tangie

@001100010010011110, As for symmetrical growth, I think it's difficult to speak of it in weeks, because it would be somewhat different for regular photoperiods and Ruderalis-derived autos, and I guess original landrace genetics would influence that. On my auto I have noticed asymmetric growth on higher nodes in the middle of week 5, but judging by where on the stem it was, it probably started as early as week 4. But I get your point anyways. As for splitting, that's an interesting theory! I imagine, then, that one could wait for a necessary number of developed nodes, and then take a sterile razor blade to the top two node branches and split them along the core, and then top the plant.. I think this concept is already used in mainlining (along with additional canopy management), but I might have confused techniques. If it works out, you get more leading colas out of the splits, if it doesn't you get to keep what you had below that node, and this essentially becomes an awful unsuccessful case of fimming. Not that I would be comfortable cutting my plant with a razor blade, there's something repugnant in that. I didn't even feel comfortable fimming. because I didn't want the plant to suffer. But as a scientific experiment it would be extremely interesting. Maybe someone already tried that, I should google. And read more on trunk/branch splitting techniques in general. Nice chat, thanks for sharing your experience! See you around

@tangie, the mutilated bit can actually turn into more then 2 branches + the two axilary buds just below that "FIM" are already formed and will pop out at nearly the same point on the stem. The damaged bits might only pop 1 if damaged the "wrong way" - whatever that entails. The leaves usually grow out with a missing chunk. if the scissors are fine enough, you could maybe avoid that? Like i said, if you want to do it, it's going to take time to find some minimum consistency with it (may or may not be truly consistent). wouldn't say it is impossible, but 100% consistency is highly unlikely. i could only guess as to actual cause and effect of how it happens. just damaged in a way that somehow splits the plant material that is growing into the original 2 new axillary buds (assumes symmetrical growth), and once split 'enough' each heals and tries to continue to grow out as individual branches, which may be more than the original 2, or not. Plant cells are compartmentalized and just "do" what they are programed to do. if the environment splits the material somehow, each tries to accomplish the original task. the symmetrical growth (pairs of axillary buds forming at each growth node) ends once a plant is more mature.. 6-8 weeks? it varies as far as when you see asymmetrical growth - 1 branch (axilary bud) per new node. and yea, 1 leaf per node too at that point. clones usually have asymmetrical growth due to their age.

The plant is essentially a fractal, so technically fimming is topping, it's just that the next internode is so small and undeveloped that you can barely distinguish it from the leaves and branches stemming from this node. There are probably more than one node in that small growth, but they can only be identified at cellular level, and cannot be distinguished visually. Why not wait for that internode to extand slightly and do a clean cut (what's commonly called Topping) - this puzzles me.

@001100010010011110, i don't give a shit if you select an answer, lol - the least important thing is that contest That's perfectly fine by me, I'm asking questions to gain knowledge. I'm sure if you do it enuogh you can find the point at which you get nearly guaranteed results but wether its 2+1 or 2+2 or 2+3 is maybe less certain (2 axilllary buds that exist plus what comes out of the mutilated growth tip). And this is exactly what I'm trying to understand — where those "extra" nodes are supposed to pop out from? I'm not yet intimately familiar with the plant's anatomy, and it probably varies a lot depending on genetic composition. What I saw with my plant is that early veg structure is the following: there are nodes with two symmetrical fans on either side of the plant, and they rotate ~90 degrees on the next node, meaning the leaves are N-S on one node, then E-W on the next one etc. Branches grow just above petioles from the same "attachment" points, one branch per fan. So, my thinking was, if you Top (clip a grown internode in the centre), you keep the branches the plant already had, and after a quick wtf the plant redirects growth to those branches within 2-3 levels (nodes) below the cut. If you FIM, at least the way it's taught almost everywhere, you effectively top a yet-undeveloped internode and also damage two fans. Hopefully, the branches growing out of this node are small enough that you don't damage them, and thus you get the same as you would get after Topping, minus two healthy fans on the top remaining node. Same number of nodes, same number of branches, even if the top two branches are just tiny green dots you can barely distinguish at the time of clipping. Now, if the plant is capable of growing additional (extra) branches which do not follow the scheme I described above, I would be interested to know where they can grow from? Can more than two branches grow from one node? Can additional branches appear on internodes? I'm talking about regular healthy plants of common genetics, not some mutant oddities. It appears that later in the cycle, the node structure begins to change, and fans do not necessarily "attach" on the same level. There can be one fan and one branch, and then slightly above there'll be the second fan with its branch. It's kind of a "single-leaf/branch-node". Not sure if I managed to explain myself clearly enough, but in short my question is "where the fuck would those extra branches grow from", specific points/areas on the plant. And when they're called "extra" how do people know that the plant would not have grown exactly the same amount of branches, had the plant been topped (as in clipped in the middle of a developed internode)?