Plant training is a technique that allows growers to manipulate a cannabis plant while it grows to produce more buds and bigger harvests. It is a powerful tool for increasing yields, and it can be done without any special equipment or training.
There are two main types of plant training: Low Stress Training and High Stress Training. Both are geared to make the most of limited light and space by maximizing leaf area for photosynthesis.
Low Stress Training
Low Stress Training, or LST for short, is a relatively simple and effective way of increasing your cannabis crop. It is a form of pruning or trimming that involves gradually manipulating the growth and structure of your plants to increase their bud production.
This technique is often used alongside other types of plant training to maximize yields. It is also less invasive and generally a better option than high-stress techniques like topping, which can damage the plant and cause infection if pathogens are present in your grow room.
Basically, it entails gently bending and tying strategic branches and stems to produce a desired shape or volume. It is similar to bonsai and can be utilized on indoor or outdoor plants, optimizing space and maximizing bud output.
LST is most effective when performed during the vegetative phase, because it causes your plant to grow in a circular pattern and naturally develop healthy colas that sprout up from the side rather than straight up. This enables your plants to grow with greater vertical distance between their colas, which improves light distribution and increases the number of viable buds sites throughout the plant.
The earlier you start, the better! However, you shouldn’t start this process on fully grown plants since their mature stems are too thick and stiff for gentle bending without risking damaging them.
You can start LST on young, pliable plants that have reached the vegetative stage (roughly 5-6 nodes). Stems are still soft and flexible, making it easier to bend them without breaking them.
Once your plants are at the right height and a few nodes have developed, you can begin to tie down the relevant stems and branches using gardening wire or ties. Ties can be hooked to your grow lights, your hydroponics bucket, a tomato cage or even fabric pots.
Ideally, you will use only soft ties or gardening wire that can be stretched and tied without harming the stems of your cannabis plant. These are much gentler on shoots and stems than strings or regular wire, which can cut into the plant’s lateral roots as it grows.
Screen of Green
The Screen of Green technique, also known as SCROG, is a great way to maximize your cannabis harvest. It helps you maximize your yields per square foot and it works well with a variety of strains.
The screening of your canopy will make it easier for each flower to receive a high amount of light. This will help the buds to develop into large and dense colas that can be harvested quickly.
When you start using this method, it’s important to work with only one or two plants at a time so that they don’t grow too tall. The goal is to get a nice canopy of bud nodes that are even from top to bottom, so that the buds have more room to grow and so that the plant can utilize all of the available light.
Once you’ve created an even canopy, it’s time to start training the plants. This will involve guiding the branches through the holes in your mesh screen. This is a very precise method and takes some practice, but it’s worth the effort if you want to increase your harvest.
Before you start, it’s important to pick a strain that is compatible with this technique. It’s best to choose a strain that is sativa dominant and stretchy, so that it can be easily woven in and out of the mesh.
It’s important to train your plants in this manner carefully so that you don’t damage them. The first step is to put your mesh in place about 8 inches above the seedlings. Then, guide the young plants up through the mesh and pull them back through when they break through it. Continue until the screen is filled, aiming for 60% coverage with sativa strains and 80% coverage with indica strains.
After a few days, revisit your screen to make sure that all the new growth is straight and that your plants are not growing too tall. It is important to repeat this process over and over again until your plants are completely shaped for the flowering phase.
The Screen of Green technique is a great way to achieve higher yields from your cannabis plant, especially for those who are growing indoors. It is a lot less stressful on your plants than topping, but it can take some time to master and it requires a lot of practice.
Defoliation
Defoliation is a type of plant training that involves removing leaves from cannabis plants. This can be done in both the vegetative and flowering stages of a cannabis plant’s life cycle, but it is most commonly used in the flowering stage to promote bigger buds.
It is important to note that defoliation can be either good or bad for a cannabis plant’s growth, depending on the type of defoliation being performed and how much it is done. For example, if defoliation is done too early or too late it can result in stunted flower production and reduced overall yields.
There are many different types of defoliation techniques, and it’s best to consult an experienced grower to see which one is right for your cannabis crop. However, most growers recommend avoiding defoliation during the first 20-25 days of flowering since it can cause damage to your plant’s buds.
In some cases, defoliation can be helpful to promote a more balanced ratio of auxins to cytokinins in a plant’s flowering cycle. In other cases it can cause a plant to become stressed and stunt its growth.
Regardless of whether or not a grower chooses to use defoliation, it is still important to know which types of leaves are most effective for cannabis plant growth. Fan leaves, which are typically larger and broader than the rest of the leaves on the plant, are especially important for promoting cannabis growth.
When cutting away these large fan leaves, it’s a good idea to start from the bottom foundation of the plant and work your way up to the top of the canopy. This helps to remove any leaves that are obscuring the light from reaching the buds at the top of the canopy.
This can also help to reduce micro-climate gradients within the canopy, enabling better lighting distribution across the plant’s leaves and branches. As a rule, it is a good idea to cut leaves off the bottom of the canopy when growing cannabis indoors, as this can optimize light distribution and increase yields.
Another popular method of defoliation is’schwazzing’, which involves removing all leaves from the upper part of a plant at two points in the flowering cycle: right before you switch your plant from the vegetative to the flowering stage and then again a week or so before you flip it back to the vegetative stage. This can be a very intense method that is only recommended for more experienced growers, but it can produce some great results in certain strains of cannabis.
Manipulation of Timelines
Manipulation of timelines can be a fun and exciting part of the grow process, as it is a great way to keep tabs on the progress of your crops. This is especially important during the vegetative phase of growth, where you can play around with light cycles to increase your plant’s output.
Vegetative growth is the most arduous of all cannabis growing stages and is best accomplished in a well-ventilated room under a good photoperiod. This is a good time to introduce supplemental lighting and adjust the amount of water your plants are receiving, as they will need more than ever before.
The vegetative growth phase is also a good time to perform some pruning as this will help reduce your plant’s overall size. This is particularly important for Sativa plants, as they are more prone to branching out than Indicas.
There are many different types of plant training to consider, and a variety of techniques that can be used to improve your harvest. The most successful methods will usually involve the right combination of factors, so it is important to do your research before you start using any particular technique.
The most important factor is to choose the right type of technology for your application and budget. This will depend on how much space you have available and what kind of cannabis you are growing, as well as the quality of your equipment. The best method for this will be to ask your grow partners or consult a grower guide before you start your crop.
