Left alone, cannabis grows one dominant top (cola) and a lot of smaller stuff below it. Training breaks that dominance so the plant grows many equal colas — a flat, even canopy that catches far more light and yields dramatically more. LST (low-stress training) bends; this guide cuts. It's called high-stress training (HST), and topping is the gateway.
Topping — the fundamental cut
Topping = snipping off the main growing tip. The plant responds by promoting the two side shoots below the cut into two new main colas. Do it again to each, and you get four. Again, eight.
How:
- Wait until the plant has 4–6 nodes and is healthy (never top a struggling plant).
- With clean scissors, cut the main stem just above the 4th or 5th node, removing the top tip.
- The two branches at that node become your two new mains.
- Recover 3–5 days, then top those for four, and so on.