As a plant grows, cannabis in this particular case, must be monitored over the weeks and possibly trimmed up from time to time. Trimming, topping, cropping, and others of the sort may help in gaining higher yields, better plant growth, and making your garden look overall better. There are reasons for these small, yet vital, cultivating methods. Once you begin following them, you too can benefit fully from cannabis.
Today, we’ll be taking a look at the topping of cannabis plants. And, of course, we’ve done some digging around and found the best way to go about topping your cannabis plants from home. The process is extremely easy and should only take a minute or two to complete (unless you have 10+ plants, then it may take a while).
This post is based off of a video originally posted on our Youtube channel. Click here to view it!
Make Sure It’s Vegetative
For you to even consider topping any plants, the plant must first have something to be topped! Topping is necessary when an unwanted branch begins to grow at the top, possibly preventing others from growing (as discussed below). To get this unwanted branch to grow, your plant must be in the Vegetative Phase, which can begin 2-3 weeks after the seed was planted.
A plant in the Vegetative Phase will have begun to grow out its first leaves and branches. It will grow branches and nodes in any place possible, regardless if it will contribute to the plant’s yield. We cannot simply speak to our plants and tell them which branches to grow and where. If we could, I wouldn’t have a post to write. I would instead teach you how to speak plant.
Why Top Your Plants?
As you may assume from reading above, a plant may grow unwanted branches that can conflict with how much the plant ends up yielding. This one unwanted branch could be “encouraged” to split off as two separate branches. How? By topping, of course!
Here’s how topping your cannabis plant can benefit it:
- You can help guide the plant into where it should spend its time and energy growing. By removing unwanted branches, the plant can focus on giving more nutrients to the branches that you do wish to keep.
- It helps to create two new branches. Instead of one small branch dominating the top of the plant, you can make it split off as two branches that each grow buds.
- Also, it helps the plant grow wider instead of taller. Would you rather have a short and fat cannabis plant or a tall and skinny plant? The short plant will most likely give off higher yields, and will even look better.
Now that you know why you should top your plants, let’s discuss how to go about doing it. There are a few ways of going about it, but below we have found the best way to do so which is also one of the easiest!
The Best Topping Method
Topping your cannabis plants is very, very easy. So easy that it will take you about thirty seconds per plant to complete. And the best part is, you don’t need any equipment to do so, just your fingers.
Start topping your cannabis plant by first identifying where it is you need to top. All that needs to be removed is the top node that sticks straight up. Instead of that, there should be two branches sticking sideways, as is what will happen after topping.
At the top of the plant, this is what you will be removing:
Once you have identified what needs to be removed, simply bend it at the source of the node. In the image above, bend it where the node is meeting the two branches. Make sure you do not accidentally remove those two branches, or else you will be topping for almost nothing.
Once you bend the top node around, it should loosen up and be easy to snap off. Finish the topping by pinching it off where it was bent. Now you have successfully topped your plant! See, it was not that difficult at all and should have taken less than a minute to complete.
Alternatively, you could top your plant by using scissors instead of your fingers for a cleaner cut. This method, however, could cause slight damage to the plant where it was snipped. If you do decide to use scissors anyway, make sure to sterilize them with alcohol before using them.
Was topping your plant a complete mess, or did you ace it on the first try? Probably the second one, and now you can top any other cannabis plants you may have when they become ready. But what about supercropping? Do you have what it takes to complete the next tip? Thanks for reading!
FAQs for Best Cannabis Plant Topping Method
A. The best way to top a cannabis plant is to use the FIM (Finger In Middle) method. This involves pinching the crown of the plant between two fingers, a few inches below the top set of leaves.
A. This depends on the strain you are growing. Some strains can only be topped once, while other strains can be topped multiple times.
A. Topping should generally be done after the plant has 4 to 6 sets of true leaves and before it begins to flower.
A. No, topping and pruning are two very different methods of trimming cannabis plants.
