Essentially they are the same, "Pruning" and "Topping", just two different commonly words used. Fimming means a lot of indesriminate Topping. It is also known to some as "Pinching" as well. In this page it will be refered to it as "Topping"

Topping is done to increase yield and make them bushy, bushy, bushy, make more buds, promote "branching", and increase the overall yeilds of the plants. With higher overall yeilds, a grower will successfully harvest many more budds, or floral clusters, and from smaller, bushier and more compact plants.

To the indoor grower that does not use this technique, but allows their plants to grow tall, it can be a waste of their artificial lighting, and growing spaces potential. With its own natural growth pattern, and without the benifit of topping, your lady will have one main central "khola" budd, at peak flowering. Several other small branches will grow outwards, down its main stalk, with much smaller budd topps.

The natural growth pattern is to grow upwards at its main stalk. From this main central stalk will begin to grow side branches. The side branches come out as tiny shoots with leaves, and usually there are a pair of them on opposite sides of the main central stalk.

When the seed leaves have long dyed off on the main stalk. The first true seed leaves commonly can or will, wilt, dry up, or dye off of the plant as well. (the little round ones) Once healthy new vegative growth begins the rate of growth can be very fast, with excellent lighting supplied.

As the new growth increases the light reaching the lower portions of the plants becomes less. Thus it is common to see first leafs wilting and dying ect. Growers that see leaves wilting or dying, ect, will opt to pulling them off of the plants. It is cool to remvoe dying, yellowing unhelathy leaves. I NEVER remove a helathy leaf.

The main central stalk is topped of just above the branches that are coming out below it. A pair of scissors is best be used.
There are no rules to where you top your plant or how old it needs to be. As long as your plant has shoots protruding further down the main stalk it is able to be topped. When topped the growth of the plant will be concentrated towards the new, younger vegative shoots.

Once you have topped your plant(s) the younger shoots will rapidly begin growing. With the removal of the main central stalk the lower braches grow more. With topping completed we keep the plants on their regular lighting and feeding schedules.

Now each new shoot tip will essentially grow as the main stalk did, however the growth is not concentrated to only one central stalk. So as each new shoot grows outward new shoots will grow from each one of them stalks as well.

Therefore topping can be done again, and again, and as each shoot becomes a growing tip with other shoots forming down its stalk, it is removed. By completing these topping or pruning tactics, a grower can acheive any desired height, or desired bushiness, they desire in their plants.

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Roseman
When you grow with Mother Nature, you Grow with God.
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I TOP and FIM, at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th week, (I do a rapid Hydro grow) . Look at the results in the pic of my dozen stalks.


That is the goal. More stalks, more buds.



I wish those pics were larger. Try double clicking them.

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Roseman
When you grow with Mother Nature, you Grow with God.
May Peace and Joy Be Your Companions.
[FONT=Arial]Ask me about DWC, CFLS, and Indoor Growing.

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Roseman
When you grow with Mother Nature, you Grow with God.
May Peace and Joy Be Your Companions.
[FONT=Arial]Ask me about DWC, CFLS, and Indoor Growing.

i pinch my plants wether indoor or out. i love those bushy buggers.

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Just RIGHT CLICK The pictures and click "Open Link" and they will be full size.

Peace

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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Thank you, Jangel.

If a grower learns and practics proper pruning, the yield is much much larger.
More branches = more buds.

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Roseman
When you grow with Mother Nature, you Grow with God.
May Peace and Joy Be Your Companions.
[FONT=Arial]Ask me about DWC, CFLS, and Indoor Growing.

Nice tutorial Roseman.

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With pre-planned Topping and Prunnimg, I was able to persuade a plant to make 12 or 13, (depending on how you count them) to produce 12 oe 13 stalks. got about 46 inches tall, and produced 7 ounces of dried manicured buds.

Perhaps if others added some tips, we could get this thread made into a STICKY??.

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Roseman
When you grow with Mother Nature, you Grow with God.
May Peace and Joy Be Your Companions.
[FONT=Arial]Ask me about DWC, CFLS, and Indoor Growing.

I feel really bad when I top a plant.I do it anyway but It bothers me.

i have a little trick that i use. whenever i top or pinch or anything i will spray with a compost tea and it seems to heal faster. also a freind once he tops will split the stem straight down for about an inch in an X pattern, and half the time it puts off an immediate 4 branches.

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Hello there,
I have FIMed my plants in a ScrOG that I am doing right now and some plants have produced up to 6 new tips
Here is a picture the day I FIMed one of them


And 7 days later this same plant is showing 4 tips plus 2 secondary tips



As you can see FIMing is like topping but you just cut 80% of the main tip. When they bloom I will post the outcome per plant

When you top a plant use that top for a clone. Waste not want not. ROFL

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I posed a question @ Forcing flowers before the time is right ?

Basically, I'm re-posting it here because it deals with the proper timing of setting a plant to flower only when it is mature, forming alternating nodes. I am wondering how this topping affects this visual clue that the plant has matured beyond the veg stage?

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I may be off but the smell of the Chlorophyll changes

Prune a sample fan leave off a maturing veg to bloom and the aroma is now Chlorophyll plus turpenes, cannabiniods and sulfur compounds coming in strong at the change over.

Hm, I'm not familiar with the smell of turpenes, cannabinoids and sulfer ccompounds. I don't believe the average noobie would be able to recognize this change. I do know they would be able to recognize the alternating nodes but, if topping is implemented, that would change the structure and remove this visual clue.

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Great pic's & observation 4evergreen... Thanks so much for sharing. Sometime's you just never know the outcome of fimming....

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Cheers!!!!! Shinningwind
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Let's just say the skunk smell are those compounds that come out in the veg to bloom phase.