Hi. Last summer was my first grow, and it was a greater success than I expected. I harvested over two pounds from two White Widows and now have to push weed on my friends!
But those two plants were WAY too tall…11-12 feet. I couldn’t protect the tops at all. I DID top them a couple of times, but I need to keep them manageable this time. So, how many times is it okay to top the new ones? Optimal height for me woukd be 5-7 feet.
You can top as much as you want prior to flowering, but there is a point of diminishing returns. I top my plants 2 to 3 times. This plant was topped 3 times.
I would supercrop.
I have issue with close neighbors and have a 6’ privacy fence that I attempt to keep my outdoor grows beneath. I have topped numerous times during early summer with relatively good success but as a rule I don’t top past mid-July here in MD. The sunlights begins receding and my plants show pistols by the first week of Aug. So I want minimal stress or recovery time to hinder the beginning of flower. Good luck!!
Thanks very much! That was very useful.
Thats cool 
@Hashtonbutcher …Like an Espalier / Trellis type grow…I can remember a book I had many moons ago by Ed Rosenthal “The Closet Cultivator” It showed may methods of horizontal type grows…Cant wait to see how they look when they mature…Keep us posted!!
Howdy AL
I was about 16 or 17 when we traveled to the city of Melbourne and went to the bong shop,we thought we were so cool 
Was taboo then ,still is here.
The smell of incense and all the bongs and plastic cannabis plants. 
I only had $20, and I was tossing up between the book or a bong.
I bought the book by Ed Rosenthal and Mel Frank 
I will keep you posted AL 
Oh yea I remember those well also…and yes we were technically not supposed to go behind the curtains…or beads I cant remember which…Yeah they had backlight posters lava lamps incense bongs pipes rolling papers…Funny memories too…
Thanks for sharing…
Topping is a great training method up to a certain size and time of year,
but once bud sites are established that is a limited option.
Ultimately the only restriction to topping is the life of the plant and the length of the season if you are growing outdoor.
Use tie downs and super-cropping once a desired structure is established.
Height is also determined by genetics, eg. sativa dom being taler than indica dom.
Select a genetic that will suit your height restrictions, most strain specifications can be found online.
