Grow Guides
Cannabis Plant Training Methods
Marijuana cultivation is a hobby that keeps on giving, and techniques like cannabis plant training can take your grow to the next level. Once you have a few harvests under your belt with our Harvest Guide and a successful light and nutrient schedule with our Plant Care Guide, you’re ready for the next step. Optimize your output and increase yields by training cannabis plants as you grow them.
Plant training is a cultivation technique that involves manipulating marijuana plants with tie-downs, unique trimming, trellises, and more to increase the number of bud sites and yields. Because cannabis is such a vigorous plant, it will continue to thrive in these conditions. It will also expose more of the plant to light, allowing for more uniform buds in your grow.
What is cannabis plant training?
Few things pique a grower’s interest more than “increased yields,” and training cannabis plants does not disappoint. The great thing is that you don’t need to change the environment or anything in your lights to see drastic improvement. Physically forcing the cannabis plant to grow in a preferred way lets you avoid the natural tendency to end up looking like a Christmas tree with one single massive cola. Cannabis plant training creates multiple smaller bud sites allowing your plants to be more efficient with your resources.
Training cannabis maximizes the time and energy you put into your grow; there are multiple different plant training techniques to do this, including bending, pruning, and more, covered below. Many of the methods can be combined to increase effectiveness. Relying on the resilient nature of the cannabis plant and a good amount of patience, you can have a sea of green in your tents and a harvest of uniform buds at the end of the line. Training plants also has additional benefits, including controlling airflow and humidity and creating an even canopy.
What is the best time to train cannabis plants?
Most cannabis plants can benefit from plant training. It’s generally always recommended, but when to begin and how long to proceed varies based on the chosen technique. The first caveat is that you want to avoid damaging or pruning auto flowers heavily due to their fixed timeline, and the second is that you don’t want to train late in the lifecycle during flower. The luxury of an extended vegetative stage for photoperiods allows for more intense training.
When your plant canopy lacks uniformity, it may be a sign that it’s time to begin cannabis plant training. With indoor lights covering a specific area, you want to ensure the plant fully utilizes that space. Naturally, growing cannabis plants will create a canopy with high points at the top center cola and low points at the bottom, creating cannabis of different structures and quality across the plant. Another sign of a need for training in your cultivation practice is larf or small airy buds on the lower sections of the plant. Eliminate these bud sites to save energy or expose them to more light with cannabis plant training.
Avoid these mistakes when training cannabis plants
In addition to the specifics below, there are a few general guidelines to remember when training cannabis plants. While cannabis will recover from overtraining or trimming, it will take time.
- If you stress the plant too much, you may stunt its growth instead of improving it. A little goes a long way; be thoughtful about your actions here and watch how your plants respond to discover that fine line for your setup.
- Wait until plants grow to the sixth node before starting your training, and don’t start anything late into your plants’ flowering period. Remember to move the plant around slowly and carefully to avoid that sad sound of a snapping branch when training plants and support those improved buds to keep them healthy.
You’ll need cultivation scissors for trimming, soft plant ties for holding branches down, and screens or nets for sea of green methods. Use stakes and trellis systems to support cannabis plants and twine to create cages or nets. You’ll also need a good awareness of your plant timeline and the methods you’re using to avoid stressing your plants out too much. Experience is also valuable here, so start training cannabis plants today if you haven’t already to get a few reps with it.
What is the right training technique for your plants?
Knowing the variables and details of your setup and goals is necessary to answer this question. When picking the proper training technique for cannabis plants, read the quick summaries below. Then explore our range of how-to articles and Grow Bible to understand the options, along with the pros and cons of each technique.
Low-Stress Training (LST)
Low-Stress Training (LST) is exactly as it sounds – a minimally invasive technique for cannabis plant training. By tying down new growth on the plant, you open it up and allow more light to reach the center and lower branches of the plant. This method works well when paired with topping but can work without topping too.
Using ties, twine, or plant tape along with clips or drilled holes around the edge of your pot, you can train your cannabis plant slowly and avoid causing stress. As new growth appears from the main stem and gets long enough to tie down, continue doing so to create a nice, even canopy and high-yielding plant. It may look odd at first, but when you see the results during the flowering stage, you’ll understand.
Read our in-depth guide on how to apply low-stress training to learn all of the ins and outs of this technique.
High-Stress Training (HST)
High-Stress Training (HST) is a heavier-handed cannabis training technique encompassing a few different methods we’ll discuss later in this article. Topping, along with any training methods that damage or break the plant intentionally when bending or cutting, is an example of HST
This technique is often done before the plant enters vegetation to allow enough time for recovery. While these methods may surprise you, again, seeing the results will change your mind and increase your awe for the cannabis plant overall. Abrupt training like HST will deliver energy to lateral branches across the plant instead of focusing it on the top center colas.
To see exactly how to apply this more intense training method, check out our high-stress training guide.
Manifolding
Manifolding is a form of cannabis plant training that falls under HST. At its core, this is a result of sequential topping. Instead of removing the apical meristem once, you repeat this process every few nodes to create an array of branches, each producing a solid flower like a main cola would. Without the apical meristem found at the top of growing plants, their energy is more uniformly diverted across the plant.
To achieve the manifold effect, split the plant in two during topping. Then after a period of growth, split those main branches further in two to create four and then eight sites. When done in the proper environment, you’ll get a picturesque cannabis plant with eight long, even dense colas. While invasive, this technique can produce wonderful results quickly and reduce the chance of rot that could occur in larger buds.
Where some techniques have you constantly making adjustments like LST, manifolding sets the plant up for success early in its lifecycle.
To learn how to do this properly, read our guide that explains how to manifold like a pro.
Lollipopping
Lollipopping is another HST cannabis plant training method. Lollipopping takes that natural Christmas tree look and manicures it down to a lollipop by trimming all growth to a certain point on your cannabis plants. By doing this, you encourage the plant to focus energy on the topmost colas.
When lollipopping, remove any leaves that are not in the light. Anything that would be obscured by buds at the top of the plant is removed. Visualizing a line across your canopy and trimming the growth below that line is helpful. An added benefit is the airflow each plant can get by freeing up the layers below the main canopy.
We show you exactly how to do this correctly in our pro guide to lollipopping.
Sea of Green
Sea of Green (commonly known as SOG) creates an even canopy that cannabis plant training uses to maximize light use. But instead of directly bending, tying down, or altering your plants, this method forces plants to flower early. That said, don’t try this on your autoflowers.
The goal is to flower photoperiod plants young in order to keep a low footprint for each plant. This lets you pack in as many plants as possible under the lights.
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Instead of harvesting 3-5 large plants, you’ll be taking down 15-20 small plants. The result is a dense canopy of smaller plants and a higher yield harvest than larger plants that may take up valuable space under the lights. This approach is good when space is at a premium. It also pairs very well with lollipopping. Before you flip the young plants to flower, lollipop them first to grab your clones for the next round.
Our in-depth guide on how to grow a Sea of Green will help you through the process.
Scrogging
Scrogging is a common technique that creates a “Sea of Green” look to the canopy by securing a screen or net across the canopy at a fixed height. New growth is tied to the screen exposing the whole branch to light. This method optimizes a small space and creates a uniform and plentiful harvest.
The support scrogging provides is also excellent for the plant. As the buds mature and become heavier, the screen can hold them up, preventing unnecessary breaks or bends in late flower. This is one of the easier techniques to get started with in cannabis plant training, and sure to provide improved harvests.
Our scrogging guide shows you how to set up and maintain a proper scrog.
Super Cropping
Super Cropping is an interesting technique that also qualifies as HST. This method involves carefully breaking the stalks of the cannabis plant. You read that right! The trick here is to bend and snap the inner tissues of the plant without damaging the outer skin. Plant tape and/or duct tape are your friend if you make a mistake or two. Do this step early in veg to allow for ample recovery time.
Bending your plant’s stem slowly to a 90-degree angle and tying it that way for a week or two of growth encourages a screen of green kind of lateral growth without using a screen. There’s even a theory that this may increase THC production on the super-cropped branch. The results resemble LST, and the techniques can be combined for a hybrid approach. The key is visualizing a canopy line and uniformly bending things to that level. This method can also be combined with lollipopping to focus energy at the top, but space your training out to avoid stressing the plants out.
Learn how to super crop your plants without doing (too much) damage in our super cropping guide.
Monster Cropping
Monster Cropping continues the trend towards interesting but can provide excellent results and a unique, efficient plant structure. This method harnesses the plant’s response to stress and optimizes the grow. Monster crop by waiting for plants to reach mid-flower stages, then take clones to essentially “re-veg” your plants, putting the clones back through a second veg cycle. The stress of this stage change creates vigorous plants with more bud sites and bushier growth.
While I haven’t tried monster cropping, many claim monster-cropped clones outpace standard clones in production. Remember, this method will not work for autoflowers; once they start flowering, there is no going back. Check out our selection of autoflowering seeds to find the right seeds for your monster grow!
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The stress of this process will kill off a few clones in the beginning, so make sure to take more than you need. You can combine this method with many of the others listed in this article, as Monster Cropping is more of a cloning technique than a trimming or training process but still falls under HST in cultivation.
Learn more about this crazy but effective technique in our monster cropping guide.
Trellising
Trellising is a necessary evil in cannabis cultivation. As your plants get heavier as they mature, they fall over and can eventually snap if left unattended. This is why plants in early flower are trellised with netting or twine and stake solutions to support flower growth through harvest. Trellising can be notoriously difficult to reuse due to sticky harvests, so handling this in a quick and/or disposable way is worth considering.
There are many different approaches to trellising; you can use premade solutions like cages or custom build frames to trellis up sections of your grow. Where the scrogging method adds a screen to the top of the canopy, trellising puts this around the entire plant. Outside of the support given, the trellis provides many tie-down locations for combination with other LST and HST cannabis training techniques.
We’ll show exactly what we mean in our trellising guide.
Schwazzing
Schwazzing is defoliation taken to the extreme. Typical defoliation may remove excess fan leaves or lollipop plants. Schwazzing removes 100% of the fan leaves of a cannabis plant. This process can be done once or twice in the flowering stage of your grow. Complete your first shwazze on day one of flowering, with an optional second around day twenty.
While it may sound like overkill, this method increases airflow and light penetration and directs energy allocation to the maturing flower. Schwazzing can increase yields and is combinable with many of the methods listed in this article to create an even or manifolded canopy while performing LST or HST.
Make sure you read our schwazzing guide before attempting this extreme defoliation method!
How do you train cannabis plants for maximum yield?
So which method is right for you and your grow? Your ideal training program will depend on your goals for the plants and your interest as a cultivator. Don’t feel pressured to combine three or more methods. Start simple, and when in doubt, use LST.
The way I learned and what I currently prefer is topping in veg once, along with some LST, followed by a lollipop in late veg/early flower. I then apply a trellis with an optional semi-schwazze mid-flower. My next batch will be my first attempt at manifolding, which I’ll run along with scrog and monster-cropped clones. The methods here and their various combinations will unlock potential in your grow and optimize the flower quality and quantity.
Are you plant training? Leave a comment below with the methods you’re using or those you plan to try later and don’t forget to grab some fresh genetics from our curated seed collection.
Keep on growing!
Cultivating cannabis indoors lets you control the many variables marijuana plants face while growing. Indoors, you can grow cannabis plants year-round, train them to stay small or trigger them to flower when needed. All of these things are quite hard to do outdoors. That’s why, whether you’re just starting out or if it is a lifelong passion, growing an indoor cannabis garden is an excellent option. You just need to decide where to put it.
Even though cannabis can grow in many conditions, this article will help you determine where your best home grow should be.
Determine how to grow cannabis first
No two cannabis grows are the same; plus, there’s an almost unlimited combination of cultivation styles, cultivars, techniques, and equipment. When you are ready to grow, start by considering the size and output you’d like your weed plants to achieve. Then use ILGM resources such as the Grow Bible and Harvest Guide to determine your cultivation methods and techniques before considering the space needed to reach your goals.
Indoor growing has three main categories: grow rooms, grow tents, and micro grows. For some, the decision is easy; if there’s no space in the house for a grow tent or room, then a micro grow makes sense.
Budget is another thing to keep in mind. The cost of a grow will go up as it gets bigger, more complicated, and more secure. You can build or buy a micro grow box for a few hundred bucks (USD) instead of renovating an entire grow room. The grow tent falls between those extremes, bridging the mobility of a micro grow with the space and capacity of a grow room. If you plan to maintain mothers, cut clones, and run a perpetual harvest indoors, you’ll need two grow tents/micro grows to cover your vegetative and flowering stages.
Where to place a micro grow
Micro grows can pack a punch for a small footprint. With sizes ranging from window-side grows under a light to small enclosed boxes like old PC cases, they’re also stealthy and easy to start.
One of the best features of Micro grows is the ability to put them just about anywhere. Due to their easy setup, they’re great for experimenting with new methods, running autos, and other small-batch projects. They are especially ideal if you’re not ready for a tent or room.
However, Micro grows have their drawbacks. They have hard limits on your capacity and harvest output since they’re small. They can also be tricky to control. In fact, the smaller the grow, the more temperamental it can be.
Read our articles “What You Need to Know Before You Micro Grow” and “Cannabis Micro Growing: Grow Weed in a Small Space” to learn more about setting up your own micro grow.
Placing a grow tent
Grow tents can be a flexible option if you’re interested in growing marijuana in larger batches indoors. You can choose from small 2x2x3 tents to large 10x10x6 tents with no restriction on where they can go.
In terms of space, a tent has a bigger footprint than micro-growing; however, using a grow tent can better control the temperature, humidity, and airflow. Plus, the increased capacity means you can cultivate bigger plants and harvest more flower.
If a tent seems like a lot to put together, do not fear. Many companies sell complete solutions with everything you need to set up your tent. If you prefer to do things yourself, check out our articles on how to build a DIY grow tent and our grow tent buyer’s guide for all the ins and outs of the possibilities.
Building a grow room
Indoor grow rooms are the Cadillac option, offering the most versatility, space, and security. Unused spaces, including basements, garages, attics, closets, or converted bedrooms/bathrooms, are ideal grow rooms. Once you identify the location of your room, everything from simple grow light setups to complex CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), temperature, and humidity controls can exist in it. Thanks to their bigger space, increased number of grow lights and resource availability, you can customize grow rooms for every type of growing technique.
If you have the space, budget, and time, consider creating your own grow room. Check out our various articles on indoor setups and methods to build a dream grow room in your home.
Basement Grow
A basement is the classic solution when growing cannabis indoors since it provides privacy and security for your grow. The basement also has added perks like temperature and humidity stability, good ventilation options, and less concern about noise and smell. But basements can be a problem. If the humidity is too high, stagnant air can grow mold and mildew. You may also have lower ceilings, which limit how tall plants can grow.
Your budget, space, and goals will determine whether a room or tent placed in the basement is the best place to grow cannabis at home. On a lower budget, a tent can help control some of the moisture and keep the temperature higher, but it can’t replace the benefits of a room.
Attic Grow
Even though the basement is often the first place people think of, an attic cannabis grow can be a close second. Like a basement, an attic offers a high degree of privacy and security, but height can be an issue. Some attics might be tall enough for full-grown plants, whereas others have ceilings that cannot support mature sativa plants.
Certain attics aren’t suited for a grow room; either they’re too small or low, or the temperature and humidity are too hard to control. A grow tent might help keep your plants cool and stabilize other factors, but that’s not always guaranteed. You’ll have to be critical about your available space and determine if your attic is a good spot for growing marijuana indoors.
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Garage Grow Room
You can grow weed indoors in your garage; it’s private, secure, and easy to keep discrete. Ventilation is also fairly easy to handle. However, temperature and humidity can be problematic, like in the attic. It may also be easier for others to break in or discover your grow compared to a basement or attic. Be smart and critical when deciding if your garage is a good option for growing weed indoors.
A garage can house a grow room or a tent. If you prefer a room, make sure to consider insulation and space. If you still need to park a car or store stuff in the garage, a grow room can take up a lot of space. However, a tent can be a more manageable garage option. You can place a grow tent to the side and have it take up very little space.
Growing cannabis in a bedroom
A bedroom grow space is also an option. In some instances, it might even be ideal, giving you full-height ceilings, convenient space to work with your plants, and the most temperature-controlled option in your home. However, it may be difficult to secure a room and keep it private, but that depends on where you live. Odor and noise may also be a concern depending on the living situation.
In most cases, it’s easier to start with a grow tent when you’re growing in a bedroom. However, if you’ve got the time, money, and interest, a bedroom makes a great grow room because you can run perpetual harvests with multiple smaller spaces or one large canopy.
The Summary
Choosing where to grow indoors can be tricky, thanks to many different options and cultivation methods. Where you grow depends on your goals as a cultivator; your budget and living situation determine the rest. Consider a Micro grow if you’re just starting out or want to be stealthy. A grow tent is the next step, giving you more space and harvest potential. And for those ready to invest, grow rooms offer unlimited potential.
As a long-time grower, I like growing in tents in the basement or a bedroom because it balances space, mobility, and control. However, cultivation is about finding out what works best for you and your environment. With time and care, any method will create quality cannabis.
Keep on Growing!
Fast-flowering strains combine photoperiod genetics with autoflowering genetics. They have been engineered to grow and mature faster than traditional cannabis plants. This means quicker harvests and increased yields compared to autoflower strains. Fast flowering strain yields can match those of photoperiod cannabis varieties.
Understanding fast flowering weed and how it differs from established photoperiod and autoflower cultivars is key for growers of any level. This article’ll dive deeper into these differences, how fast-flowering cultivars are made, and their added benefits.
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The difference between fast-flowering and autoflowers
The primary difference between fast-flowering cannabis variants and autoflowering cannabis variants is how they flower. Fast-flowering variants are photoperiod dependent (they need light manipulation to flower and mature). The light cycle will need to be turned back or “flipped” from 18 hours on and 6 hours off to 12 hours on and 12 hours off for the plants to transition from their vegetative stage into their flowering stage.
This is in contrast to autoflowering strains, which automatically go into their flowering period within 4-6 weeks of germination from seed. Thus, fast-flowering cultivars give growers the benefits of sturdy and potent photoperiod strains in a shorter period of time.
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How fast-flowering strains are made
There has been a surge in the development of fast-flowering strains due to the increased demand for cannabis products. Breeders utilize selective genetics and hybridization techniques to produce these fast version strains. In the case of fast-flowering cultivars, the breeders selected genetics from plants that flowered faster than some of their sisters.
Sometimes, fast-flowering cannabis varieties are made by introducing photoperiod plants to pollen from autoflower plants. This introduces even more fast-flowering genetic traits to the new phenotype (strain). After that, breeders stabilize the Ruderalis genetics by reintroducing photoperiod genetics through a process called “back-crossing”.
This produces fast-flowering, photoperiod-dependent, and cloneable cultivars.
Growing fast-flowering strains
One of the significant advantages of growing fast-flowering cannabis strains is that they’ll reach the flowering phase quicker than traditional light-cycle dependent strains. The flowering time for these strains can range from 6-8 weeks, while many traditional photoperiod strains can take 7 -to 10 weeks or longer.
The shorter flowering period allows growers to turn over more crops. Additionally, fast-flowering strains can be grown multiple times a year in the same space, potentially increasing yields and profits.
Fast-flowering strains can have a longer period of vegetative growth and training if desired, giving growers more options.
Pros and cons of fast-flowering strains
Besides the reduced growth cycle time, fast-flowering plants are also more resistant to pests and diseases than traditional strains. This is likely because they mature quicker, leaving less time for diseases and pests to take hold.
Fast-flowerers are also more resistant to environmental factors such as temperature changes and extreme weather conditions, making them easier to grow in a wider range of locations. The shorter growing times also allow for more potential harvests on a yearly basis.
While fast-flowering strains have many advantages, they also have some drawbacks. One of the main disadvantages is a potentially smaller yield than traditional strains. Lower yields occur because these strains complete their life cycle much quicker than traditional strains. That means they have less time to develop and grow. Additionally, fast-flowering strains may produce lower levels of THC and other cannabinoids than traditional strains.
Fast-flowering strains may also require more immediate attention from growers due to their shorter lifespan. Any potential errors or mistakes may mean extending the growth cycle or delaying flowering for the plants to recover.
Are fast flowering strains good?
This is a tough question to answer. It all depends on what you consider “good”. Fast-flowering strains are a good option for growers looking for decent yields of potent flowers in less time than photo cultivars take. But, due to shorter growth cycles, as I stated before, the yield might not be as high as with ‘regular’ photoperiod plants, which get all the time they need to fully flourish.
Fast-flowering cultivars also offer more customization for growing and training than autoflowers, as well as more time to recover from any potential mistakes or accidents that might occur.
So, yes. Ultimately, fast-flowering cultivars are “good” if you want training flexibility and production speed with a decent and potent yield compared to most autoflower varieties. But if you’re looking for fully optimized yields, our feminized photoperiod options are a ‘better choice.’
What is the fastest-growing cannabis strain?
There may be some debate as to which cannabis strains grow the fastest. Afghani and Skunk strains tend to be the fastest-growing from what I’ve experienced. However, those were regular photoperiod cultivars.
When you look online, pretty much every site has its own lists, each with different strains of claiming to be the fastest. But are those claims justified? It’s hard to say since no one has really tested it. The only thing we can say for certain is that autoflowering seeds can be harvested earlier than many of their photoperiod counterparts. And when it comes to subspecies, sativa tends to need longer than indica plants.
Check out our list of fast flowering strains to see which ones we think are our fastest. And if you’re new to growing or just want some great information on enhancing your current skills, download Robert’s free Grow Bible here.
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