Hair Cut

I pulled the trigger on topping today. Topping is where you trim off the top node (traditionally the fifth node) with the goal that the plant will refocus its energy less into growing up like a Christmas tree and more out like a bush. Incorporating topping has produced excellent results for me in the past.

With topping you do need to be aware that splitting can occur: The two stems growing from the now top-most node may become so weighty that they split the plant down the center. That is why I always leave a stem segment to help guard against it.

The plants show some signs of overwatering which comes with the territory with bottom feeding. Not much I could do other than lifting the plants off the bases temporarily. I'll keep an eye on it to see if it needs to come to that.