How-To : LST (Low Stress Training)

[fireinside2288]

hey DierWolf, i have kinda a stupid question. but where can i buy those metal hook things to do the method with?

[toastybiz]

In case he doesn't get back right away, you can just use a pair of pliers and wire cutters to make hooks out of wire coat hangers. Or use pipe cleaners, string, strips of t-shirt -- one of the beauties of LST is that there is no one way to do it, it's just the process of restraining or directing the growth of the plant in whatever way you want to achieve whatever size and growth pattern that suits your needs and your grow space.

[FRANKLY]

It seems that the LST is confined to the size of the container its in, I cant see why you couldn't veg until you run out of horizontal space before flowering

Frankly in the great white north (fk it gets cold up here)

[shouty]

http://makeitgrow.net/user.php?name=shoshi

[tea.mochi]

Would it hurt the roots to stick those in there?

[Extracurricular]

Originally Posted by teamochi

Would it hurt the roots to stick those in there?

nope.

[tea.mochi]

Originally Posted by Extracurricular

nope.

Awesome o____o
I've officially decided how I'm gonna grow my baby. Whee!

[maverick90]

How tall will a plant get if you do LST in a 10 inch pot? and how long does it take roughly?

[sparkdatzoot]

yeh but how can you start to "flower" a plant if its outside using natural light (i.e- greenhouse), how could you kickstart the plant to go from vegative to flowering?

[Extracurricular]

theres no way to do it outside unless you put a black bag over it and force it to only see 12/12. usually in the US, itll start to flower before fall. i think where i live theres only 1 harvest time, or almost positive. unless you get an auto-flower strain, but those suck.

[sparkdatzoot]

surely its 12/12 anyway though? or roughly 12/12 daylight/nighttime?

[T3h C0rps3]

Hey everyone, I just joined because I googled something, and got brought to this website, and I am glad I found it.

anyways, I have never grown before, but I germinated a few seeds, just because I love growing plants, and I understand that THIS type of plant isn't the easiest one to maintain. So here I am. I have done research in earlier years of my time, but never heard of this LST method.

I was wondering, how much more... like percentage wise, does using an LST method produce at the time of harvest?

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to your inputs. Now I'm off to read every post on this site, because this is excellent information to know even if you are not a grower!

[Dr_GreenThumb]

why do you top it at the end?
when you top it do you just let the 2 new colas just grow upwards... can i top the upward growth for more colas? or can you only top the main stem?

[Extracurricular]

T3h C0prs3, if done right, it utilizes the horizontal space available which can potentially multiply the yield exponentially. so in a 1'x1' pot, you can get 1oz, compared to a 3 1/2oz. but LST does require a longer veg period, it just uses less verticle space.

Dr_GreenThumb, yes you let the new growth keep on growing, up. you could top it again, but it would cause unwanted stress which means more time.. just do it once, if that.

[OkinKun]

I have a question, based on this comment...

Originally Posted by Maccgyver

I do topping along with LST a few days after the top has occured. WOrks great for me.

So, we can top the side branches which grow out from LSTing? Or just the main stem?
I would assume so, But never hurts to ask, just to make sure.

Also:
Based on what I've seen, LSTing seems to be able to grow a LOT more tops, than with simple topping/fimming. With LST, 2 side branches grow out of almost every segment, with enough light... And with enough vegging time, people claim to get up to 25 tops sometimes.

Whereas with Topping, since you cut the main stem, you lose that growth right away, 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 4... But Unless you top and fimm like crazy, I would think it very HARD to get up to 25.

That seem right?

I'm still debating with myself, whether I want to LST all my plants, or maybe try LSTing some, and Topping the others... to experment and see how many tops I can get... =/

If I'm trying to maximize harvest, is LST the best way to go? Maybe LST with some Topping as well?

Originally Posted by dankenstein

I am doing hydro and LST and it wasn't too hard, although it is not quite as efficient as other methods.

What do you mean by "not as efficient"?