Training outdoor plants; beneficial?

This seems like a common post and I did search before posting but found no results, so forgive me if something similar has been posted previously.

In many outdoor grow photos/videos, it seems the growers left the plants to grow as they would naturally. While I hear people get better results from pruned/trimmed, screened, or trained plants. Why do I not see this in many outdoor grows? Is the payoff not worth the time and labor involved? I'd love to hear other's experiences and insight. I think if I were to grow, I would train my plants to grow horizontally and in a north-south direction plus pruning if necessary.

I like to top and or fimm many of the strains that I grow to keep a lower profile, not for security reasons but so as to keep the plants managable. I would much rather have a 5 foot tall 'bush' than a 12 foot tall 'tree' simpley because I find it easier to check for mold, bugs, or cola developement. I have seen pictures of some awsome plants that where done in a type of large scale scrog method which makes sense but I've never personally tied it as that looked to be a lot of extra work to me and I try to keep things simple and easy. If I had extra room and time I would maybe give it a try. I did see a picture and short article by a grower who put up a slanted trelise above his plants and did a kind of scrog so as the buds all got the most southern exposer, by training the plants to grow along the trellise, which looked to be a very good idea.

If you have the room why don't you give it a try on a plant or two and let us know what happens.

Good point about the slant. I think, for my area, an 80 degree slant would be the most ideal angle for catching the most sun. Below is a cool website I found which will calculate the optimal angle of solar panels for different times of the year. I'm sure this would also work for plants, of course you can't adjust plants very easily, so one would have to find the average angle of the most important growing months.

http://solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-angle-calculator.html

i wondered this to as im new to growing ,im half way through my first outdoor grow now and i left half my plant to grow naturally and topped the other ones twice ,to see which yielded more , no results yet though

Keep me posted Lickalotapus! I just worry because I see photos like these

View attachment 2479276

and feel that natural is the better way to go, however, from what I hear training seems to have so much potential to it. If you train them, do they tend to stay small? I'm shooting for more yield and it seems that a huge plant compared to a trained one gives much more end product. Am I missing something?

NietzscheKeen said:

Keep me posted Lickalotapus! I just worry because I see photos like these
and feel that natural is the better way to go, however, from what I hear training seems to have so much potential to it. If you train them, do they tend to stay small? I'm shooting for more yield and it seems that a huge plant compared to a trained one gives much more end product. Am I missing something?

Click to expand...

no they still will get huge...i top every plant i grow outside...i had two plants over 7' last season...just prepare for a week or two of slow growth after topping....

i top and lst on 18 gallon totes...it has increased my yield around double...i have only done this one season..but i will always do it now...
on the bigger plants i top them a few times...
few reasons...i feel it ups yield...its windy here and i can't have 15' tall plants...and mold loves huge single colas
there are some downsides...like stress and you need trellising as they can't hold their own weight

Absolutely! FIM, Topping, and LST are all good methods to use for outdoor. Especially if you have large amount of plants. It helps to hide and camouflage them from unwanted attention.

I had six plants (clones) that went into the ground May 15th and harvested October 14th. They were clones and about 12" tall when I transplanted them. I fimmed/topped them mid-late June and had tons of healthy colas at harvest time.My largest plant was just over 6 feet tall and the smallest 4 1/2 feet tall. Had 3 Chronic Fruity Juice, 1 White Widow and 1 Blue Widow and ended up with just under 4 1/2 pounds dried.

My largest plants were those that went in the ground early and weren't topped. I don't see advantage of of training other than stealth but then if that was the goal I'd just grow indica or autos. Now for a Sativa adding support stakes helps especially if you get strong winds. Ultra fine garden Netting is also good for pest management. Like say you have lots of grasshoppers. but no, you don't need to top or do any fancy training

NietzscheKeen said:

@Vindicated,
You don't think training or topping increases yield like it is so often claimed?

If I top when my plants get to the desired height, say... 6ft (fingers crossed) would that be better than topping when short maybe 2ft?
View attachment 2481182
I'm hoping for something like this. I read that topping and fimming keeps your plants short and bushy, but I'd prefer tall and bushy. Does tall and bushy come naturally? Can someone please second SenorBrownWater?

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I 2nd sbw. I topped and trained and my girls where 10x10x10 feet that is! Plenty bushy and tall

NietzscheKeen said:

@Vindicated,
You don't think training or topping increases yield like it is so often claimed?

If I top when my plants get to the desired height, say... 6ft (fingers crossed) would that be better than topping when short maybe 2ft?
View attachment 2481182
I'm hoping for something like this. I read that topping and fimming keeps your plants short and bushy, but I'd prefer tall and bushy. Does tall and bushy come naturally? Can someone please second SenorBrownWater?

Click to expand...

That picture looks like super cropping to mon, plant was pinched and trained where to go until flowering.......mon could be wrong but thats wut mon think otherwise it would be taller and narrow more treelike.

that's how my big plants look....
there is pics of one of my 18 gallon totes...
https://www.rollitup.org/outdoor-growing/557859-has-anyone-personally-grew-horizontally.html

No I don't think trimming helps. Cannabis is an annual not biannual and even then those plants and trees don't get the benefits until the following year.

Outside, next to genetics, the biggest limiting factor is stress from the environment and pests. Unnecessary trimming adds stress and imo slows growth.

Proper nutrition and scheduled watering helps reduce stress. As does applying ground covers and mulches.

However more then anything my experience has been that the earliest you can put plants in the ground the better. I watch my frost dates and try to plant as early in the spring as I can.

If you want bushes, better to grow a strain that naturally grows that way. DNA's OG #18 grows that way. If you like tall Christmas trees grow a Sativa like Hawaiian Snow by GHSC.

Either way your goal is to get them out side as early as possible. You'll do even better if you can start indoors in the winter then transplant in the spring.

For years I would grow some plants in fabric grow pots, some directly in the ground, and some in raised beds. I always got better results in raised beds. Containers did the worst.

In case you don't understand annual vs biannual and why trimming doesn't help, its because when you trim a branch you get two smaller branches in its place.

The following year the branches will be normal size. So if the plant can live for multiple years trimming can create a fuller looking bush. However if the plant is going to be terminated the same season, trimming doesn't offer any significant benefits. The exception being if there is an infection or decay and your removing dead tissue

This has been very helpful! I appreciate the time spent answering my questions.

I'd appreciate it if any interested parties took a look at another of my threads: https://www.rollitup.org/outdoor-growing/609872-pointless-plant-too-early-even.html

Maybe I will harvest (not kill) a couple of my best yielding plants and see if they make it till next year.

Vindicated said:

In case you don't understand annual vs biannual and why trimming doesn't help, its because when you trim a branch you get two smaller branches in its place.

The following year the branches will be normal size. So if the plant can live for multiple years trimming can create a fuller looking bush. However if the plant is going to be terminated the same season, trimming doesn't offer any significant benefits. The exception being if there is an infection or decay and your removing dead tissue

Click to expand...

tom hill tops his...


that was one season....

That's exactly what I'd like to have.... the buds will get much bigger than those in the photo though right? This photo was taken mid-season or so?

i don't remember..i read it a long time ago...it was on icmag i think...
and i would like to have plant like that too...
the containers are 300 gallons...that's a yard and a half of soil!