Hello ! I’m a new grower and I have a question on topping or fimming my girls. When is the right time to top a cannabis plant ? I’ve looked up the subject on other sites but still not sure when and where I should cut my baby girls, all suggestions and input would be GREATLY appreciated . Thank you in advance for all of your knowledge and experience !!! 
MB
where and when is a matter of opinion like yourself its new to me not the growing but the stress training and what nots, like you i read all over the place and the answers aren’t readily available i know @Majiktoker @Donaldj @garrigan62 @hillcrest21678 to name just a few will have many pearls of wisdom for you 
imma stick my opinion down here out the way and see what the brains says but for me wait til she is 6 nodes high then top her back down to 3 nodes 
now lets see what the smart people say coz i have a 2 little ladies waiting for the same treatment 1 auto and 1 fem both 2weeks old from seed today and going strong
I personally top around 5th node which would leave 4 nodes but I also love to LST so sometimes I don’t even top until they are far larger mostly a matter of preference but a simple thought to keep in mind what you leave behind is what provides energy to heal and promote new growth. This in turn means that taking off multiple nodes can slow growth a lot where clipping just the top will recover faster. I also recommend feeding B-vites or seaweed based nutes right after to reduce stress
Hi @B345T , I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject, reading old posts of this Forum , re-reading the "BIBLE’ . internet searching and every article I can find !! I’m a new grower so this is all very new to me but I’ve received nothing but awesome help and everyone on this Forum is so willing to spread there experiences that I feel very relaxed. I have 5 strawberry , they are little over a month now and are growing so fast , it seems that they have doubled in size in 10 days . They germinated in less that 24 hours and popped through in 3 days, I even made my own soil (what a recipe I came up with) lol, the transplant went great and the weather here sucks, these plants are amazing. So I DID it today, I fimmed one of the girls the one that looks the strongest and so healthy, now fingers crossed and wait… Wish me luck:four_leaf_clover: ,
Thank You and I’ll keep you updated; MB:grimacing:
Thank you for you help @Donaldj , I’ve done a lot of reading on this and I might of got too impulsive and I fimmed one of my girls today, she has about 6 notes and a little over a month , she looks very strong and healthy , I swear she’s tripled in size in 2 weeks and the weather here has sucked so bad - rainy and only 50’s at night and 60’s day time, hardly no sun , that’s why I’m amaze how good they look . I’m not going to do anymore until I see how she reacts and recovers. I do have a few questions for you , what is LST , B-vites ?? I’m a beginner if you can’t tell !!!
Thank you so much 
MB
I like to top / fim at 5 or 6 nodes. I’ve tried both and have gotten good results from both techniques. If you have multiple plants I might suggest topping one and fimming one so you can see first hand of the difference.
I personally like to fim because for me it seems to even out my canopy more allowing the light to hit the plant more evenly.
Bare with me on my phone low stress training lst B vites are a product line thrive b😑 But can basically be any form of humic acid
How to FIM Your Marijuana Plant
I personally recommend FIMing over topping, it is less traumatic to the
plant (barely slows down growth), causes 4 main nodes in one cut, and
seems to cause the plant to grow bushier than topping.
FIM marijuana example picture diagram
FIMing (Pinching) Your Marijuana Plant
As pictured here, after FIMing your marijuana plant should have a
"mowed’ topFIM stands for “F*ck I Missed” referring to the fact that
it’s like topping your plant, only you’re taking off about 20% less,
leaving a “mowed top” as pictured at right.
This is also often refered to as “pinching” the top of the plant.
To FIM the plant, you simply pinch off the newest growth, or cut
just the tips of the newest growth off, making sure to leave a bit behind.
This is much less traumatic to the plant and will cause your plant
to grow 4 main nodes. FIMing causes the plant to grow very bushy,
and the other nodes will becomes strengthened just like when topping.
After your marijuana plant has been FIMed, expect the new leaves that
were pinched to look a bit weird when they grow in
I personally recommend FIMing over topping, it is less traumatic to
the plant (barely slows down growth), causes 4 main nodes in one cut,
and seems to cause the plant to grow bushier than topping.
The only time I ever top the plant is when I want to really slow down
the growth of the plant (when it’s getting out of control tall, or
you’re trying to slow her down compared to other plants). Even then,
I feel that defoliation is the most effective way to slow down height
gain.
Be warned, when FIMing your plant, the leaves you pinch off will
look a bit weird when they grow in.
Topping
Topping your marijuana plants seems to be the new trend among advanced growers. The theory behind topping is to hopefully substantially increase the yield of the plant by creating more of the large and coveted “cola buds.” Topping should always be done during the vegetative cycle, as soon as the clones are showing good root structure. This process should never be repeated more than twice per clone.
To top a plant, you are just basically cutting off the tallest shoot of your marijuana plant. The best place to make this cut is just below the last fully developed node. This will make the plant more bushy in appearance and allow the light to penetrate deeper into the plant, in turn developing more quality buds and a larger yield.
It is important to note that topping will add additional time to your grow, but the end results should make the extra week or two worth it. Also not all strains take too kindly to topping. Some indicas just take too long to grow, and may add up to an additional month or longer on your turnaround time. If time is of the essence, you will have to decide if the longer grow time is worth the extra yield…
I hope this helps you
Will <img src="//cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/growingmarijuana/original/3X/8/d/8d00569213858a76d32fed7d2eab692e9778bbe2.gif" width="49" height="32">
Thanks @garrigan62 it does some very useful information there … i will top the photo and fim the auto… these 2 are just test subjects for me to play with while I’m waiting for my tent to empty… i just looking to see how quick they recover from being topped, trying to decide whether to stay auto’s or go photo i do like the quickness of the little girls but would prefer bigger yields as we all would lol
Awesome information , Thank You so much , I’m pretty sure I did it right the top looks mowed like it said. I’m going to wait a few more weeks until I do another one , I want to see how she recovers since I only did it yesterday but today she looks so healthy and perky , loving the sun , it’s been raining here everyday for 2 weeks. Thank you again for helping and spreading your knowledge to an OLD lady , lol !!! @garrigan62
MB
How did your topping and fimming work out? I’m sure it’s too late for pictures, but I’d love to hear how the plants recovered and grew…
Thank you @garrigan62. That information is very helpful to new growers. Maybe I am too new, but I think it would be a good idea to have a place in the ILGM world where techniques like these could be demonstrated and help others learn how to do it. Thanks again!
