TOPPING - vs - LST

[blizma]

heheheh oki :P.
So, which one of these techniques really does keep the plants lowest?

LST : 6
yabatab
UnitedParcelSecrets
Pothead4204life
MeatRulez
jamstigator
greenmonster

TOPPING : 3
yabatab
mscaboo
jamstigator

[yabatab]

MeatRulz = im doing the same thing your doing, smallest grow possible.. if possible can u add my msn/icq ?

Also yabatab thanks + i always used CFL's aswell (add my msn/icq aswell )

CURRENT STATS :

LST : 4
yabatab
UnitedParcelSecrets
Pothead4204life
MeatRulez

TOPPING : 2
yabatab
mscaboo


Aaaa... LST is wining

I added you to my contacts you'll know who I am yabatab is in my
MSN addy:thumbsup:

[MegaOctane12]

This has been copied and pasted :


Topping the plant means to remove its primary growing shoot. The plant then redirects its energy to the next two closest shoots which become primary shoots. This may be done as many times as the grower desires. Note, however, that the resulting buds will be smaller than if the plant had been left untopped. The real issue becomes "Does the mass of the two new buds exceed the mass of the otherwise untopped cola?" The answer to this question varies from strain to strain, perhaps even, from plant to plant.

When topped, frequently the two central growth tips will stop growing for a period, while the plant directs its energies to repairing the damage central shoot. A collateral effect of topping is that the plant bushes out, that is, all of the lower branches continue to grow when the growth of the central shoots pauses. This can be useful in a propagation technique like SCroG, in which it is desirable for all of the budsites to be on an even plane.

The slowdown in growth may be avoided by pinching,rather than cutting, the growth tip. This does not cause the resulting bushiness in the lower growth, but does cause the two secondary tips to become primary.

How, when and where to top are also matters of ongoing debate. Ultimately, it becomes a personal decision of the grower, based upon his own experiences and goals.

[blizma]

sweet information thanks. this will help newbies that duno wot we r talking about

so u vote for topping?

[smokinbass]

Topped will def reduce the size of your biggest cola. since hight is the issue, it may be your only option. LST may need a little more latteral room. (if u bend a plant over will it be in the way of another plant?

What indica strain are u growing??

if it is a short (even for indica) strain like afgan u may want to just force flower a little earlier when the plant is just under half the hight your grow area can deal with.

the slightly shorter veg time may produce a smaller plant with smaller yeild, but with a main cola larger than a topped plant.

but u get through veg+flower in slightle less time which means u star next grow a couple of weeks sooner.... increasing your yeild over the course of the whole year.


But if i had to choose; Top or train.... train.

[slowthestone]

bend'm...then bend'm some more.

[attachment=o79891]

[blizma]

thanks smokinbass for the info + you gave one point to LST.

thanks to you also slowthestone + nice pic + 1 for LST

keep the votes + info coming
LST : 8
yabatab
UnitedParcelSecrets
Pothead4204life
MeatRulez
jamstigator
greenmonster
smokinbass
slowthestone

TOPPING : 3
yabatab
mscaboo
jamstigator

[blizma]

LST (low stress training)

Training has been arround since Jesus grew herb... or at least Id like to think so.

Training is anymethod you use to control the growth of your plant. Topping is probably the most common form of training(for canabis). Topping is high stress training. Cutting the main grow stem off stresses the plant and causes it to redistribute its hormones to other grow tips resulting in the multi cola plants.

This method is low stress training. There is little if any recovery time because you are not damaging the budsites of your plants. When you tie the top grow tip below the rest of the plant the plant has the same reaction as topping... oh shit something is wrong effect... and the axial growth tips are redistributed. The key to LST is to create a horizontal plane of buds so that they all get the same light and grow at the same rate. You end up with a bush of many colas instead of the traditional christmas tree bud plant with one main cola.

There are many ways to LST using steaks, chicken wire screens are common, many other I probably dont know about.

This one is easy though.

First step is to get a large pot the final size you want your pot and put a bunch of screws arround the lip of the pot I used 8 screws. These are the tie points for your training

pic 1

step 2 pic 2

This next step is CRITICAL!!! I cannot stress this enough. This is the countertie. It is used so that the bottom part of your plants stem stays straight and in place. Without a countertie you are likely to uproot your plant because training usually occurs when there about a month or so old and not extremely established.

Its simple just tie a piece of twine from one of the screws arround the bottom of your plant. Make sure that your twine is tied above the first leaf pair so that it doesnt slip all the way down to the bottom of the plant.

step 3 pic 3

Thats simple right? You can see it kinda pulled my plant to one side. I dotn think thats necessary i just got a little bit carried away and tied it real tight.

The next step is to tie the main growth tip down so that the plant will release hormones that cause all the other growth tips to start functioning like the main cola.

I use a simple overhand knot and tie my twine UNDER the highest set of developed leafs. Once again you need to make sure that the knot doesnt slip off of your plant. Then i tie a slip knot arround a screw. I use slip knots so i can just tighten the string as the plant grows. You can retie it everytime but im super lazy and that wouldnt cut it.

pic 4

heres a pic that shows how the stem will bend when you train it. I tie it pretty tight and i havent broken a stem yet but if your worried about that just tie it lose at first and slowly tighten it. The plant will adapt.

pic 5

That plant sure is ugly! lol it has all kinds of mysterious spots dying on it but whatever i got a couple further along that are good so Im not concerned with it....
Speaking of plants that are further along....
This is my second oldest plant that was LST'd about 4-5 days ago. You can see along the main stem that the growth tips are starting to get real developed. I move the leaves away from these growth tips so they get a lot of light and are happy.
They will soon start growing like crazy and you will start to train them to make your plant into a full on bush.

=====================

Yes.. this has been copy and pasted. Thanks to DUBMAN who made this tutorial on planetskunk.

[blizma]

[align=center]Topping, Pruning and Bending Cannabis Marijuana Plants

Topping, pruning, and bending are all methods marijuana growers use to alter the growth pattern of cannabis......[/align]

Pruning Marijuana - Pruning is the removal of unwanted, often dead foliage. Pruning away old yellowing leaves helps to preserve the health of the garden. Never remove healthy leaves. Pruning marijuana is also done to concentrate growth into certain favored areas of the plant. Pruning is done in some cases to prevent the spread of disease. Any removal of foliage or branches will slow growth for a few days while the plant recovers. Try to snip or cut when pruning. Over-pruning leads to plant shock leading to all kinds of problems such as stunted growth and/or death.

Topping Marijuana - Topping a plant refers to cutting off the top shoot(s) of cannabis plants. You can pinch, clip or snip off the tallest shoots or the freshest shoots. Cut the branch stem just below the last fully developed node,. The plant starts developing branches at the remaining nodes. This is a good techniques to keep a plant short and bushy. Or you can develop many top colas instead of just one. Don't top a plant more than twice and never top when it is in the flowering stage.

Bending Marijuana - Carefully pull down the branches of your cannabis plant, or the whole plant, tye them down. You are now forcing them to grow horizontally. Tthe nodes will start producing branches or buds that grow straight up. Bending should be done gradually to avoid pinching or snapping the stem. Use soft hemp string or cloth to secure the branch or stem loosely when tying down to minimize damage to the soft stems. Growth is slowed for awhile as the cannabis plant adjusts to the shock of being bent. This is a good technique to maximize space in a small grow room

[MegaOctane12]

I think it applies to your situation. If you ScroG, topping would be the best option because, generally, plants should be flowered before they get very tall, it means that for the height, you get more colas growing through the screen than if you didn't top. If you don't ScroG but you still want short plants because of height restrictions, LST is the best option.