Low Stress Say What?

The last time I wrote I had just top, top, topped to start the process of creating more cola's. Well I topped, and then topped again, all in all I have approximately 4 main cola's growing off of each plant with a few smaller ones developing. After the plants revived themselves from the stress of getting chopped I began low stress training or "LST" for short, by stress training the plants it creates more bud sites while also allowing you to dictate in what shape the plant itself grows. To better help visualize the process think about Bonsai trees, those are trained and manicured over many years to remain small and in the their desired shape. With marijuana the process happens a lot quicker which makes for near instant gratification (which I like). Once you top and get the plant to fan out into multiple cola's you begin the training process. You take the top branches and gently pull them down and over in the direction you wish them to grow. This achieves two things; one it trains the plant to grow lower and flatter in the area you need it to fill and two it encourages the lower branches to grow higher and become the "alpha cola" or at least attempt to, all the while creating more and more areas for the plant to flower when it's time. All you need is a roll of gardening twist ties, after moving the branches to where I want them to be, I carefully secure the branches down to whatever I can, the bucket handle, tucked under the net pot lid, the hoses on the feeder bucket, etc. get creative with it! It's amazing how quickly the plant responds, you'll notice the change within a few hours, the leaves realign themselves to the light above and continue growing, it's pretty cool to see. LST training and topping are the first steps towards the SCROG which is what I'm building towards.

In this picture you can see the plants are spreading out and also the different branches pulled away, my goal is to fill the middle of the tent with the plants so I utilize the entire tent grow space.