Topping VS FIMing: Which is Better for Marijuana

Topping and FIMing are sometimes interchanged but they have quite the difference. For one, they are both techniques used by growers for plant training. They both involve cutting off a part of the marijuana plant in order to achieve the desired kind of growth.

Before we decide which one is better than the other, we need to first discuss their main differences. Topping involves cutting off from the top part of the plant in between nodes. While FIMing involves cutting of the newest and youngest growths but not between the nodes. For this reason, we could decipher that topping involves cutting off a longer part from the top as compared to FIMing.

All of the things that growers do with regards to manipulating plant growth are all methods to achieve desirable conditions for growth and of course, higher yields. Topping and FIMing both do basically the same thing to marijuana plants that they both  enable plants to get bushier and achieve higher yield. They do however have a few differences. Let’s go ahead and found out what these differences are.

1. Topping

Topping involves cutting off the top of marijuana plants in between nodes so a little longer part is cut off compared to FIMing.  When topping is done, the marijuana plant produces or splits into two main colas which can be followed up with LST or low stress training to produce more colas. The colas produced are evenly spaced.

The most desirable thing about topping is that it creates shorter bushes rather than long and lanky stems. This type of growth is very desirable especially when it comes to indoor marijuana growing.

2. FIMing

Unfortunately, the term “FIMinf” comes from the acronym “F*** I Missed”, hence FIM-ing. This term aroused when growers mistakenly do the topping wrong and cut off the top too short instead. Fortunately, FIMing has resulted in a slightly different but desirable way from topping that it became a new technique of its own.

As discussed above, FIMing involves cutting off new growth but not cutting through the main stem. When you do this, the plant produces 3 or more new colas which can then be followed by doing low stress training to enhance the growth. FIMing is usually done during the vegetative stage in order to be more effective.

However, since only a little part of the top was cut off, FIMing sometimes doesn’t have an effect on plants due to the very little stress they were subjected to. Also, FIMing produces unevenly spaced colas which can be undesirable for some.

Verdict:

We think it’s really pretty obvious which one between topping and FIMing is more desirable. Topping is the overall winner if you are an indoor marijuana grower. Despite the fact that it only creates two colas, it produces shorter and bushier marijuana plants which are most desirable when growing marijuana strains indoors. But if you are an outdoor grower and do not really need the short but bushy structure then FIMing could be the thing for you since it produces more colas than topping and requires a lesser amount of low stress training or LST.