When is the time for topping?

Most things I’ve researched say top at 5 nodes, or top after the first set of 5 finger leaves. Honestly who really knows anything for themselves unless they experiment and see what works for them. What worked well over time for other people may not be best for your situation. If you have a small space to work with just consider that the plant will most likely double in size one it’s flowered and stretches. Obviously some don’t stretch that much, and some can do more. If your vertical space is limited lst/ trellis might be something more to consider. You can keep them shorter that way. Not that you shouldn’t top, just saying even if you do, training can keep things much shorter

When to top really boils down to how many tops you want per plant and/or how many plants you're filling said space with. If I want 4 tops I'll generally top at the third node and remove the bottom one since the bottom nodes tend to run a little more stretchy. I don't wait for 5 or 6 nodes, just until there's a little development of the growth tips at the 3rd node. I leave a little bit of a stump, it helps protect from splitting later.

I would top her right now let those side branches all reach up and have a nice canopy to fit in your small space.. Hope this helps mate. Good luck 🍀

First, have a goal to reach, otherwise your decisions are whimsical in nature and you'll more likely end up with an over-crowded canopy and all the problems that come with it. Cocoforcannabis.com has a guide to go over nitty-gritty details. Their grow guides and articles are by far and the way the best info any marijuana site has to offer -- the least amount of bro science, the least amount of empty promises based upon ego and profit margins instead of evidence. Practices from general gardening are to allow 6-7nodes of growth before topping. whether you do it above the 3rd or 4th node is a matter of how many colas you want. Shoot for roughly 3 colas per sq fit, a bit less or more is probably enough too. figure out how many colas per plant you want, then work backward from there devising most efficient way to get their with least amount of wasted resources and effort. example of what i do -- I want 8 colas per plant, so i start with 4 primary branches by topping above 3rd node and removing the lowest pair of axillar. Those branches are then topped when they grow out far enough to space out the future canopy. I also top those based on orientation of the branches... they alternate 90 degrees, eh? so, i top the second time above the nearest node that points the resulting 2 branches in the "right" direction requiring least training and maintains even base which helps even out growth (shares apical dominance). I use any tool that helps. A scrog, those 90-degree plant benders and garden wire gets stuff into position and holds it there. At that point i'm flipping to 12/12 immediately and the final 3-5 days of horizontal training occur after flip to flower phase. After that, they are allowed to grow vertically. 24-30" long vertical branches result. My space is 100% filled, and i wasted very little growth getting there. Stuff is pruned off below the scrog and maybe 2-4" above the scrog. Should end up with 18-24" of good buds. If i needed a bigger plant, i'd top at a point that provides more initial branching, but i'd do it in a way that is similar training for each branch.. e.g. 2-4-8-16 branches or 3-6-12-24 branch progression. If you have to top some and not others or otherwise treat them differently, it's much more difficult to create an even canopy. Not impossible, but more difficult to be consistent about it. My plants fill a slgihtly rectangular footprint, so i go with 2 rows of 4 colas. the lankier branches are the ones that get trained out to the outer edges and this helps even out the growth. YMMV.. Refine it over time so you use the least amount of vege time and prune off the least amount of excess/unwanted growth... that's just wasted resources and effort, otherwise. Not over-crowding a canopy ensures good airflow and enough light penetration without having to remove any leaves, which is value-added. CO2 intake is your limiting factor and more leaves = more transpiration. It'll 'feel' sparse at flip, but have faith that it will fill in with 4-5 weeks of strong vege growth remaining. Plants double or triple in size in that amount of time. more is often less... learn that as fast as possible.

I would never do it. Lst ( but too late), so mini crop constantly of main stalk or supercroping after final flower strech is over. What for to throw out what you already grew ?

Ja du kannst sie eigentlich toppen. Ich toppe meine nach ca 2 Wochen und dann wende ich LST an damit die Triebe schön auseinander gehen. Somit erhalte ich eine Pflanze di maximal 40 bis 50 cm hoch wird aber viele Triebe mit schönen Buds bekomme. Kannst eigentlich ziemlich früh mit dem toppen beginnen so kannst du auch früh die Pflanze Formen. Noch ist sie klein und es ist ei guter Zeitpunkt. Kannst ja mal vorbei schauen und dir eine Idee machen wie ich das meine mit dem Training. Viel erfolg mit dem Grow

Can top anytime you want. Most people wait for the 3rd or 5th node to form before doing it. I'd say you are good to go if you want to top. You can also use LST if you want too. Less aggressive, keeps plants height in check. Given that it is a photoperiod it will be able to recover from the topping no problem. If you want some more advice there are some HST and LST artiles on here or also on the web. just google How to HST/LST or best way to HST, pros v cons LST/HST exct. Good Luck!

My 2 I learned top at two nodes (4 leads). LST those when time is right. Easy to manicure as the grow. Less work than mainline. You're colas/yield will be rewarding.

There really is no proper time to topa plant unless you're manifolding or something else precise. Considering she will stretch 1.5x-2x on average during flower, that would be the mark I go off of working backwards from your light fixture's maximum height.