first grow topping/FIM questions - hashberry

so i have never grown a cannabis plant to maturity before, but am planning on doing so as soon as possible (anticipate getting started here in a couple months)

i have a packet of hashberry seeds in the post right now, on their way to a location the grow will not take place but where i will still receive the seeds.

i've been trying to learn as much as possible before i start investing in expensive equipment. i will hope to have as much gear as possible together by the time i get my new place, and will be constructing a simple but (hopefully) quality grow tent in some out of the way part of my residence.

now while it is my first grow and i do want to be careful not to fuck anything up, i'd like to get the best quality AND quantity i can from my seeds without anything too complex.

from what i've read, the FIM technique sounds quite intrigueing, but as the stickied topping thread says, topping and FIM is not always appropriate, often due to the genetics of the plant.

so basically i'm wondering first of all if there are good indicators a first time grower might be able to notice (if he or she knew to look) which may help one to determine if such a technique is beneficial?

and more specifically, if anyone out there has experience growing hashberry, do you feel this would be an appropriate technique to use with this plant? have you tried it with this strain, and if so how did it work out for you?

-most- of the pics i've seen have shown nice tall solitary colas, but i'd like to get as much as possible out of my seeds.

 

Hey my man, while the FIM works try this instead (I got the info from the uk420 forums). Its basically cloning after 21 days into flowering. If you have ever revegged a girl with the lil popcorn buds on it then you saw the crazy branching it does. By taking clones 21 days in you will effectively acheive this phenom. No half pinching required

I really cannot think of a reason not to top a plant except for a SOG grow. There are a few plants whose branches seem to grow straight up without really spreading out (Early Durban comes to mind).

I look forward to seeing a few responses on this as well.

 

no, i've never done that, and dont know much about cloning and will save that for later grows. you must be a pretty successful and inebriated grower to not have noticed the whole beginning of my post explaining i've never grown before and am excited to get going on my first grow!

well, there is a thread thats been stickied in this subforum saying that with some plants you'll get more branches, but more branches with smaller buds. that the genetics of a plant help to determine the yield, and therefore there is a maximum amount of bud one plant can grow in a given environment. this would mean with some pot if you entice it to split up into multiple colas you'll get more pot because with one big cola its not producing as much as it could, while with other pot it won't increase yield, just make it branch out more. if that would be the case with the hashberry, fuck it i'll just take some big awesome main colas!

thanks for the response! i'm also anxious to learn more about this, but either way i honestly will probably hold off on doing anything fancy until later grows. i just want to keep it simple and provide my babies with the environment most conducive to a high quality final product.

 

Sorry my man - I read the "not to maturity" part - I took that to mean you never finished flowering (harvested early). Neither drunk nor a grower - I have a school next door

You will find that there are so many ways to grow/train/etc a plant that it can be mind boggling.

Regarding smaller buds versus colas here is MHO:

The weight will equal out after drying but the trimming is alot easier with colas. Trimming little popcorn buds can take hours and hours.

You have an excellent attitude and have done the homework - good luck!

 

Topping is very easy, anybody can do it. I usually top at about the 5th node. From what I understand, FIM is pretty much a crapshoot and can be pretty unreliable. I've never done it though, so maybe someone else can correct me there.

 

Well man, I can tell you one thing, you will get roughly the same amount of bud whether you top your plant or not. The difference will be this: If you top your plant you will get more smaller buds, and if you do not you will get less but bigger buds.

The only way to get more from a plant that has been topped is to veg it for a longer amount of time, so that you have two or more growing tops that are at the same stage of maturity that the original top would have been.

Some plants will show a propensity to grow one straight shoot with few side branches, and will give you a better cola and nice buds if you just let it grow naturally. However, some plants will show a propensity for branching out, growing a side branch at about every node. From my experience, these are the ones that benefit from being topped, while the ones that show less of a disposition for branching will tend to grow smaller buds when topped.

I personally look for plants that show a tight nodal length and good branching characteristics when looking for breeding stock.

To prune for bigger buds, chop the lower branches off before you flower, and the upper and more predominant branches will really fill out nicely. I tend to grow for tops, rather than ending up with a lot of "popcorn" buds. I also find that the yield tends to be rather stable, no matter what sort of technique I use, if the plants are getting what they need.

Hope this helps you out... Peace...

 

alright then, thanks a lot folks! i think i got the info i need now. i'll just keep it simple and not fuck about with the plants (once they exist )

 

oh shit, seeds came in the mail today! that was pretty quick shipping, i must say.

dr chronic is recommended

 

Something I didn't mention in my post is that I don't top, I LST or Low Stress Train the plants. I bend the top over below the next lowest set of leaves, and this makes it branch out like crazy, just like topping it, but yet you retain the top growth shoot. it makes the lower branch tops grow up to a level close to the original top, and so you end up with a multi topped plant without topping it.

I have become a strong believer in this method, and I put in the time to veg the plants until they all become strong branches and tops, before budding them. THis is the most effective method I have found as of yet. Peace....