Definition Request: Topping and Flushing (Regarding Herb Plants)

[pneuma9]

What does it mean to TOP a marijuana plant during flowering?

What, exactly, is the procedure of FLUSHING, during the last 7-10 days of flowering? What is the procedure of TOPPING?

THX!

For all the questions I ask, I'll be contributing something soon, I swear! :-)

Topping involves some sort of splitting the plant to reduce size and increase main cola count? :/ How would this work in a scrog?

[the jesus]

You don't top during flowering, but when a plant is young. It forces the plant to branch out into many colas. Check this out:

http://forums.mycotopia.net/421967-post32.html (the jesus does herb... setup/growlog)

Flushing just means you stop adding nutes to your water. It is so you can't taste the ferts when you smoke your buds.

[pneuma9]

Ok. I got this about topping from wiki

Topping is done by removing the top of the apical meristem (dominant central stem), called the apex or terminal bud, in order to transfer apical dominance (the tendency for the apex to grow more rapidly than the rest of the plant) to the shoots emanating from the two nodes immediately beneath the pruning cut. This process can be repeated on one or both of the two new meristems, when they become apically dominant, with the same results. This process can actually be repeated almost infinitely, but over-diffusion of apical dominance will produce smaller, lower quality buds, so it is usually done no more than a few times. Topping also causes more rapid growth of all of the branches below the cut while the plant heals.

I just checked out your post. I read that post once and looked at the pix before but I didn't know what I was looking at. It's like that South Park episode where the kids watch Backdoor Sluts 9 and have no idea what they're seeing. :-) "I'm out"

With flushing, do you have to water a lot once? Like, or water a few times without ferts? This happens about a week before harvest, right? I thought you didn't want to water for the last week so drying and curing won't take so long.

So much to know. So much good info on this site too.

[MoopCorpuscle]

Originally Posted by pneuma9

With flushing, do you have to water a lot once? Like, or water a few times without ferts? This happens about a week before harvest, right? I thought you didn't want to water for the last week so drying and curing won't take so long.

Bump for knowledge.

[dizzydank]

water as u always have just dont use nutes for about 2 weeks b4 harvest.

[undone1]

at around week 5 of flower (for indicas) start backing off on the nutes. just like when you start feeding. you start low and work your way to full strength as the plant matures. in soil this really helps draw the nutes out of the medium as the plant starts yellowing off. makes the final flush much easier. topping works well but tends to keep plants shorter and slows things down. i prefer to tie down. watching the plant respond to being tied down is amazing. i usually end up with about a dozen tops.

[twoguysupnorth]

topping means, pinching or cutting off the top of a growing stem, (the little leaves on top) cut above one set of leaves and below another. it can be done on a lot of different types of plants. FLUSHING, means taking your pot and dumping alot of water through it, so lots of water runs out the bottom of the pot. it is used to wash the dirt from an overfertilization, or towards the end of flowering to make sure there are no chemicals left in the plant.

[MoopCorpuscle]

Thankee kindly.

[MoopCorpuscle]

Originally Posted by undone1

at around week 5 of flower (for indicas) start backing off on the nutes. just like when you start feeding. you start low and work your way to full strength as the plant matures. in soil this really helps draw the nutes out of the medium as the plant starts yellowing off. makes the final flush much easier. topping works well but tends to keep plants shorter and slows things down. i prefer to tie down. watching the plant respond to being tied down is amazing. i usually end up with about a dozen tops.

Would this be effective in a short, tight, square space? Imagine a 1/2 locker.

Possibly to tie down mostly, and topping the apical meristem only when height is completely compromised relative to the potential grow space?

[greenie]

Flushing is done to remove salt buildup/nutrient buildup in the plant and the growing medium. The final flush occurs before harvest in order to guarantee a more pleasant smoke. Through reverse osmosis, the plant will be releasing nutrients into the water through the roots as opposed to absorbing them. Hence, no fertilixer crackling in your pipe. I flsuh periodicaly throughout the veg cycle as well, to flush out salt buildups and to prevent nutrient lock. When growing hydro, i flush every nutrient change. In soil, not so oftan.

[greenie]

typically if you are trying to flush a plant for nutrient lockup problems, use 3x the volume of your container. IE 15 gallons through a five gallon pot.

[twoguysupnorth]

it is really a choice to top or tie down(LST- low stress training) both work but it depends on your situation. i have found topping works better for me because of care when the plants are larger and the end of flowering it is difficult to move them and check them over with alot of strings and things in your way.

[greenie]

off topic, but guys up north what kinda flower is that?? its gorgeous!

[twoguysupnorth]

hi greenie, it is a cleome (spider flower). they are annuals that are really easy to grow and produce alot of seeds. they come in pink, red ,and white. this is my favorite flower this year if you cant tell. they do have thorns and smell really skunky, like your other favorite flower. thanks.

[greenie]

very kool