May 25: growing quickly and looking quite good for the end of May. Fifth node is forming and the first topping for the manifold will likely be tomorrow.
May 26: raised soil level using Pro-Mix and compost. Got rained on.
May 27: first topping down to third node (removed 5 and 4). The only growth tips left are the two on the third node. In about a week these will be topped again. And then again. Manifolding (or mainlining) is totally easy and really is just topping at the right stages of development. Highly recommended technique.
May 31: it’s been cool since the topping and seems a bit slow getting going again but I’m sure it’ll be fine. I probably could have waited a few more days before topping but oh well.