Benefits of FIMing vs Topping? Specific example.

Tried fimming over a couple of years and will never do it again........results are too slow to recover and too random in their success/failure ratio. Plain topping can be 100% successful, predictable and less stressful to the plant too. After trying every "technique" out there over the last 40 years, all I ever do now is LST and very ocassionally a topping if needed to control height on super tall sativas, otherwise, low stress training is the best option and the one technique that causes the smallest amount of disturbance to the plant...imo.

Excellent question! Short answer: Stoner science 😋 Long answer: You could just train the plant and expose the side branches to get same results + the extra leaves like you mentioned. The same goes for topping, where you can just train the plant, expose the side-suckers to the light (normally they get shaded by the main top, while forcing the top growth downwards. By limiting light exposure to the main top-growth and force it downwards you let more light hit the suckers, who will start growing and develop to 2x new tops, while the original top grows horisontally and develops 2 new suckers and the process goes on until you have enough colas and switch to 12/12 light. Example: growdiaries.com/diaries/191839-barney-039-s-farm-dos-si-dos-33-grow-journal-by-malumprohibitum/week/1105741 Hope it helps! 👍😉 --Good luck!