not regenerate.