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- #21
Glad to be able to help Yetty! Feel free to ask questions if you have any.
How I perform low stress training on my plants: Lots of pics!
- Thread starter InTheShed
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WildYetty
420 Member
That's a dangerous offer I'm sure I'll have millions. Should be running by Dec.
Thank you though
Thank you though
Icemann420
Well-Known Member
Love it 
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- #24
Start a Grow Journal and post a link to it here so folks can answer all your questions on everything all in one place!
Love it
So I have a couple questions. Most auto flower plants that I've grown (not a lot) have all flowered well before I could do any LST training. But am I understanding that you are doing this LST prior to, and into flowering? I have topped maybe 5 auto flower plants. A couple didn't seem to mind it (Blue Dream auto for one) but the others just sat there for days after I topped them. I feel like the plant lost something through the rest of the grow. Now I am hesitant to top autos. But THIS.................This sheds <-----(notice how I did that?) a new light on growing autos. I have a couple small autos (pre flowering) and will have to give this a go with one of them. I'm thinking I'll try it with the Stardawg auto plant.
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- #26
I don't top my autos and don't think I ever will. If you have an auto that is going to flower short then there indeed isn't much time to do any training, including topping. But ones with a longer veg period (even 25-30 days) should give you enough time to get them flat. I've started laying over plants as short as 4". Now I wait until the part I'm bending will bend clear of the lip of the pot and hope that gives me enough time to train. Some cooperate (like the BT2 now flowering), and some don't (like my Brooklyn Sunrises Auto). When they don't, it can get a bit crowded underneath but it still probably produces more harvest than had I grown the same plant straight up.
So you do continue LST into flowering or you do not? By that I mean continue to actively bend and tie down branches as the plant is stretching.
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- #28
I keep the plant as close to level as possible (particularly the apical stem, but also any side branches that the plant is now trying to make apical) until it's done stretching. At this stage it's really not much more than a tiny adjustment here and there.
Here is what it looked like on Sunday. The apical stem is at 11:00, but the plant is trying to make the branch at 2:30 the new top, so I make sure I keep that lower than the rest of the branch ends. Keeping the outsides low through stretch also makes the plant push up the lower shoots off those branches...what would have been larf had it not been trained.
If done well with a plant that cooperates, it mimics a scrog.
Here is what it looked like on Sunday. The apical stem is at 11:00, but the plant is trying to make the branch at 2:30 the new top, so I make sure I keep that lower than the rest of the branch ends. Keeping the outsides low through stretch also makes the plant push up the lower shoots off those branches...what would have been larf had it not been trained.
If done well with a plant that cooperates, it mimics a scrog.
I see that and will be excited to give it a try. I'm very much wanting to build a nice inventory of auto flower seeds as I feel they are somewhat overlooked. I'll holler if I have any questions. Thanks for putting together the tutorial.
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- #30
Glad to be able to help out beez!
Heavenly Hybrid
Well-Known Member
So glad you made this Shed! I’m planning to do this with my Blackberry Kush(es) for my next grow, so perfect timing my friend! They’re not auto seeds, so would there be any differences for the method?
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- #32
No difference in the method, just the reasoning! There are so many training options for a photoperiod plant that I'm not sure I would use this one unless I was growing in a short tent and needed to keep the plants under a foot tall. This is especially good for autos because it doesn't slow them down at all the way topping can, but produces similar results to a scrog (which you don't have time to do on an auto).
Heavenly Hybrid
Well-Known Member
That’s part of why I was considering this, doing that scrog of mine took forever. I was hoping to find a training that wouldn’t slow them down, especially since they are indica dominant. What would you recommend instead? Topping? Quadlining was the other method I have been considering. Thanks again Shed
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- #34
It really depends on how long you want (have) to veg. If you're in no hurry, then slowing them down a bit with topping isn't a problem (like it can be with an auto).That’s part of why I was considering this, doing that scrog of mine took forever. I was hoping to find a training that wouldn’t slow them down, especially since they are indica dominant. What would you recommend instead? Topping? Quadlining was the other method I have been considering. Thanks again Shed
This technique is very similar to a scrog and can be combined with one as well. You start by training the plant to get wide and low, and then once you have it laid out you let the leaders grow up to the net and begin to train them through it, widening it further and creating even more tops.
If you're really in a hurry though you can use this technique to lay it out (the pic above is only 36 days from sprout). If it were a photo you could flip it right now.
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- #35
Okay time to jump back to the tutorial for a minute. What I've noticed with autos that get laid out flat is that there are a lot of buds that wouldn't exist if the plant was grown straight up. The problem is that these buds end up small, damp, and green because of their location. What to do? Cull them!
Let me give you an example. Here are some branches on the Blue Treacle Auto 1 that is growing straight up.
You can see in the pic that each of the lower branches has its own main cola on the end as well as some buds I tagged as "lowers." Those lowers will usually produce reasonably good sized buds and I leave them on the plant because there aren't that many buds.
Now, on a plant that has been LST-trained like the Blue Treacle 2, the number of lowers is much higher. This is because what would have been lower branches now become like new tops, with lower branches of their own. And if your plant has a long enough veg, those lowers can grow lowers as well. This multiplier effect is exactly what we're looking for! Except we eventually run into the law of diminishing returns. And that's when it's time to cull.
Here's a for instance:
These buds will never amount to anything more than the larf of the larf, so let's take them off. This round I took off a bunch of these buds so that the plant can send the bud-growing sugars to the buds that have the best chance of becoming worthwhile. I don't want to cut branches off the stem at harvest, flip them over, and find a lot of wasted energy having been directed to these:
So off they go. I'm sure I'll be taking more as it gets further into flower.
Let me give you an example. Here are some branches on the Blue Treacle Auto 1 that is growing straight up.
You can see in the pic that each of the lower branches has its own main cola on the end as well as some buds I tagged as "lowers." Those lowers will usually produce reasonably good sized buds and I leave them on the plant because there aren't that many buds.
Now, on a plant that has been LST-trained like the Blue Treacle 2, the number of lowers is much higher. This is because what would have been lower branches now become like new tops, with lower branches of their own. And if your plant has a long enough veg, those lowers can grow lowers as well. This multiplier effect is exactly what we're looking for! Except we eventually run into the law of diminishing returns. And that's when it's time to cull.
Here's a for instance:
These buds will never amount to anything more than the larf of the larf, so let's take them off. This round I took off a bunch of these buds so that the plant can send the bud-growing sugars to the buds that have the best chance of becoming worthwhile. I don't want to cut branches off the stem at harvest, flip them over, and find a lot of wasted energy having been directed to these:
So off they go. I'm sure I'll be taking more as it gets further into flower.
Okay time to jump back to the tutorial for a minute. What I've noticed with autos that get laid out flat is that there are a lot of buds that wouldn't exist if the plant was grown straight up. The problem is that these buds end up small, damp, and green because of their location. What to do? Cull them!
Let me give you an example. Here are some branches on the Blue Treacle Auto 1 that is growing straight up.
You can see in the pic that each of the lower branches has its own main cola on the end as well as some buds I tagged as "lowers." Those lowers will usually produce reasonably good sized buds and I leave them on the plant because there aren't that many buds.
Now, on a plant that has been LST-trained like the Blue Treacle 2, the number of lowers is much higher. This is because what would have been lower branches now become like new tops, with lower branches of their own. And if your plant has a long enough veg, those lowers can grow lowers as well. This multiplier effect is exactly what we're looking for! Except we eventually run into the law of diminishing returns. And that's when it's time to cull.
Here's a for instance:
These buds will never amount to anything more than the larf of the larf, so let's take them off. This round I took off a bunch of these buds so that the plant can send the bud-growing sugars to the buds that have the best chance of becoming worthwhile. I don't want to cut branches off the stem at harvest, flip them over, and find a lot of wasted energy having been directed to these:
So off they go. I'm sure I'll be taking more as it gets further into flower.
Well done Shed ! Well done !
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- #37
Thanks Dutch! I try to post info that would have helped me if I'd known it sooner
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Ozinugs
Well-Known Member
Greetings all! I've had members ask about how I do my LST (low stress training) on my plants so I thought I would do a pictorial on it. My pics are of two different plants but don't let that confuse you. It's just easier to demonstrate that way.
Let's discuss the theory behind LST for a minute. Cannabis plants grow up to the sun. They have a top (apical) cola and side branching. Most of the growth hormones (auxins) go to that apical cola, which is why an untrained plant often has a beautiful huge bud on top and then progressively smaller buds as you head toward the soil. Topping a plant tells the plant that there is no longer an apical cola (damage alert!!!) so it needs to send the auxins to other branches to assure its chances to pass on its genetics. You then end up with two tops from that one.
That's great for photo plants which you can grow as big as you want them to be before you flip them, but autos are on an internal clock. Now many growers top their autos and get great results. I don't. I try to stress autos as little as possible so I do LST.
LST is a method for tricking the plant into thinking it no longer has an apical cola without actually removing it. The method involves pulling the top down flat so that it's not higher than the rest of the plant. The plant still thinks it's lost its apical cola and begins to send the growth hormones to the rest of the branches, but there is no recovery time as there is with topping because nothing has been cut.
As each of the lower branches grows in response, it gets tied down toward the outside of the pot, allowing light and air to get to the rest of the plant, and forcing the plant to continue to evenly spread the auxins.
Let's look at some pics!
I used to start bending the plant when it was much younger. Now I wait until the stem will be close to even with the top edge of the pot after it's bent. This was my Blueberry Auto from last summer.
You can see that I used a rock to hold the stem in place as I bent it. It's important that the base of the stem be upright so you don't put stress on the stem/root connection. Now I use a rock as well as a tie holding the stem in the opposite direction to the bend. This is my current Blue Treacle:
Let's watch the progress of the Blueberry Auto as it goes from the first pic to full buddage!
You can see how I have begun to take the side branching and lay it out flat as well - away from any other growth - using the sticks and twist ties. Flattening each branch forces the plant to spread the auxins equally:
Once the branches outgrow the internal size of the pot, I tie the branches to the edge:
Once they get this far into flower there is no more to be done except watch them grow! I do not untie them until I harvest the plant.
Here is the Blueberry getting close to the end. Can you spot the apical cola? This produced over 4 ounces of dried buds. Not too shabby!
Now let's look at an auto I have currently going into the earliest stages of flower. This one is a Blue Treacle, shown in the second pic with the white wire holding the stem in place opposite the bend. Here is a top view:
And here it is from the side. You can see how flat the top is:
This plant thinks there is no apical cola and is trying its damnedest to develop a new one. Not going to let that happen! I want each cola to be the same size in the end, similar to the last Blueberry pic.
Time for a closer look at the restraints!
My main stem no longer has any room for me to get a pipe cleaner in between the bud sites. No matter! I just grabbed a top fan and tied that down!
And here you can see some of the exposed lower sites that get full light and are close to the same height as the rest of the stem...more hormones!
That's the way I do it. Post questions or comments!
I'll update this thread when the buds develop and we can see if they're as even as the Blueberry was!
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- #39
Glad to able to pass along some good knowledge Ozinugs! Jump in with any questions that come to mind. I'm always here to help out
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Ozinugs
Well-Known Member
420 LEGEND!