When is it too late to top?

[golfnrl]

The attached pics are of four plants inside a 4x4x7'11" tent. All 100% sativa from Ace seeds. The grow details are in the signature. These girls will get real tall. My last experience with these plants was they tripled in size during the stretch and I lost control of them. They're 8 days from the switch to 12/12. So far I've spread them out and have been tying them down. I'm considering topping them again but I've never done it this late in a grow. I've been reading about topping to control height but I either can't remember or have not read about when it may be too late to do it. My gut tells me it's already too late but IDK. I prolly have about two more feet of growing space and these girls will want all of it. I'm also considering a 11/13 or a 10/14 light schedule. I can super crop as a last resort but last time they grew another 18" after and it didn't work out that well for me. Any guidance is appreciated.

 

[Smallgrow]

I don’t have a good answer for you , but I feel your pain. My instinct says the same as yours, it may be too late to top, I suppose you could top everything and let it veg another few weeks??
I grow mostly “sativas” and struggle with hight. To make it worse my light seems to require a pretty high hanging hight or it causes light stress. I just keep trying to train harder and flip earlier.

 

[bboyfromwayback]

You’re growing in cloth pots. I’d spend $20 on LST tools, attach the safety pins to the perimeter of your pot for anchors and use the soft ties to gently pull the plants down as much as possible. They look pretty hard and woody so you’ll definitely have to supercrop them. I’d pull them down as much as possible then cut some tops off

 

[golfnrl]

I hadn’t thought of safety pins. I have not come up with an easy way to tie down to the cloth pot. The pins are a good idea. I have the soft tie material. I use that to make an eye hook. Then attach some twist tie material to that. The thinner twist tie weaves through the plant a little easier than the soft ties. At least for me.

I didn't have safety pins handy, but do have large paper clips. They work great. Thx again for the tip.

 

[changeofpace2014]

might want some tape...for damage repair when you bend them down...the node spacing looks goods...must have lights close... -

 

[golfnrl]

I've read everything I can reference about topping in the GWE library. Also, ran across a piece at Royal Queen Seeds (I think). I couldn't find anything specific about limits on when to top the plant, only that topping too late into flower (2-3 weeks?) will damage the plant's yield and stunt further development. I take that to mean that since a cannabis plant goes through a recovery period after it's topped that it can be done at any point in the vegetative state, key point being vegetative state. I really do not want to supercrop these plants. As someone has mentioned the branches are woody. I'm not good at it and did I mention I don't want to do it? :laugh: I'll add some update pics in the next day or so.

 

[Smallgrow]

I’ve been jealous of that 7’11” tent for a while , but I guess you can still get in trouble.
Those “sativas” do like to grow.
I guess your only option is super cropping , but I think you might have mentioned you don’t want to do that 😜

 

[golfnrl]

Update: Pics today about 45 mins after lights on. 9th day of flower 16 days from the flip. I've been taking leaves and stems as we go along. I've left some fans at the bottom of the plants just to see when/what happens to them.

I started flower nutrients (CX Bloom Enhancer & Head Masta) on 10/16. For the next 10 days they'll continue to get base and growth enhancer, after that only bloom nutrients until harvest. I'll update with some pics.

I still have my fingers crossed that we won't run out of grow space. Right now I'm raising the light an inch a day with about 12" of rope left on the ratchet adjusters. After that I can gain a few more inches by removing the ratchets and chaining the light to the tent frame. I've done it before, major PIA. I have the light set at 1 click past halfway on a 10 click scale 18" (or thereabouts) above the canopy. I'll get that intensity up to 8. I can close that gap if I have to and lower the light intensity to reduce light burn.

This grow is more work than normal but I'm having fun. I've looked at a lot of pictures. I'm trying to improve at training/controlling and realize that I still have a ways to go.

 

[bboyfromwayback]

Nice, even canopy

 

[Smallgrow]

Looking good!
Ya I’m the same. I learn and get better . Then I learn I still need to get better, lol

 

[golfnrl]

We're about 2 weeks into the stretch. I attached some plant clips yesterday and today. I've taken more stems and leaves trying to shape the plants. I increased the light intensity to 7 on a 10 click scale. I have about 6" of ratchet rope left. Lamp is about 18" above the canopy. Flowers are taking shape.

 

[Bluey]

Give them the most light they will take without burning them if you can keep the temp down. This will slow their growth upwards right down and put that energy into bud growth.

Expect unexpected nute deficiency symptoms showing up in the top fans but don't worry too much about it. Increase EC to help cope but not too dramatic.

That's the approach I take with my sativas that triple in size and it works pretty well.

 

[golfnrl]

Thx Bluey. The light is at 70% I can get it up to 80% w/o too much burn. I'm headed that way. Fingers crossed the stretch is about over. Flowers are forming.

 

[Smallgrow]

Argh! I’m officiall in the same boat as golfnrl



about 3 weeks of flower my Acapulco Gold and Mango CBD are out of control. I’m praying the stretch is over but I'm already out of room.

Stupid work kept me distracted and without time to garden. I’ve never super cropped before , and it wouldnt be my choice at this point but not sure what else I can do?
I will pull the girls out tonight for their week 3 defoliation and lollipop and reflect on my options

 

[golfnrl]

I feel your pain. The plant clips seem to be working for me a little bit. They're just about like a super crop w/o damaging the stem.

 

[Smallgrow]

Well I did it
I super cropped everything week 3 flower (roughly)
fingers cross , we’ll see

sorry if I highjacked your thread golfnrl I figured it was the same problem and people might benefit from my solution/disaster

 

[golfnrl]

No Worries. I feel your pain. I see you've deployed some plant clips. As long as you don't break the outer skin on the stem you'll be fine. You'll be fine even if you do break the skin. A little duct tape band-aid will suffice and works well if you haven't had that experience. I see a few clips where the round part is facing away from the stem. Mine didn't come with any instructions so I thought the stem is to be bent over the rounded part of the clip. Even doing that I broke the skin of a stem and didn't see it for a about 24 hours. Did not phase the plant or that stem.

 

[Bluey]

My experience supercropping an entire plant was the thicker the stem the less viable to supercrop. Some of my stems were up to an inch thick and I lost one of those so I tended to top them and supercrop the branches below the top..

It was over 6ft high and I cropped it around half way. She produced 14oz of top quality bud. Would have been much more if I didn't have to do that.

 

[Smallgrow]

Yes usually the round goes to the stem side. I reversed a few that I thought provided more support backward based on the shape of the crushed stem

 

[golfnrl]

Added some pics from today about 45 minutes after lights on. I've got about another 1" left on the rope ratchets. The light is about 16-18" above the canopy depending on where the measurement is taken. We're about 21 days into the stretch. It appears the girls are slowing down the upward growth. I hope so, I do not want to attach my light to the tent frame. But I will. The plant clips have helped. I'll deploy a bit earlier if/when I need to use them again.