First Grow; Cherry Pie - Day 20

An update for my Cherry Pie and she seems to be going very good.
It seems when it comes to the topic of topping everybody has their own way. I am just curious whether this is too early, or the right time, to give her a topping?


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I top at the 3rd or 4th node…

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If the plant is at least 10” to 12” is when I will do any training. I let me Autos be Autos. I have never trained my Autos.

For several Photos I was forced to Super Crop.

I think most wait till you see the 5th node off the main trunk. It is personal preference. Say if you are doing a FIM, you really need silica to strengthen the branches. I had one Auto bend in half as the Cola was massive.

I did multiple FIM’s on my Peach Puree CBD and I ended up with 6 Colas. One the size of a volleyball. That was the main Cola. This plant took a 4x4 to herself and still grew 2 feet out of the tent door. :joy:

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I just topped at the 6th node and took the tops for clones. Chopped down 3 nodes for a good clone and started LST for the ladies

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She is 5 nodes tall. She is big enough to top. My question is what comes next. How many colas? Top above which mode? What sort of training? Prune for manifold? All sorts of things can come next.

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I’ve done both ways at the same time. I’ve been using this technique really early as you can tell by both pictures. I’m in Hawaii and I use an outdoor greenhouse with lights to keep it in veg, but the reason I say this is because once I take it out to the greenhouse I don’t like to mess with it. By doing all the training indoors from solo cups to one gallon pots, all that needs to happen is transferring the plants from one gallon pots to 10 or 15 gallon pots when they are ready for the greenhouse. I still do minimum maintenance because I get good sun here and the Tradewinds in Hawaii keep my plants at an even keel. If you train it right early and trim as needed it should go pretty smooth, I veg until the plants are 7 to 8 ft. tall and about 4 to 5 ft. wide (looks like a pretty decent size Christmas tree) and then flip it to flower.

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That’s what I do too.

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Set to watch this one! :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

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Yes it’s has the amount of nodes to top, looks.to be 5-6th? This is when I top my autos back to #4 or 5 depending on the strain and as @beardless asked what’s the training plan after that? I would give her a few days to recover and start spreading the lower growth out around the sides out to create space and light penetration. Topping will stop the apical growth and out the energy into growing the branches below the topping. You can LST the side and I would bend the top over so those sides will grow to the main height. You’ll have to keep that main growing horizontal until the side and the main are even. This will get you even light distribution across the canopy :love_you_gesture:

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Thank you for all the replies everyone and I apologize for not being very detailed. I’m still new to forums lol.
I should have pointed out this is a photoperiod and not an Autoflower. I plan on transplanting one more time probably next week in to 5 gallons (as they are in one gallons right now). I did some thinking over night, and I wanted to ask if I should wait for the final transplant to do any training/topping? To answer about my future training plan, I plan on doing some LST and that is probably it since it is just my first grow.

I will probably post a weekly update to show the progress. I also have a Girl Scout Cookie Extreme at Day 20 (day behind the Cherry Pie), and a Wedding Cake at Day 17. All 3 are feminized from ILGM. I will post some pictures of those to show as well but I was just focusing on the Cherry Pie for the question since she is the oldest and biggest. I am definitely taking into consideration all of the advice from you guys so thanks again!

This was beginning week 2 of veg. In order: Cherry Pie, GSC Extreme, Wedding Cake



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Nice and healthy looking and great job! Personally I transplant once my side branches have hit the outside of the pot. Give them a few days to adjust to the transplant and top. I give them a few more days to recover and then start my LST on the main and side branches :love_you_gesture:

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