JPinkman's Organic Soil White Widow, Bubba Kush & Freedom Dream Journal - 2017

Radogast;3399900 said:

JPinkman;3399004 said:

Hey Rad if youre around I wanted to ask you about clones...

Ive noticed the FD plants are starting to mature, theyve switched to an alternating node. Any clones I take from this point wont be "topable". This is something I missed in my post grow research. I had figured I'd top the clones and eventually learn to flux/mainline. Can you describe your LST methods?

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OK. So I don't have organized pictures of the same plant, but I picked out some photos that are representative of how it works.


First off, here is a clone that I started training once it was growing strongly. I bent the top way over so that the top was lower than several other nodes. The top is known as the apical meristem. This is the place where the growth hormones collect strongest. When the top is bent over to be lower than other branch tips, the plant selects one or more of the other tips to become the 'favorite' node or nodes for preferred growth. normally another big branch and/or the branch tip highest on the plant.

In this case, the next three branches all got some growth energy and were spread to the 4 directions. In this position, there are two long branches and two short branches. To encourage growth on the shorter branches, the 2nd long branch joins the the first long branch in being held down low.

The two shorter branches now grow longer.

If you end up lowering all 4 of the top branches, then the nodes along the branches start getting most of the growth energy and your plant will start growing 2-3 branches straight up from each of the 4 long branch - giving one 12-16 nodes forming a canopy. Trying to control these is almost impossible without a scrog, so I just let them grow until going into flower.

The other option would be to release all 4 long branches, giving a 4 node canopy with lesser bud sites below. I don't like doing this, because it tends to form a thick mass of popcorn where the branches meet that is not the best quality bud. Going with the 12+ tops tends to form 12+ really good buds with less popcorn.

I hope that makes some sort of sense, usually when I am thinking about LST the words in my head are more like "If I do this then that thing will probably happen."


The first rule is that if you lower the top bud site to just below another bud site, another bud site will become the top bud site.

A second rule is that if you let branches grow longer before lowering them, additional bud sites will form along the lowered branch as well as redirecting energy to a new top bud site.

Another rule about LST is that it is Low Stress Training - don't force a branch when lowering it. If it doesn't want to bend far enough, wait a couple of days and gently try bending again. - Don't panic if something goes wrong. If you end up kinking the branch (supercropping), or breaking the branch completely off (cloning), or even splitting the trunk - you usually get pretty much the same result you were aiming for when you tried doing LST.

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