Hi my plant is about a month old now and seems to be doing well. I have seen a lot of people talking about topping their plants? This is the first time I’ve got this far into a grow as I’m pretty sure I was overwattering my last one and pulled it on week 3 as it wasn’t well. I’m just wondering if topping is necessary? How difficult is this? I’d rather not be too experimental with this grow as I would just like to make it to the end in one piece 
but if it is needed how and when should this be done?
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First time grower here too. I regret not topping mine.
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Hey, how come? How old is your plant?
Topping gives you more top sites if done right. More top sites more flower bigger harvest. Topping is good but autos u need to do it early
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My girls are 11 weeks old. They’re a total mess… shape wise. I tried LSTing and now I can barely fit my two plants in my tent but yet I have a ton of open space.
There’s no uniformity to my plants… check out my journal
I just dropped 4 white widow seeds. I’ll top every one (pending germination)
@Swoozz123 I am growing 4 plants, 3 strains. I topped 2 and accidentally fimmed the 3rd one. My 4th is a runt and had several issues. At this point I’m keeping the runt just to see what happens and the difference in yield from the others etc. Being a new grower I’d still advocate topping photo plants tho. As said before it gives you more top stems which means more bug colas on top. I have kept an eye on the 3 to see the differences and it’s noticeable for sure.
You don’t have to top, but from some of the grows I’ve seen, I started on this last grow. I’d rather my plants stay shorter because I’m limited on vertical space
Hi so topping keeps your plants shorter?
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I’ll take a look now, thanks!
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Thank you for your response, do you think its too late to top mine at roughly 4 weeks? I can attach images if this helps? I’m not sure how much I’m expecting to harvest at the end. I have no idea how much they yield.
Topping will definitely keep your plant shorter it slows down the upward growth, and lets your side branches catch up and make an even canopy. I usually top my photos after about 7 full set of leafs. I have recently started fimming my autos around 5 full sets of leafs. Before they start flowering. It is a personal choice and all about managing your space. Just my thoughts good luck.
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i love autos. i dont top. i didnt even want to take fan leaves. do what you are comfortable with
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I would say if you are nervous about topping just bend her overfor some low stress training
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If you post a profile picture, someone will show you exactly where to cut it.
It does not necessarily matter the age of the plant but how many Nodes it has.
Topping seems like a big deal, I’ve been there. That’s why I chose to LST for my first grow.
I’ve broken branches, over watered, and basically abused my plants for my first grow. And they still look good.
Off with their heads!
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I tried that on the last one, she wouldnt let me lol
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Its only to late if the plants are in flower. U also need to make sure u give them enough time to recover before flower too. Just youtube topping there’s plenty of videos. My first was 2 plants I found the seeds for so I let one grow like a monster and the other one I abused. Topped it, LST, supercropped, over watered, nutrition problems, burnt the toppes of the clones bc i went away and didn’t water or move lights and they all products over 55g each and the mommas like 3g short of 1/2lb. So they always bounce back and if u take clones u can always try new things and ways to make the next one better. Grow on
Hey everybody, welcome! To answer your question about topping… no topping is not necessary for every plant. Autos dont have much time and topping may reduce overall yield with them because they cant catch up in time.
As for photos, it really depends on strain and method if growing. For instance, if you are growing under lights, topping is advised because a tall naturally shaped plant will not use the light adequately from top of plant to bottom, which may be 5 or more feet!
Outdoors, the sun has far more strength and penetration than indoor lighting. Plus it moves, as do some track light systems, which does improve light coverage in many cases.
Here is an example of a plant that is not topped and quite bushy
Ultimately it was topped because every branch top you see will be doubled. I will do this once again about 1 month prior to bud formation in August.
Clearly indoors height and in most cases width is limited. So it is best to top, or fim abd do some supercropping if your intent is to grow lots of tops and use a scrog net. If your plan is many plants, then topping may not be the plan but an early flip might be? As in the case of a sea of green grow.
Another super good technique is simply bending and tying or staking branches down, this stimulates tops from each internode to grow upwards into new tops. Combining the above techniques with bendin is a great way to keep a plant low and full of tops.
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I take it you are growing an autoflower.
The window for topping them is pretty small and at 30 days you are probably beyond that time frame. I assume at this point it is showing signs of flowering. If this is the case the general recommendation is not to top. Your other option like @Tinman suggested is to bend it over and tie it down. Bend it as horizontally and as far down on the stem as you safely can. You can even bend the newest growth (soft & pliable) to follow the perimeter of your container. You will be surprised how the flower sites along the main stem will respond. They will grow at 90d angle from their stem straight up toward the light.
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Im new at this but from everything I have read you should top at least once. 2x max but no more.
How To Top or FIM A Cannabis Plant - Topping Guide - YouTube