Some of the best gardeners of our generations aren’t winemakers, orchardmen or farmers but cannabis growers. The ingenuity, innovation and ability to think outside of the box have revolutionized cannabis growing and brought it to a much higher scale. Cannabis has been the world’s biggest aggricultural crop for thousands of years and using cannabis for everything from fuel, food, textile to medicine was always a huge part of our lives and our history.

 

Growing cannabis is gaining legality in more and more parts of the world and retaking its place after a long period of unethical and imoral prohibition. Especially with legality of cannabis in the US and Canada, commercial solutions covering acres of land, working partially or fully automatized have made cannabis growing a high tech industry.

 

But, back to the roots and the beginning –  while still illegal, growers were always looking for ways to better their crops. To get more out of the plant, to get more out of the grow area and to get bigger and better yields, has always been a challenge for every grower.

 

All cannabis training methods will ultimately achieve the same thing – provide you with more flowers that are bigger and more potent, making for a better and bigger harvest. There are two ways in which all training methods and techniques are divided –  Low Stress Training and High Stress Training.

 

Low or High Stress means that your plants will have to deal with more or less stress by using and applying a certain method. By stressing the plant we activate its defence mechanism and if you don’t overdo it, in return, the plant will become stronger and healthier.

 

Low Stress Training

 

Any method or technique that’s not damaging the plant or causing any excess stress is considered to be low stress training and when growing cannabis two are most popular:

 

LST

 

Actually, the method is called the same as the category, which may bring some confusion to new growers but once you’ve read about it, you’ll quickly pick up the pieces.

 

Low Stress Training or LST is a popular training method, especially with indoor growers that don’t have a lot of room and what to utilize their grow space in the best way possible. As the name suggest, your plants should receive minimal stress, which means that they won’t have to spend their time recovering from it.

 

Low Stress Training is nothing new, the method has been used for centuries on other crops such as grapevines. They start from a single stem, then by tying them down and making them grow more horizontally and to the sides, they form a different, wider shape and provide for more fruit.

 

Basically, LST includes bending your plant’s branches and stems, in order to get more of a horizontal growth going, rather than the standard ‘Christmas Tree’ shaped plant. By forcing your plants to grow more on the sides, either by bending them or tying them down, using string, wire, bamboo sticks or something else, and exposing the lower parts of the plant to more light, it will encourage forming of new branches and tops, that will in return form more buds.

 

So, basic goal is to get more tops going from branches and exposing more parts of the plant to a more even light, and by bending your plant and securing her position, either by tying it down or by wire, every internode will become a new top that will start to grow vertically upwards. So, instead of having just one top, by applying LST, you end up with numerous new tops, all exposed equally to the light and all similar, if not the same, in size and shape.

 

Growers have been using different materials and equipment to train their plants. Important thing to keep in mind here – is not to damage your plants while doing so. With the rise of cannabis industry, a lot of commercial solutions have become available too.

 

All plants and strains, including autoflowering strains, can be trained using this method but some will respond more favorably than others. Generally, Sativa dominant strains, that are more bushier and aggressive growers tend to do better when applying LST but Indica dominant plants  and plants with fewer branches can be trained too, just might take a bit more time to get there.

 

Screen of Green

 

A popular choice, when growers are limited either by plant count or by growing space, Screen of Green or SCROG is low stress technique that uses a netting or a screen to achieve an even level canopy with numerous tops. The technique can be applied on just one plant but the same screen can be used for more plants too, depending on the design and grower’s choice.

 

By placing the screen or a net just over the plant, and weaving and tucking the tops under it, plant will fill up the screen in an even level canopy. If needed, you can tie the parts of the plant, using string, wire or anything else but make sure you’re not damaging the plant tissue and that you aren’t tying the knots too hard. Once switched to flowering, new tops coming from the internode branches will start growing vertically upwards and provide for numerous, same sized buds resembling the Screen of Green.

 

Sea of Green

 

Another commonly used method, usually done with clones but can be done with seeds too is SOG or Sea of Green. This techniqe doesn’t only share a similar name with previously mentioned SCROG but it resembles it in a way visually too. Instead of using a single plant and forcing it to make new tops, it uses a higher number of plants, in smaller containers, that grow just a few buds but due to its density, it looks like a Sea of Green. Using clones is preferable because they all share same genetics and should be all similar in size and stature, as well as grow in a similar fashion.

 

High Stress Training

 

Just like with Low Stress Training or LST, any method or technique that damages the plant and causes higher levels of stress is considered High Stress Training. Here are the most popular ones:

 

Topping

 

Topping is nothing new, this technique has been used for thousand of years on all kinds of plants. It just means cutting the top, whether on main stalk or on side branches, after your plant has had time to recover, this technique will get you two new tops growing from the part you’ve cut the top off. You can safely apply this method as soon as your plant has reached the third node.

 

To apply this method you don’t need any special equipment, you can just use normal scissors, a knife or even your fingers, pinching the top off. Just make sure that whatever you use is clean, in order to prevent any possible infections or disease, so if you’re using your hands – wash them or wear gloves and if you’re using anything else, clean it with alcohol first.

 

Fimming

 

Basically, the same as previously mentioned, this method involves cutting the top off. But, unlike topping, you want to leave some of the growth on. By removing the top ⅔, or ¾ and leaving a part of both leaves and the main stem or stalk, when the plant has had time to recover, we’ll get 2-4 new tops forming. Just like topping gives you two new tops, depending on how you fim, you’ll get up to twice as much new tops and just like topping, you can start applying this technique as soon as your plants has reached the third node.

 

Fimming got its name when a certain grower wanted to top his plants, and he missed, leaving the small part on the plant. “F*ck I Missed” or FIM can be applied to any plant and strain and just like topping, it can be done either with scissors, knives or by hand and whatever you use – make sure it’s clean.

 

By fimming your plants once they are starting to flower and while still in pre-flowering phase, growers utilized this technique in order to get larger and denser flowers, as more often than not, fimming then with provide for multiple tops, that will form multiple flowers grown into one.

 

Super-cropping

 

Unlike topping and fimming, super-cropping can be a bit challenging, especially to new growers. The goal is to damage the tissue of a stalk or a branch and to bend the primary top below the level of the rest of the canopy. That will both ensure that the canopy that’s been getting lower light gets much better exposure and catches up with the growth, and once the plant has recovered, a knuckle is formed. that will strengthen the plant and allow for more and better food and nutrient uptake, due to the bigger surface left by scaring.

 

To apply super-cropping you don’t need any equipment other than your hands. By firmly pressing the stalk by using your fingers, you slowly bend the stalk in one side by 90 degrees and lower the main growth below the rest of the canopy.

 

The goal is to damage the plants outer tissue without breaking it. Some growers like to apply firm pressure and bend the plant in both directions until it softens – watching that it exposes the lower growth to light, and some like to apply gentle pressure and rotate the stalk in both directions until it softens, before bending it.

 

There isn’t a wrong way to do it, as long as you don’t break the stalk.or the branch you’re applying super-cropping too. If that happens, you can always use duct tape and/or string to piece it together. Out of all the techniques, super-cropping is hardest to master, because every plant is different and you just have to get the feel for it – breaking a lot of branches in the process.

 

Because it’s the most stressful out of all techniques, the time it would take your plants to recover from it would be the longest. Depending on your performance, your growing environment and your plants characteristics it may take from a couple of hours up to a day or two for your plants to fully recover.

 

Although you can apply this technique to any strain and at any stage of development, it’s recommended not to stress your plants too much, once they’ve entered the flowering phase as it may cause additional issues and problems.

 

Defoliation

 

Defoliation, as name suggest, is removing of the leaves. Usually growers tend to remove bigger fan leaves to ensure for better light exposure of lower parts of the plants or yellow or infected leaves as part of their daily maintenance.

 

Defoliation as a high stress technique is a bit more advanced than that. By removing the majority of the leaves, plants energy is focused into the remaining and new growth. By constantly removing of older leaves, more aggressive new growth is encouraged, forcing your plants to grow faster.

 

Not hard to apply but can be a bit tricky to fully master, it’s a thin line where you’re doing just enough damage to the plant to encourage new growth and doing too much damage that may slower or even stunt your plants growth. Obviously, more bushier the strain is, the more successful this method will be and more harder for you to cause damage to the plant.

 

Mainlining

 

Mainlining combines several previously mentioned techniques such as topping or fimming, lst and defoliation. Not for beginner growers but not that hard to master either, the goal of this method is to get a certain number of colas, or main big tops, instead of just one big flower that’s usually the case with standard Christmas Tree shaped plants.

 

When the plant has reached its third node, you either top it or fim it, and after the plant recovers and new tops start forming and growing, you spread those new tops horizontally to the sides by using LST, and remove all the growth below it, leaving just a Y shaped plant form, with the ends tied or secured to grow horizontally.

 

By growing each of the new tops in its own direction and with new tops developing from the internodal branches, you again, LST those new tops to grow in their separate directions and repeat the process until you have the desired number of tops. Mainlining is all about symmetry and whenever you top and LST your plants, you should defoliate too – in order to expose all of the growth to the light equally and to encourage new growth. Various methods and twists on this method exist and the method is also referred to as mainfolding or fluxing.

 

“Monster-cropping”

 

Could be considered a high stress techniq, Monster-cropping is basically taking clones from plants that are in flowering and revegating them. By putting the clones (back) in the vegetative stage, plants will start with new vegetative growth and out of most or all of parts that used to be buds, leaves and branches – new branches will form, starting the clone off with up to a dozen new branches within the first few nodes. Although you can take the clones for up to 4-5 weeks in flowering, for optimal results you should take cuttings between 10 and 15  days of flowering.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below:

 

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