Every grower’s dream is to have a high-quality yield and a bountiful harvest. To achieve such a feat, you need to provide the best growing environments for your crops to thrive healthily and produce a high-quality yield.
Aside from that, there are several very helpful growing techniques that will help you grow bushier cannabis plants. Among these are topping and fimming. Knowing the difference between topping vs fimming will give growers another perspective on how to grow healthy buds.
It is interesting to know which is the better training option between topping vs fimming. Both are cutting methods that help improve the shape of the cannabis plant. The main purpose of doing so is to provide plants better access to light, maintain good ventilation, and by doing so it promotes the growth of many colas.
Read on this article as we go over each growing technique and decide which among the two is better.
Topping vs Fimming: Which is the better cutting technique
Topping and fimming are cannabis growing technique that involves cutting some parts of the plants to allow new nodes to grow. These two are proven techniques that will let you grow bushier plants with denser buds. But what exactly are they and how are they different from each other?
What is Topping?
Topping is a pruning technique that involves cutting the growing tip of the cannabis plant. This is often used by many cannabis growers. Topping is considered a high-stress training method that can be applied to both indoor and outdoor growing.
Most cannabis plant takes the form of a Christmas tree when they are growing. It has a center cola and then several sets of side branches. What happens is that the lower parts of the plants will not be able to receive as much sunlight thus they become weak. In topping, it will remove the central bud. This will pave the way for the growth and development of secondary and lower branches.
The main goal is to invert that natural shape to allow the light to penetrate and allow the plant to have equal light exposure to its parts. Most cannabis grower uses growth hormone to diffuse all of the shoots and promote faster growth. Topping is the most ideal technique in taking control of the marijuana’s canopy.
When is the right time to top the cannabis plant?
It is ideal to top your plants as soon as they have developed about 3-5 nodes. During this time, the plant’s roots and stem are already strong enough to handle stress and they can recover from it easily. Your plant is about 30 days of the vegetative stage.
Keep in mind that different kinds of strains and at some point, they have different growth speeds. Plant’s can only handle topping as soon as they are strong and sturdy so never top your plant during the seedling phase as it will not survive.
Topping is also not advisable during the flowering stage of the plant as it can cause damage to the buds. The best time is to wait for about 1-2 weeks before you start topping the new growth. This will allow your plant to adjust to the new growth patterns and recover from the pattern.
How to top a cannabis plant?
Topping your cannabis plant may seem easy but it requires accuracy, cleanliness, and precision. You need to be very careful so you will not cause any damage to the plant. You need a sterilized, clean, and sharp cutting device.
- Make a clean cut to the tip. Using a clean pair of cutting devices, cut the tip of the main stem. Leave a space about 5cm between the lateral cut and from where you cut.
- Repeat the process on the down line. This will divide a single terminal flower into at least four (4) distinct bud sites.
- Just continue topping until you are satisfied with your plant’s canopy.
What is Fimming?
Fimming is a high-stress technique which also involves cutting some parts of the cannabis plant, similar to the topping. The main objective of fimming is to also increase the number of the main colas. Fimming can increase the number of colas up to 4 more, not 4 times. This technique is recommended for small growers with 1-2 plants only.
When to fim cannabis plants?
Same as topping, you can fim your plants when they are about 30 days old of the vegetative stage. During this time, your cannabis plant has already developed 3-5 nodes. In fimming, you need to be very careful as this will cause some stress to your plant. Fimming
is suggested only if your plant is in the vegetative stage so it can focus its energy on the production of its buds during the flowering stage.
How to trim your cannabis plant?
Same as topping, you have to carefully cut the top part of the plant. To do so, gently grab the tip of your plant and cut it using clean, sharp, and sterilized cutting equipment. You can cut 75% of the top part but you don’t have to worry as this will allow new colas to grow.
What is the equipment used in fimming or topping?
In topping or fimming your plant, you may need to have the following equipment:
- Sharp and clean razor or scissors. Cutting your buds using a blunt razor or scissor can cause damage like it can break the stem. It will your plant stressed and wounded which can also cause some contamination. There are specialized tools for cutting so if you can invest in such tools then the better.
- Latex-free gloves. This will protect your hand during the process. It will also protect the plants from any contamination.
Choosing between topping vs fimming depends on how much you want your plans to grow more colas. The main difference is that topping can double the number of colas while fimming is good for micro-growing as it can only add up to 4 more colas. Nevertheless, both techniques are proven to ensure you that your plant will have a good shot in producing large, dense, and multiple flowers and this means high quality and bountiful harvest.
