Fimming vs Topping

Purkle

Purkle

Well-Known Member
Hi all!

So I have a questiom about fimming and topping.

What exactly is the difference in result?

I've topped with my plants before and ended up fimming by mistake but I ended up with the same result.

Is topping less stressful to the plant as opposed to fimming?

What would you all say is the better way?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Much love,

Purkle . . .
 
Like you I have FIM'ed when I was topping. What I noticed is that even when there was multiple branches only a couple did real good. FIM'ed plants never out produced the normally topped plants. Maybe others have had better results then I did. As with everything it has a lot to do with confidence level of what you are doing.
 
Jackalope said:
Like you I have FIM'ed when I was topping. What I noticed is that even when there was multiple branches only a couple did real good. FIM'ed plants never out produced the normally topped plants. Maybe others have had better results then I did. As with everything it has a lot to do with confidence level of what you are doing.
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Thanks Jackalope!

Interesting findings! I'll be topping some of my girls in about a week so I may do a test by topping one and fimming another :)
 
Greetings,

I have yet to understand why people top their plants unless;

  1. they have no time for low stress training (lst).
  2. they want nice, even looking plants for pictures.
I think its better to simply bend the top over & keep it bent...that way you not only get 3 tops but you also save the plant the stress of being cut & thus save time. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this anyone.

Another better way I think is to pinch the stems (supercropping) hard enough so that it drops & hangs...its a difficult technique to grasp because you might technically top it by removing it completely. Better done before watering. Eventually the damaged 'pinched' area strengthens greatly which probably benefits the plant.

If you decide to top out of interest you might consider the pinch technique first (if you get it wrong simply top it), that way you get too see other methods. In the end though simply bending the tops is a great way of working with the plant.

Good luck.
 
I have to agree. You don't need to top plants. Topping will only do one thing for sure. It gets rid of the main cola. Genetics has a lot to do with things. With that said, there are ways to get your plants to bush out nicely without topping.

You mentioned time. That is a main factor for sure. This last grow I knew time might be a issue so I didn't top anything. Everything was either bent over or super cropped. I chose only by plant type. Bushy sativas were bent and the indicas were super cropped. I ended up with tons of branches in the canopy in no time at all. Now in flower all the plants are relatively the same height. Kind of amazing considering that I groomed for production not uniformity. While they are the same height some have been bent and twisted to get there.

I will post a picture for those that don't know you can get a full canopy without topping. All these plants are sitting on the ground. (no buster chairs).
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  • Media owner Jackalope
  • Date added
 
Looking good Jackalope. Yea I don't believe in topping plants at all. Slowing growth like that is totally unnecessary. I like to lst mine or even just tie them down with some jute twine. I remove some of the larger fan leaves to get light to the inner buds. I'm a simple man lol
 
Medical Mike said:
Looking good Jackalope. Yea I don't believe in topping plants at all. Slowing growth like that is totally unnecessary. I like to lst mine or even just tie them down with some jute twine. I remove some of the larger fan leaves to get light to the inner buds. I'm a simple man lol
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I tried lst, bending, supercropping, fimming, topping etc... At the end I kept topping. Why? Firstly I think it s very important to know in which grow media you are. When I was growing in soil, topping was making the plants taking too much time to recover. Lst where much more efficient and as @Jackalope i could end with bushy and flat canopy. However since I grow in coco and have been using the full AN nuts, I realized that if the plant is in perfect health, topping doesn't seem to slow down anything. I have plants that I defoliated like crazy and never kept growing and pushing new leaves. So after 2 years of growing I truly believe supercropping and topping can be done without slowing down things if the plant is in perfect health. I ve seen many people have bad results but they were doing it on plants too young or not in perfect shape. Topping allow a way more easy training with even canopy. This plant from my current grow in coco was just topped once and never touched again :

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I had a grow with 9 plants. Topped once and never touched later (no lst or anything). So I truly believe in topping to get plants with nice and easy structures with often even canopy without having to train them (according you have a good light coverage). I would never believe this picture two years ago when my topped plant in soil were taking forever to recover. Then I discovered coco and root boosters.....
 
Example to illustrate how nothing can prevent an healthy weed to thrive no matter what you do :

Grow summary

Grow summary

  • Media owner flashmp3
  • Date added
Till flip day 26

They were topped once and defoliated several times. The net helped manage things but I ll find a pic of another grow without net
 
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