



Plant training is a great way to achieve a desired canopy shape on your cannabis plant. It can include a variety of different techniques, but I have always preferred to keep it simple. The techniques you choose should always compliment your growing style. If you are the type of grower that likes to move your plants around, and get up close and personal with them, then you won't want to choose something like a Screen of Green (SCROG). For me personally, I choose not to use any permanent training tools such as a screen or trellis. I use a combination of topping with continuous low stress training (LST). The result is always a short and bushier cannabis plant, with an even canopy of multiple tops, which is perfect for my indoor growing environment.









My training always starts early, when the seedling or clone has about 5 nodes. The first action I take is to simply bend the plant over and tie it down. This sends signals to the lower nodes, causing those branches to begin stretching upward toward the light. At this point, I also pinch or cut the top node off the plant. Again, this causes the lower branches to stretch upwards to become new tops but also creates two new natural tops, rather than just one. After doing the first topping, you will want to let the two new tops grow out a couple of nodes before tying them down. Once they are long enough to safely bend and tie without damaging, they should both be bent and tied down. As the lower branches grow vertically, it is important to keep the top growth shoots tied down, forcing them to grow horizontally. After a week or two of this growth, you should start to notice your plant taking on a bushier shape than if it were left to grow naturally.









As lower branches reach the upper canopy level of the plant, they should be bent and tied down as well. The main goal is to always have the top growth sites growing horizontally, allowing lower growth an opportunity to reach the upper canopy. If time is not an issue for your vegetative stage, you can top any growth shoot that reaches the upper canopy. Remember, when you remove the top growth shoot of a branch, it will be replaced with two new main shoots. This is where the bushiness of your plant can be controlled. The more branches you top, the bushier the plant will get. Each time you top a branch it causes stress to the plant, which stunts the growth for a while. So if time is an issue, you may want to limit yourself to only topping two or three times.





Through the entire vegetative stage, it is important to adjust your ties to keep all new upper growth growing evenly and horizontally. As the plant gets into its vigorous growth stage, these ties may need to be adjusted every 2 or 3 days.





The more attention you can give to your low stress training, the more even your canopy will be. An even canopy with several tops takes more time and work during the vegetative stage, but you will be rewarded with much better yields when the plant begins to flower. The top flower of a cannabis plant always grows the biggest, as it gets the best light. The idea with topping and low stress training is to create an even canopy, filled with several growth shoots that are all at the same height.







