Let’s face it—we all get stressed. This means humanoids, aliens, even cannabis plants! For better or for worse, stress is a common phenomenon among all growers of the good weed too. However, a properly informed approach to low stress training your cannabis plants (LST) will always provide the best results.
If you’re a new grower, you may be saying to yourself, “So what is low stress training for cannabis plants? How do I do it, and when do I do it?” These are all questions your growmie from another dimension—Greg the Alien—is here to help answer!
What Is Low Stress Training?
Cannabis plants—especially those grown indoors—naturally grow straight up, a phenomenon known as apical dominance. So by gently bending and tying the smaller branches to go away from the main branch, the light that typically shines directly down on top of the canopy can now be distributed to plenty of more bud sites. Along with a flatter canopy, LST also allows for improved airflow, keeping mold and mildew from developing courtesy of stagnant, cluttered air.
Now that the plant is more spread out horizontally, the newly optimized branches and stems will also provide a bigger overall yield. I’ve never met a grower—humanoid or alien—that doesn’t want more bud after all is said and done with their plant, so that’s why LST is another no-brainer!
Cannabis plants of all sizes, shapes, and strains can be optimized for low stress training—indoors and outdoors. The minimally stressful nature of doing this won’t affect your plant negatively compared to other high-stress methods.
What Are Some Benefits Of Low Stress Training Cannabis Plants?
The benefits of low stress training have been proven time and time again by growers new and old. They LST for a variety of reasons that may or may not always be so obvious to everyone.
LST Allows For More Control Of Your Plant’s Size & Shape
As mentioned, aside from valuable indoor light or sunlight only focusing on the main bud site or “cola,” low stress training is any grower’s opportunity to mold their cannabis plants into the sizes and shapes they wish.
Whether that means spacing out your branches more optimally for better light and airflow, or simply trying to reduce the height of an indoor grow, LST gives the grower the most control in this area. This is critical for any grower with limited space, or even the outdoor grower looking to keep things scaled down for better discretion from curious eyes.
Increased Growth Vigor
LST also improves growth vigor throughout the entire cultivation process—a most valuable factor for any grower. When a cannabis plant is stressed by its environment or perhaps a lack of water or nutrients, it will create an internal response that affects how it grows. Low stress training creates a beneficial internal response that redistributes energy from the main branch to all branches.
This very factor alone creates an opportunity for cannabis plants to grow healthier and stronger—in a more balanced and efficient way.
Increased Quality, Potency, And Yields
Creating those additional bud sites courtesy of low stress training ultimately leads to more potent, high-quality, and generous overall yields. Due to the increased photosynthesis and weight-bearing strength created from LST, the cannabis plant flower buds develop bigger, with more metabolites and subsequent cannabinoids and terpenes.
Growers of successful harvests are also rewarded when using low stress training techniques to maximize quality and yield.
When To LST
Beginning the process of low stress training your cannabis plants should start fairly early in the vegetative stage. Most growers agree that you should ensure at least 4–5 leaf nodes have been established after germination in the early weeks of veg before starting any LST.
By contrast, performing LST at any point in the flowering stage usually proves to be detrimental in most cases since the branches are more susceptible to snapping or breaking off completely at this point in their lifecycle.
Autoflowers And LST
Autoflowers transition from vegetative stage to flowering much faster than photoperiod plants. That’s why it’s super urgent to begin low stress training early in the veg stage (2–3 weeks) before flowering starts, typically after as little as 4 weeks! Autoflowers are also very vigorous growers when bred from quality genetics and breeders, making them very resilient to LST and environmental stressors.
However, due to their smaller statures, autoflower growers must be careful not to overstress compared to that of a larger photoperiod plant. Visibly stunted growth is often the result of overstressing an auto.
Methods Of LST
Over time, growers have developed a few different techniques to LST efficiently. Growers of all skill levels more commonly use some LST methods, while more advanced growers adopt others. No matter how green your thumb is, check out a few ways to best LST while making gentle and gradual adjustments.
Bending & Tying Branches
Bending and tying branches is the most tried and true method of low stress training. To do so, growers do as the title suggests—gently bend stems and branches away from the main branch and cola towards a space with less crowding from other branches and bud sites. Do so with even pressure until you feel slight resistance.
Next is tying the bent branches to secure them in place. There are a few tools and materials often used in conjunction with this method of LST. These include:
Twist ties – These tiny guys use their plastic or rubber coated, wiry selves to keep bent branches and stems in place without cutting into or damaging them. Garden wire can also be used, but be sure that it will not dig into the stem or plant tissue and cause any damage.
Support stakes – Different from the support steaks some carnivorous humanoids consume when going through a rough patch, support stakes are used to support the tied-down branches once you’ve affixed the twist ties to them. These stakes can be placed anywhere in the soil for easy access without pulling or pushing the branches and overstressing.
Drill – Tiny holes can also be drilled along the top perimeter of your flower pot container so that the twist ties can be run through them to anchor low stress trained branches in place. This is just another great option growers have to DIY their plants for low stress training.
LST clips – Clipping one of these handy attachments to your branches safely maneuvers them to a desired location without any tying or additional support.
Best Practices
Ensure that the branches you are applying LST to are filling any open space or gaps in the cannabis plant’s canopy without adding any extra shade to any others. As more and more branches, stems, and bud sites begin to develop, you should keep applying LST to them until about midway through the vegetative stage.
If you’re running autoflowers, keep your LST in place until they begin the flowering process. Overall, when growing autoflower or photoperiods, avoid continuing LST once you see signs of flower development.
Always be sure to use gentle force when applying low stress training techniques, while always regularly checking on your ties, should any adjustments need to be made. In the event a branch or stem gets damaged, products like plant tape can swoop in to the rescue—it’ll be OK, my growmie!
Other Methods Of LST
After a newer grower begins to understand and successfully apply the basics of LST, there are a few other ways to manipulate your plant’s size, structure, and eventual yield.
Scrogging
Also known as Screen of Green, this LST method utilizes horizontal netting within a frame that is placed over the plant canopy sometime during the halfway point of the veg stage. The plant’s branches can be interspersed and weaved within the screen, making the best use of any open spaces available, while creating increased lateral growth.
Topping
Toppingis when a grower cuts down the main stem of the cannabis plant early on in its development to make room for more bud sites and colas. Topping is a common form of stress training that can technically be considered a high-stress training method as well, depending on how much the grower uses care to do so. Many growers typically combine this method with bending and tying branches.
Weight Training
Some growers like to attach specifically designed, weighted clips and attachments to their stems and branches to get them accustomed to low stress and to maintain a specific direction in which to grow. These can be used in conjunction or in place of tying to support branches.
Perform LST For A Variety Of Benefits
Sometimes stress can put a lot of pressure on the best of us. Cannabis plants are so unique that not only do they feel pressure too—they respond accordingly. Due to its sheer ability to improve harvest yields (as most growers can attest to), low stress training is one of the most important and beneficial steps any grower can take to ensure maximum results when all is said and done.
Just a few simple and small steps and tools can go a long way to ensure your cannabis plant trains right for the big win!
Start Training With The Best Seeds
Looking for cannabis seeds that thrive with LST? Shop premium feminized seeds, autoflower seeds, and high-yield strains at Multiverse Beans—your go-to online cannabis seed bank for elite genetics. Get started today and take your grow to the next dimension! Contact us to learn more.
References
Beveridge, C. A., Rameau, C., & Wijerathna-Yapa, A. (2023). Lessons from a century of apical dominance research. Journal of Experimental Botany, 74(14), 3903–3922.https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad137
Bernstein, N., Gorelick, J., Zerahia, R., & Koch, S. (2019). Impact of N, P, K, and humic acid supplementation on the chemical profile of medical cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.). Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, 736. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.00736
Massuela, D. C., Munz, S., Hartung, J., Nkebiwe, P. M., & Graeff-Hönninger, S. (2023). Cannabis Hunger Games: Nutrient stress induction in flowering stage – Impact of organic and mineral fertilizer levels on biomass, cannabidiol (CBD) yield, and nutrient use efficiency. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14, 1233232.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1233232
Saloner, A., Sacks, M. M., & Bernstein, N. (2019). Response of medical cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) genotypes to K supply under long photoperiod. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, 1369. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01369
