Topping advice

badrabbit

New member
greetings friends,

Just starting a package of MNS SSH (oh boy, oh boy, like a kid 3 months before christmas) ... started in two waves, one about 15 days ago, the second 3 days later (long story why I did two batches, but they're close enough I think).

15/18 germ rate, ebb/flow hydro table, 600W HPS, about 5ft (1.5m?) of headroom available.

Anyway, I plan to flower, pull the males (no breeding plans here, only perpetual clone propogation selected genetic line), and cut clones from all females, then sort out what I want to keep after getting to know the pheno's I've got.

My question please: My old 'rule of thumb' is never to top until the 6th node, then let the plant recover for a week before going to 12/12.

That's always worked in the past, but I'm concerned that may be a little late for stretchy SSH phenos ... would you experience SSH indoor gardeners recommend an earlier topping? 3rd or 4th node? Or, do you recommend topping at all with seedlings?

thanks for sharing your experience,
rabbit
 
Hell, I'd top them and tie them down sideways, so all the nodes along the stem become colas ^^

I have my pack of SSH on the way, so I haven't personally done this particular strain, but I've done a ton of research in to it, and I'm sure it will benefit greatly from topping. It's lineage is 50% Haze, 25% Northern Lights 5, 25% Skunk #1. With your headroom, I'd definitely be looking at topping, and probably LST the tops even after you do that on the stretchier phenos, I'm sure the more squat ones will be fine.
 
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hahaha!

funny ....

yeh, I been all over that for years ... but with Indica dom strains (I've grown Sensi Black Domina for years, and yeh, I can produce a wild number of huge colas off one plant ... I was down to putting only 3 BD clones on a table and producing mountains of colas.)

I guess my question was meant to be more specific to the SSH; and I assume your input is "yes, top the shit out of them SSH's" is your answer!

thanks,
rabbit
 
Haha, I'd definitely top them, yes. I really don't think it's one of those strains that suffers at all from topping, it's "the best weed in seed form you can buy" according to the entire world ^^ It's super vigorous, I doubt topping it will slow it down at all. I can't wait to see them down the road, I'd love to see some pics!
 
Thanks Ouchie,

I've done this for years, but I'm really excited about the SSH project .... it's really time to step up to a higher level ... so to speak.

I will put up some shots once I get to my females, I've been amazed looking at the pheno variability I've seen on this and other forums, so I'll probably look for some input as they girls show themselves.

cheers,
rabbit
 
You and me both brother! I literally can't wait for my packs to get here, I'm flowering all the plants in my garden now so it's empty and ready for those girls when they get here! I wouldn't tell you to hurt your babies, I promise! I love them as much as you do! Good luck with your garden, and like the kid in the video says, just rip the new node out man, just rip it out! LOL! Have a good one.
 
my 2 on stretch with SSH.....IMVHO i would leave your MH light on through the stretch of 12/12 then after stretch switch to your HPS lights....some of the phenos have legs....p.s. clones finish faster then the seed plants...good luck on your grow
 
thanks Ray ... my ballast is not switchable, it's HPS full time, but I get what you're sayin', prepare for stretch. I decided, pending contrary input from folks here, to top the tallest ones and leave a few of the runts uncirc'ed just for fun. I can always tie down and bend the really tall ones.

But I really don't want to go the a 12/12 too soon ... I've seen some folks here suggest a very quick switch to 12/12 for seedlings, but my experience has been that, unlike clones, seedlings really need a few weeks of veg growth to be old enough to be good floweringg plants.

I also am considering moving off the table to an 'ebb and gro' system that puts the pots a good 12 to 18" lower and gives me a little more headroom.

Can't wait ... growing is fun again when you're working on a strain like SSH!

cheers,
rabbit
 
There are some very compact plants to be found in SSH. You don't want to top the compact ones unless you plan on leaving them in veg for a few more weeks. I would watch each plant veg for a while before deciding which ones to top.

As far as 12/12 from seed I would only do that with Nevilles Haze.
 
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thanks Ray ... my ballast is not switchable, it's HPS full time, but I get what you're sayin', prepare for stretch. I decided, pending contrary input from folks here, to top the tallest ones and leave a few of the runts uncirc'ed just for fun. I can always tie down and bend the really tall ones.

But I really don't want to go the a 12/12 too soon ... I've seen some folks here suggest a very quick switch to 12/12 for seedlings, but my experience has been that, unlike clones, seedlings really need a few weeks of veg growth to be old enough to be good floweringg plants.

I also am considering moving off the table to an 'ebb and gro' system that puts the pots a good 12 to 18" lower and gives me a little more headroom.

Can't wait ... growing is fun again when you're working on a strain like SSH!

cheers,
rabbit

it still baffles me why ppl go 12/12 from seed ,,, the plant doesnt flip right away , it matures before flowering , so why not bennifit from longer light if the plant isnt flipping anyways , get some strong branches ect ect
 
Exactly ...

...and I'm not breeding, so my method is to clone off flowering plants and if those plants aren't big and branchy enough to yield good cuts, I'm screwed and my investment in SSH is wasted, other than a one time bud yield.

I will say though that the "immediate 12/12" advisors are usually referring to Neville's Haze rather that SSH. But I wouldn't go there in either case.

thanks for the input,
rabbit
 
When I grow from seeds I always veg until they get alternating nodes which in most cases takes at least a month. I usually don't top seed plants, just clones. But this strain responds well to topping. They are about 2 feet tall when I throw them in the flower room. Some will stretch to five feet but then those are usually very hazy and take 12-14 weeks which is a long time indoors. I had a great pheno that finished in 10 weeks but lost it. That's what you want to strive for if you grow indoors.
 
haha! thanks gator, on both thoughts.

I haven't really noticed alternating nodes before, the ones I have so far are in pairs, but I'll watch for 'em.

and yeh, I have high hopes for this batch ... 15 going, even with slightly less than average female %, I should be able to find a couple of keepers in there.

can't wait!
rabbit
 
I had heard for so long how 12/12 from seed was possible.

Approx. 1 month ago I put a seedling into 12/12.

Yes, she has certainly grown to 4x the size! ...but being 2 inches at 12/12 start, being 8 inches now isn't so impressive.

From the results of this experiment, I would say 12/12 from seed is not advisable unless you want tiny plants. Even plants that I grew to a few inches also only stretched to 9 inches only!

It is best to give your plants at least 1-2 months veg time to grow to sexually mature levels (i.e. alternating nodes), and then and only then consider flowering for full potential yield.

Peace!

But I really don't want to go the a 12/12 too soon ... I've seen some folks here suggest a very quick switch to 12/12 for seedlings, but my experience has been that, unlike clones, seedlings really need a few weeks of veg growth to be old enough to be good floweringg plants.
 
hi IRXMJ.ORG,

12/12 from seed is not advisable with pure indica genetics or indica dom hybrids..As the plants will become at best 2-4ft by the time they are done if given plenty of light and rootspace..So most indicas/ind dominant hybrids dont work well with 12/12.

But if you use pure sativas or sativa dominant hybrids with 12/12 from seed you can still get plants that are 5-8ft+ tall if given enought light & lots ofrootspace and yields per plant can be 70-100g+ (2-3oz+) with the right strain. Afterall if you think about it plants growing naturally close to the equator are 'under' 12/12 all year and still grow big and give good yields..

So it will depend on genetics and the more sativa the better for it to give good results..Next time try something more sativa , like SSH or MH , anything that has flowering time of over 10-11weeks should work really well.
Its not rare to see returns close or over 1g/w per 80-100 days with 12/12 from seed..so you will basically need to find a line that works well with little or no veg time and maybe use more plants per light than usual to ensure a good total harvest.But 12/12 from seed does work and works well if you have the right genetics.




hi badrabbit,

"I will say though that the "immediate 12/12" advisors are usually referring to Neville's Haze rather that SSH. But I wouldn't go there in either case."

I grew SSH from seed and got good yields , 2.5 - 3oz+ per plant which was almost 1g/w with 600s , within 85-100 days from seed. Plants grew 5-7ft, so SSH is a line that will work well with 12/12 from seed. NH is more suited tho as SSH can have some more indica phenos that could use a bit veg.Still with enough plants SSH will give great results even with zero veg or a week veg max.
 
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Critical Haze

Hi Guys,

Critical Haze is also a great strain that can be toped or cut back right on the 12/12 switch indoors without losing yield. She will still stretch to 5 to 6 feet.

Like L33T, mentioned provided the right light penetration and root space are present.

Chana
 
Seriously this kid knows what he's talking about :)


YouTube - Kanaal van oregonKUSH

YouTube - Kanaal van oregonKUSH <--- look at that bush!

Would it be ok topping at such a young age?!

I was looking at the super-cropping method where the stem is squeezed and bent slightly, throwing out new nodes but maintaining the central one which will then carry on growing and can be repeated.. Are there an advantages/disadvantages from this way compared to topping?
 
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