Plant Training Techniques

Cannabis plants naturally grow in a Christmas tree shape — a dominant central cola at the top, with side branches that are smaller and receive less light. This is caused by apical dominance: auxins produced at the growing tip suppress the growth of lateral branches.

In nature, this makes sense — outcompeting other plants for vertical height is survival. In a grow tent with a fixed light at a fixed distance, it is a liability. The light cannot reach the lower branches effectively, those buds stay small, and most of the plant's photosynthetic capacity is wasted.

Training interrupts or removes the growing tip, which removes the auxin signal suppressing lateral growth. Branches that were held back now push hard, and the plant redistributes its energy across multiple equivalent sites. More sites at the same height and distance from the light means significantly more yield.

LST is the safest and most accessible training technique. Instead of cutting, you bend the main stem and branches and tie them down, forcing the plant into a horizontal shape. Horizontal branches lose apical dominance, and the lower nodes along the bent branch all shoot upward simultaneously, quickly creating multiple tops.

Start LST when the plant has 4–6 nodes. Use soft plant ties, pipe cleaners, or training wire — nothing that will cut into the stem under tension. Bend the main stem gently toward the edge of the pot and secure it. As new growth pushes upward from the bent stem, bend and tie those branches down too, building an increasingly flat, wide canopy.

LST can be continued throughout vegetative growth, adjusting ties as the plant grows. Stop LST at the flip to flower — the plant needs the first 2–3 weeks of flower undisturbed to transition.

Topping is a high stress technique where you cut the main growing tip entirely, typically above the 4th or 5th node. This removes the apical dominance entirely and forces the two lateral branches just below the cut to become the new dominant growing tips. One stem becomes two. Top those two a few weeks later and you have four main colas.

The cost of topping is a growth pause of roughly 4–7 days while the plant redirects its energy to the new tops. The benefit is a much more even canopy with multiple sites of equivalent height and energy.

FIMing (F*** I Missed) is a variant where you pinch or cut about 75% of the growing tip instead of removing it entirely. Executed correctly, FIMing can produce four new tops from a single cut instead of two. It is less consistent than topping but causes less stress and allows faster recovery. Many growers combine topping and FIMing across different nodes to create dense multi-cola structures.

SCROG takes the multi-top canopy created by topping and LST and organizes it into a horizontal screen. A net or trellis is stretched across the canopy, typically 20–30cm above the pots. As branches grow through the screen, you tuck them back under and spread them across open squares. By the time you flip to flower, the entire screen is filled with an even, horizontal canopy of similar-height sites.

This technique is optimized for the flat, square footprint of most indoor LED lights. Instead of a cone-shaped plant where the light can only effectively penetrate the top 30–50cm, you have a flat canopy where every bud site is at the same distance from the light.

SCROG requires a bit of patience during fill — you typically need 4–8 weeks in veg to properly fill a 60×60cm or 1×1m screen. But the yield results in the same footprint consistently exceed any other technique. A well-executed SCROG in a 1m² tent with a quality 600W LED will outperform a naturally grown plant with the same equipment by 50–100%.

Lollipopping is the removal of small, underdeveloped bud sites and growth at the bottom third of the plant — sites that will never receive enough light to develop into meaningful buds. By removing these "popcorn" sites, you redirect the plant's energy to the top canopy sites that will actually produce.

Do this at or shortly after the flip to flower — most growers lollipop when the plant is 2–3 weeks into flower and the structure is clear. Remove everything below where the canopy light effectively penetrates.

Defoliation (removing fan leaves) is more controversial. Some growers aggressively defoliate in flower to increase light penetration and airflow through the canopy, citing higher yields and reduced mold risk. Others prefer minimal removal, arguing the leaves are energy factories. A reasonable middle ground: remove leaves that are blocking bud sites or creating dead zones with no airflow. Never remove more than 20–30% of foliage at a single session, and always give the plant a week to recover before defoliating again.