"Traditional" LST vs Main-Lining: Plant vs. Plant Showdown!

Greetings Plant Lovers,

So I'll be doing a grown journal for this grow as well, but wanted to get the ball rolling with this thread. Newbie grower here with one successful grown under my belt. You can check out that first grown by searching this site for "Maiden Voyage." The mission for that first grow was simply to keep the plants alive through harvest. Mission Accomplished! Now the new mission is to find the best growing technique for my 3' x 3' x 6' grow tent.

While the results of Low Stress Training during my first grow were impressive (to me a least), I decided to try the more aggressive Main-Lining technique this time and compare that with the gentler LST option. So I've taken two identical seeds (same strain from the same grower) and placed them in the same environment (same pot size, soil type, feeding/watering schedule, etc.), and have been LSTing one and Main-Lining the other. As of today they are 7 1/2 weeks from germ (6 week veg, 1 1/2 weeks since flipping to 12/12). So far the results are clear...

MAIN-LINING KICKS ASS!!! The main-lined plant is clearly bigger and growing stronger than the LST'd one. The developing bud sites are also more impressive. The main stem of the main-lined plant looks like a little tree trunk!

I'll throw up some pics sometime in the near future to show the side by side. If you have a small grow space and haven't tried main-lining STOP WASTING TIME AND DO IT! It's been just over 7 weeks and I'm already a believer!

Got any questions or want to share your experience with main-lining or LSTing please chime in.

Perhaps the stronger pheno was the one you chose to mainline...

Glad they both turned out female for ya.

Hard to say since they were different beans. Good experiment, but 2 clones of the same plant would be a more level playing field.

It could vary by strain as well. Some plants don't like excessive topping/training

innerG said:

Hard to say since they were different beans. Good experiment, but 2 clones of the same plant would be a more level playing field.

It could vary by strain as well. Some plants don't like excessive topping/training

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this is good^
I'm surprised i figured all the extra stress from mainlining would have made the that plant smaller simply because you have to constantly top and trim

SnaFuu said:

Perhaps the stronger pheno was the one you chose to mainline...

Glad they both turned out female for ya.

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Yeah, they both turned out to be girls. I was sweating that for a few days. The main-lined one took two or three days longer to show it's sex. Perhaps all the extra topping slowed down it's development/maturity a little. Now the LST's plant is very healthy, so don't get me wrong. But the main-lined one is kicking ass and taking names!

innerG said:

Hard to say since they were different beans. Good experiment, but 2 clones of the same plant would be a more level playing field.

It could vary by strain as well. Some plants don't like excessive topping/training

Click to expand...

Yeah, they were different beans. But they were the exact same strain from the same provider (Medical White Widow from Kera Seeds). You're right, a "perfect" experiment would be two clones taken at the same time from the same mother plant. But outside of that, this is the closest I could get to a true side by side comparison of the two growing techniques.

In the spirit of full disclosure, the seed that I turned into the main-lined plant sprouted about 20 hour earlier than the other plant. So maybe that seed was a little stronger to begin with. But I have a VERY hard time contributing the difference in growth to one seed having a 20 hour head start.

As far as the stress from topping/training, I had the same thoughts as you. Figured the stress would slow it down and drag out the veg period. I couldn't have been more wrong. It seemed like after each topping the plant would bounce back faster than the topping before. I planned to veg longer but had to flip to 12/12 after 6 weeks because the plant was already 18" wide. Remember, I have two plants in a 3' x 3' space.

KarmaPaymentPlan said:

this is good^
I'm surprised i figured all the extra stress from mainlining would have made the that plant smaller simply because you have to constantly top and trim

Click to expand...

Right, that's why I was sure to do one plant with gentler LST. I didn't want to main-line both plants and end of up with a skimpy harvest or have to wait 5+ months before I could enjoy "the fruits of my labor". The LST plant was going to be my back-up while I tried this crazy main-ling concept. After all, so much topping and trimming has to slow things down, right? WRONG! In fact, if things continue to go as they've been going I plan on changing my entire approach to growing. Given my small grow area, I'm thinking I would do best by growing a single plant and main-ling that beast to the max! Veg for 7 weeks, do 4 rounds of topping to create 16 "main" colas and let that single plant fill the whole 3' x 3' area.

Gr8Xcape98 said:

Yeah, they were different beans. But they were the exact same strain from the same provider

Click to expand...

That may be true but differ plants' phenotypes can vary widely. You can have indica and sativa-leaning phenos in the same pouch of a cross, even from reputable breeders.

There's a reason people grow out a whole pack to pick a 'keeper' mother to take clones from. They're not all the same, it's genetics.

If you're in limited space, SoG or SCRoG will maximize your yield

Gr8Xcape98 said:

Right, that's why I was sure to do one plant with gentler LST. I didn't want to main-line both plants and end of up with a skimpy harvest or have to wait 5+ months before I could enjoy "the fruits of my labor". The LST plant was going to be my back-up while I tried this crazy main-ling concept. After all, so much topping and trimming has to slow things down, right? WRONG! In fact, if things continue to go as they've been going I plan on changing my entire approach to growing. Given my small grow area, I'm thinking I would do best by growing a single plant and main-ling that beast to the max! Veg for 7 weeks, do 4 rounds of topping to create 16 "main" colas and let that single plant fill the whole 3' x 3' area.

Click to expand...

just keep in mind what everyone else is saying 2 seeds are 2 totally different plants some grow faster regardless and some don't like being topped so it's about working with what you got

Everyone is pretty much on point. I fucking hate tomatos yet my brother loves them therfore we are not identical!!

You need clones, and even with clones, a clone of strain A might take better to topping while a clone of strain B hates topping but loves lst. Ect. Your best bet would be taking 2 or 4 clones of 4 different strains and see how each set reacts to training, if you happen to really like how a strain grows and flowers, you could just pick up more of those clones and have a blast.

Greetings Plant Lovers,

Thanks for all the input. I hear what you guys are saying. Siblings can have the same parents and end up looking and acting very different. I get that. I can see how taking clones is the best way to "neutralize" all other variables so that any difference in growth can only be attributed to the topping/training technique. That makes sense. At some point I'd like to try taking some clones and get a separate cloning/veg station set up. That's not gonna happen during this grow though.

The main-lined plant may have had better genetics to begin with (maybe), but what's clear to me is the aggressive topping and training didn't negatively impact this plant in any visible way. The pics below tell the story up to this point. This is just my second grow so I definitely don't claim to be an expert, but so far I'm impressed with what I see. Like "innerG" said, a SCRoG is probably the best way to max out the small space, but what's the best way to train the plant for the SCRoG? Seems to me that for this particular White Widow strain this main-lining technique would be perfect.

Anywhoo, on to the pics.

Here are the two ladies before their first topping. As you can see, the main-line plant is just a touch larger at this stage. Both seeds were started at the same time. The main-line seed popped a day earlier than the LST.


The ladies somewhere in week 5 of veg.


Side by side, last day of veg.


Side by side during transition/flower


Side by side - Day 13 of 12/12


There's a lot more growin to go before the final verdict is in, but so far this main-lining seems to be the real deal.

You do the SCRoG before flowering (I think) I don't do it myself. You build a frame from PVC or wood or whatever, put the netting across it, then let the plants grow through it and spread out before you start flowering, then all the colas pop through.

I usually just top them a time or two myself. I like being able to easily rotate the plants and take them in and out.

Gr8Xcape98 said:

Greetings Plant Lovers,

Thanks for all the input. I hear what you guys are saying. Siblings can have the same parents and end up looking and acting very different. I get that. I can see how taking clones is the best way to "neutralize" all other variables so that any difference in growth can only be attributed to the topping/training technique. That makes sense. At some point I'd like to try taking some clones and get a separate cloning/veg station set up. That's not gonna happen during this grow though.

The main-lined plant may have had better genetics to begin with (maybe), but what's clear to me is the aggressive topping and training didn't negatively impact this plant in any visible way. The pics below tell the story up to this point. This is just my second grow so I definitely don't claim to be an expert, but so far I'm impressed with what I see. Like "innerG" said, a SCRoG is probably the best way to max out the small space, but what's the best way to train the plant for the SCRoG? Seems to me that for this particular White Widow strain this main-lining technique would be perfect.

Anywhoo, on to the pics.

Here are the two ladies before their first topping. As you can see, the main-line plant is just a touch larger at this stage. Both seeds were started at the same time. The main-line seed popped a day earlier than the LST.
View attachment 3532203 View attachment 3532204

The ladies somewhere in week 5 of veg.
View attachment 3532205 View attachment 3532206

Side by side, last day of veg.
View attachment 3532207

Side by side during transition/flower
View attachment 3532208

Side by side - Day 13 of 12/12
View attachment 3532209

There's a lot more growin to go before the final verdict is in, but so far this main-lining seems to be the real deal.

Click to expand...

When using a screen (scrog), you start in veg and tuck stretched growth into the next outer square when things get stretchy. This keeps your stretched tops at screen height while allowing time for other tops to catch up in veg. When all tops are equal and plants are healthy you flip to flower (at whatever screen fill % you like) and end up with nothing but cola galore above the screen, a bonus is all the top cola's hog most of the light from the bottom so any undergrowth that did not stretch in time or too small of a cola can be trimmed away so the plant can focus above the screen instead. Screen of green is basically and bearly an (LST) method itself and works great because you dont have to stunt growth at any time, the plant doesn't mind getting stretched a few inches away every other day/week. Also, topping and lst can be done early to get the plant structure ready for scrog but too much topping might slap you with a tripple cola in one square which is no good unless your growing girl scout cookiea or something simular.

Greetings Plant Lovers,

So here's a quick update on the ladies plus a little bragging on the sweet little drip irrigation rig I recently added to the set-up.

As for Main-Lining vs LST, my opinion remains the same. The main-lined plant is simply stronger and seems to be on track to produce a better yield than the LST's plant. Now, I must admit that the LST'd plant has filled out A LOT. The tallest colas on the LST are almost the same height as the main-line's colas. The thing is, the LST plant has about 3 or 4 very strong looking colas that reached a decent size. The rest are going to be smaller buds. Compare that with the main-line plant where all 8 main bud sites are roughly the same height and size. True to form, the main-line plant seems to be treating each bud site as a "main cola". To put it another way, the largest of the LST "pre-colas" is the same size as the smallest of the main-line's 8 pre-colas.

I know, this one experiment doesn't prove main-lining will work 100% of the time. Also, since these plants were grown from seed (and not clones) the difference in genetics could be playing a role. But all that being said, I'm damn impressed with how main-lining has allowed me to dictate the plant's growth and structure.

Now to the pics! You'll notice the plants look a little droopy, especially the main-line. That's because I was inspired to create a drip irrigation set up and delayed water for a day while I gathered all the materials.

The ladies side by side. You'll see the main-lined lady is droopier. That because she's drinking more water than the LST'd plant, a possible sign she's growing more vigorously.



Close up of the reservoir. Just an empty 2-liter with a hose-to-1/2" tube adapter attached. Pretty simple.



Here's the reservoir and hose. The hose and reservoir can be detached as a "unit."



Each plant has an irrigation tube ring with four 2GPH drip emitters. It's gravity fed (low pressure) so the actual drip rate is way less than 2GPH



Hose connector with and without hose attached.



I was getting tired of hand watering. This set up makes life much easier. It waters the girls nice and slow. Takes about 10 mins to deliver just under 2 liters (1ltr per plant). I fill the res, go do something for ten minutes go back and refill the res. Repeat that until both plants start giving runoff. K.I.S.S.

Greetings Plant Lovers,

So here's a quick update and a few interesting observations. The girls are both growing strong. Since flipping to 12/12 about 5 weeks ago the girls have been getting the same treatment - same amount of water and nutes delivered at the same time. The stretch is over and the ladies are putting their energy into growing those sweet buds. Of the two, the main-line plant ended up about 6" taller with more uniform height. But the LST'd plant seems like it's forming much denser bud clusters. It's a little shorter, and has 7 "primary" colas of varying heights (the main-line has 8 colas of fairly even height). But the little guy looks to be working on some frosty, kick-ass buds. The main-line plant, on the other hand, has spaced out buds and seems to be developing slower. Maybe this is because both plants are getting the same amount of nutes and water. The main-line may need more "fuel" to keep up with it's more aggressive growth. On a few occasions the main-line plant's leaves started to droop between waterings - this hasn't happened at all with the LST'd plant.

Anyway, on to some pics!

The ladies side-by-side. Day 36 of 12/12



Main-Line Pics. Pay attention to the trichomes



LST'd Plant. Again, check out the trichomes


Here's a side by side of a bud from each plant. If you look closely you can see the difference in trichome development.


Hopefully the main-line plant is simply a week or so behind in development due to having to endure multiple rounds of aggressive topping throughout veg. Time will tell.

Greetings Plant Lovers,

Quick update. The girls are growing well. The main-line is definitely behind by a week or two, so she'll be harvested well after the other plant. Both plants have kicked into fatten up mode and are starting to put on some weight, but the LST'd plant is winning that race. That said, had to add a few supports to the main-line plant because the buds were starting to become top-heavy.

Also, quite impressed with the General Organics GOBox nutes. Aside from having an array of some of the most foul odors one could imagine, the shit's not half bad. All the nutes that come in the kit are being used pretty much as suggested by the GO nutrient schedule. Only real exception is the BioThrive which is currently being applied at 15ml per gal instead of the recommended 10ml.

The ladies.


Some pics of the main-lined lady. Nearly 100% white hairs.


Some pics of the LST'd lady. Starting to see quite a few orange/brown hairs.



Guessing 4 to 5 weeks before it's time to chop the LST'd girl and a week or two longer for the main-lined lady. But that's just a guess. The scope is coming out and trichomes will start getting checked in about a week.

Lookin good !
I like the drip feed system.
Plain & simple !

Thanks fishdeth. That drip feed really has made life easier.

Here's a quick observation update. Both plants are growing fine, but I'm pretty sure at this point that the main-lined plant needed a more aggressive feeding schedule. That said, looks like she's gonna give a decent yield. I just think she's far reaching her full potential.

Haven't been doing any defoliation, just been removing leaves as they start to yellow. If a leaf is about 50% yellow/brown, I hand pluck it. You'll notice the bottom of the main-lined plant is fairly clear of leaves and others leaves higher up are starting to yellow. The LST girl, on the other hand, is still pretty green and bushy all the way down. I know leaves start to yellow and fall off about this point in the race. But looking at the two ladies the LST looks like it's been "better fed" up to this point. And it shows, her buds are dense and look nice and frosty!

I say all that to say I think the main-lined lady could have been a monster if the nutes were dialed in right. I still think the technique has a lot of potential given how it lets you dictate the structure of the plant and appears to have a positive impact on growth and "vigor".

Here are a few pics of what I'm talking about. Check out the yellowing on the main-line in the first pic. But check out the even height of all the main-line colas in the second pic. I think the LST might produce better bud for this grow, but looks like this main-line thing has some serious potential.



Threw in a quick bud pic cause who doesn't love a close up

High,
i also run some Main-Lined plants. So far, i´m very happy with this technique! Plants doin well and it looks like they gonna give me some very nice Buds
Can check the pics in my Journal
ps: your babys looking fine !

Hey Smokin Slot, thanks for stopping by and showing some love. I checked out your critical grow. Your ladies look damn fine! We're in about the same size tent (36" x 36" for me) and looks like we'll hit harvest around the same time. My girls should be ready around New Year's.

Quick observation update. Like a number of early posters said, the difference in genetics of the two girls is making any "apples to apples" comparison between to two growth techniques almost impossible. As I said earlier, some of the difference in growth is probably their different nutrient needs. But as the girls mature their difference in genetics is becoming more apparent. As an FYI, this is supposed to be a "sativa dominant" strain but that's to be taken with a grain of salt.

Below are two bud pics, one from each plant. For scale I included my Joyetech eVic w/ Kanger Subtank mini (you vapers know what I'm talking about). The tank is about 1" in diameter and the tank/mouthpiece is about 3" tall.

No doubt they both are gonna produce some nice buds, but at this point looks like the LST is on track to be a higher quality toke. Then again, a lot can happen in the last month or so of flower.