LST (low stress training)

lots of people ask what is LST and how is it done, what does it do in the end.

LST is a training technique to keep the plant short and expose more light to lower branches, if trained enough you can create a very even canopy and grow denser buds.

you can start LST at about 3 weeks into the veg stage, make sure your plant was watered the day before or at least an hour before attempting as a dry plant will break very easily.

what you want to do is secure the stalk and loop something over the top at least 1 node down and bend her over being careful and going slow, going too fast can snap a plant too so go slow and easy and she should bend over 90 degrees no problem.

pic 1 is a plant at day 1 LST, bend right over at 90 degrees

pic 2 is the bottom of the plants branches now growing upward to the light.

pic 3 is the main cola's catching up with the rest of the plant, when she gets about 2 inches over pull her back down again under the rest of the canopy, in about 3 days she will be back up again and repeat.

pic 4 is what your new canopy should look like about 2 weeks into the LST, looks great and plants love the light.

pic 5. now ready to flower,she is 30 days old most branches should get great light to make some awesome buds for all our work, in 60 days she will look beautiful full of herb.

hope this helps anyone who wanted to know.

this is best used with CFL lighting and 250watt and lower HPS systems

damn nice pics... is that a current grow??

yup but she is well into flower :)

Thanks for the info. I was just in the process of looking up lst methods and this is exactly what I was looking for. My babies are two weeks old to the day so I am getting ready to take the next step.

Good luck on the harvest.

your more than welcome, its a very common question and its not covered in the FAQ which is really odd as it should be there, its the most common training aside from SOG.

there is also topping which ill cover at some point next grow and show how this is done and why its done, its like LST but removing the main cola and making the plant bush out and trigger all branches to becomes huge cola's as well.

Do you stop lsting when you put them in 12/12? Mine have been in flower light for a week now, so should I remove the restraints? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by invision

...this is best used with CFL lighting and 250watt and lower HPS systems

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Nice info! Question: why is this best used under the above conditions? ^ I mean, is there any reason why it wouldn't be compatible with say a 400w hps?

maybe he ment that with the lower watts its best TO DO IT, not that it WILL WORK BETTER, im doin a LST with 2 plants under a 400hps and they love it!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mrs. Greenjeans

Nice info! Question: why is this best used under the above conditions? ^ I mean, is there any reason why it wouldn't be compatible with say a 400w hps?

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i say its best cause 250watt and lower systems do not have the power to penetrate deep into the canopy, if your using 200watts in CFL you dont want to waste light on a plant that is tall, the bottom branches get little to no light and die off.

i myself have 150watt hps bulbs and if i didnt LST i would end up with a single main cola rather a bunch of cola's trained.

you can use this for any wattage its just more efficent on lower watt bulbs so you get to use up all those lumens that would have otherwised been wasted.

everyone should LST :thumbsup:

Gotcha! Thanks.:)