Sommersby
Member
OK -- if you are a LST-er (and you should be!), here's a few tips for Low-Stress-Training......
- When growing in soil, use a plastic bucket- that way you can use a nail to punch holes through where you will be tying down the branches. This keeps you from having to use anchor spikes in the soil that can disrupt the roots.
- Use semi-thick string or fishing line to anchor branches. Both work. It has to be thick enough to not cut into the stem as it grows. Thin string will grow into the stem!!
- Don't worry about tying knots- which can be annoying. Just thread string through the hole on the rim of the bucket, then around branch, come back to other end of string and twist together. Twist until the branch is pulled to the desired heighth. Use a fingernail-size piece of tape (masking, aluminum, duct, etc.) and wrap at the 'Y' of the string. Trim excess string with scissors. What's great about this technique is you can move the string along the branch as it grows and re-tighten by twisting some more and re-taping. Eventually, you could have 20 holes around the rim!
- Start LSTING when the plant is 5-6 inches. Bend main stalk around the bucket as it grows. As new branches grow from the sides, bend them over towards the opposite side of the main stalk. The idea is to fill the total grow area of the bucket (and then some) with all of your bent branches so that each cola has it's own space-- and all are about the same heighth. Similar to a SCROG or SOG, but each plant will develop 12-15 colas sizeable colas as compared to one main cola per plant with a few tiny ones. LSTING works!
- LSTING allows for BIGGER/TALLER plants in a smaller grow area-- plus you can keep plants in VEG without having them take up too much space. A 20" plant will only be 6-8" high in an 8" bucket.
- There are two arguments why LSTING works. First, that the plant is stressed by being bent vine-like around the bucket-- which causes it to go into an 'over-grow' mode. The second, that all the branches are exposed to the light EQUALLY- instead of the loss experienced growing vertically. Remember the inverse square loss of light rule! From personal experience, I believe in BOTH
- LST into flowering if needed. Some say no, but if you're plant is not covering all available grow area/surface area, you should bend them to expose more leaves- and get more bud!
- Before harvesting, cut all strings at the rim of the bucket and slowly pull through and out. You're done- now harvest away!
